Anger Foot needs to be kicked up a bit

Despite many protagonists lacking them entirely, there have been many great feet in first-person shooters. Duke Nukem 3D, Dark Messiah of Might & Magic, F.E.A.R.; when the kickers come out, it’s often a spectacle. Anger Foot attempts to outdo all previous feats of feet.

Anger Foot comes to us from Free Lives, a developer whose work has brought us a varied portfolio that includes games like Broforce, Genital Jousting, and Terra Nil. It’s coming sometime later this year, but I got to plant my feet in it today. Or, recently, I guess. What day is it?

Anger Foot takes place in Shit City, a location that makes me grateful that I work for a publication that lets me swear. In Shit City, crime is the law. You heard me. If a person isn’t committing a crime, that’s a red flag. At that point, police step in to ensure that the person gets the help they need to, at the very least, participate in petty larceny.

The city is ruled by four gangs, and you play as the one person who is willing to stand up to them. But only so they can steal some new shoes. However, before you get a single moment to admire your now complete sneaker collection, it’s stolen from under them. There are only two weapons powerful enough to get that footwear back, and their names are “Left” and “Right.”

Actually, there are also guns, but you’ll be getting a lot of mileage out of your two hooves.

Anger Foot is set up like a cross between Mullet MadJack’s corridor killing and Hotline Miami’s die-and-retry formula. Your goal is simply to reach the level’s exit point in the map, and any man, woman, or door that gets in your way needs to be kicked to splinters. One man. Two feet. All anger.

Anger Foot puts its best foot forward with its art style. Its grotesque stylings and use of bright comic-book colors are incredibly striking. The odd proportions and puppet people provide a helpful buffer to some of its gross-out humor. It’s like the Garbage Pail Kids have grown up with a fondness for toilets and swearing.

The music is similarly captivating. It maintains a near-constant, pulsing beat, but when there’s a break in the action, it takes on a reverberating sound, like it’s being played at maximum volume next door.

However, after emerging from the forest of its aesthetic, there’s much less impact. Kicking doors is great. It’s fun to watch them sail across the room before breaking on a thug’s face. And while the actual kicking will send foes flying, it strangely lacks force.

Melee combat is something that first-person shooter games often have trouble with. In Anger Foot you slide about, and when your foot is raised in anger, it doesn’t feel like it connects. There’s only the sensation that there’s a danger zone in front of your character. If you misjudge your timing, you might just pass by your target and glide around the floor to get ready for the next approach. There’s no weight or force in play. Even the drop kick doesn’t feel good to use. A door reacts to your toes in a fun way, but everything else just falls victim to the danger zone.

This is something that bothered me all throughout the sizeable chunk of gameplay I was served. I never felt powerful. It only takes a handful of shots to bring you down, and you’re not really given many options to avoid them in a crowded room. Keep moving, kite enemies, and keep kicking. You can pack yourself full of caffeine using cans of Thirst Fucker you find laying around, or get yourself drunk off of Brewforce if you feel like it, but it’s still just a couple of shots to bring you down.

The safest way to get through a level becomes kicking a door open, backing up, then kicking the enemies as they appear through the choke point. Even when you’re not cheesing, any time you need to be careful about your actions, the all-important momentum dies. Without the momentum, you don’t feel powerful, and that’s something that is crucial to Anger Foot and entirely lacking.

There are guns, but that’s just another problem. Their ammo is so limited, and movement is so important that in the chaos of a firefight, your feet seem more useful. That’s certainly on message, but it doesn’t give a reprieve from its problems.

On the other hand, optional objectives that provide stars give value to repeated playthroughs of levels (even if some are frustrating). More importantly, the stars are used to unlock new shoes, each of which comes with new buffs and abilities. I could see myself getting deeply into collecting new kicks if the gameplay was made more exciting.

Mullet MadJack feels so similar in intention to Anger Foot: Momentum, corridors, movement. However, through the use of systems like dashing and the glory kills of recent Doom games, MadJack feels much more satisfying. It has a series of mechanics that ensure that you never have to stop moving and you’re constantly killing.

Anger Foot is missing something. More accurately, it’s missing a few somethings. There are quite a few approaches that can be taken to alleviate its issues, but it’s probably going to require a few changes. As it stands, the whole experience is just too shallow.

I’m hoping that before launch, Free Lives can implement something to bring everything together. The level design, aesthetic, and even framework are all outstanding. Everything except the core gameplay is exceptional. I love looking at it, but Anger Foot is going to need to do more than just put one foot in front of the other to really nail the landing.