I might as well just finish out the week with a game that I have been waiting for ever since I played the demo which seemed like eons ago. I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the game and when I sat down and played it I was a little disappointed. I may have put Anger Foot on such a high pedestal. I took a few steps back and reevaluated my stance on the game and went back to it with fresh eyes. I think that I am ready to talk about it. This week is Anger Foot.

Anger Foot is a fast-paced arcade first-person shooter from Free Lives and published by Devolver Digital. The game was released for PC on July 11th and retails for $25.

Shit City

Shit City is where crime is the main export. Crime is to live and to live is to commit crimes. There are four gangs that run the city: The Violence Gang which specializes in violent crime, the Pollution Gang which absolutely hates nature, the Business Gang which only participates in white-collar crime and the Debauchery Gang which does whatever the hell they want.

You play as Anger Foot, a man who has taken no allegiance to any gang and operates solely as a shoe collector. It is movie night with the girlfriend, but before, you aim to buy the last Preemo sneaker you need to finish your collection as you make your way back upstairs and enter the vault where your sneaker collection lives and put the Preemo sneakers on the wall, the wall gets ripped out by the Violence Gang who were instructed by the Crime Minister to steal your collection.

Anger Foot is mad and aims to get his sneaker collection back by murdering everyone associated with the four prominent gangs.

Anger Foot is simple in its gameplay design: Enter a level and stylishly murder everything in sight for a couple of minutes and then exit. The complexity comes from how the player would like to participate in the fastest action game ever created. The player is bound by nothing but the idea of murder.

Murder may be key to the game but how to dish out the violence is key. The player can kick the absolute shit out of bad guys or pick up various weapons, whether it be guns like an Uzi, Glock, or a shotgun. The trick with guns is that they have limited ammo and when used up you can yeet it at a bad guy to close the gap and kick the hell out of them. Once the level ends the player is rewarded with stars if they complete stage-specific tasks, and a time so that you can see how long it took you five minutes to complete a 30-second level.

The stars you obtain can be traded in to reclaim the lost shoes of Anger Foot‘s collection. There is a show for any occasion and playstyle. Anger Foot doesn’t make the player any kind of way; if you want to move fast and slide through levels then there is a shoe for you, and if you want to hang back, take it slow and make sure you get everything in the level then there is also a shoe (or sandal) for you.

Each level is designed specifically to force the player to take fights whether it be jumping around attempting to kick baddies or taking long-ranged fights where the weapons shine. Anger Foot allows the player to play the game how they want.

The combat is by far the most enjoyable and high-octane experience I’ve had in a video game.

There is a lot of variety in Anger Foot as each gang has its own enemy types and environments. The Violence Gang fights in and on the apartment buildings, while the Pollution Gang has taken to the sewers and the Business Gang resides in the opulent buildings inside the banking district. The areas and enemies eventually do blend together but each area has its own set of special enemies that function only in those areas.

The variety is just insane. From the levels to the weapons even to the enemies, Anger Foot offers so much.

Anger Foot is a goofy-looking video game. The stages are so gritty and colorful, especially the sewers as bright green sludge fills each stage. The various enemies that inhabit each area are distinct in their appearance for gameplay reasons and even to fill out the game. I love that there is a guy with a literally bomb as a head that you can kick to blow people up. I love that the pigeon has a riot shield, I love that tentacles have weapons. They are all so goofy looking and the environments look great.

The music is the selling point of Anger Foot. ITS GOTTA BE.

The soundtrack from Jason “Jaybooty” Sutherland is a master class on how to compose the most over-the-top music for video games. The music is bumping from start to finish and I am about whatever the hell is going on as I whip through levels shooting and kicking bad guys in the face.

Anger Foot is a dope ass video game. I love that the game appeals to all FPS enjoyers. You get the “boomer shooter” crowd that enjoys the possible fast-paced combat and it appeals to the more casual with the idea that you can take it slow. The combat is super fun, with the music is the best and everything else is just icing on the cake.

Anger Foot is a goofy, fun six-hour shooter and it checks all the boxes that makes my brain feel good when I play video games.

8/10