Regular readers will remember when I last reviewed a game developed by Free Lives and published by Devolver Digital – it wasn’t that great. I did reference other works done by these teams, one of which was the upcoming Anger Foot. I was very excited to get my hands on this preview as it appeared to be fun, and watching the trailers reminded me of the game Hotline Miami. Though I haven’t played the Hotline Miami, Anger Foot seemed to be a take on that, but a three-dimensional version, and even though the protagonist is green in colour, it reminded me of a hyped-up rabbit booting the shit out of humanoids, for you American readers, Trix may be for kids, but Anger Foot is for adults.

You are Anger Foot, and you arrive in the slums following an advertisement regarding the sale of Preemo Sneakers. Approaching a beaten-down individual, you are informed that the Violence Gang has stolen his entire inventory, and the only way for you to get the sneakers is to enter the building and fight them for it.

This stage serves as the tutorial, giving you the basic controls via either a keyboard and mouse or a controller. Controlling the game with either method is easy as all the key and button inputs are what you would have come to expect from any first-person three-dimensional game, but if the controls aren’t quite to your liking, they are remappable.

Once you have recovered a pair of the stolen Preemo Sneakers, you return to your apartment and add your new kicks to your collection. This is the final pair needed, taking pride of place on your wall having completed the collection. Unfortunately, your ownership of this collection is short-lived. The Violence Gang tear the wall away from your apartment with a flying machine, stealing your pride and joy. Not one to stand idle, Anger Foot hunts down the gangs that have stolen his collection.

Anger Foot is a fast-paced first-person shooter in the simplest of terms. Each stage is a short run as you kick your way through various enemies to reach the exit. The stages start simple with you having a basic kick and the ability to shoot the firearms collected from your felled enemies. The deeper you get into Anger Foot, the more challenging the enemies become, along with the challenges each stage has to offer.

Every stage has two additional challenges to complete, as well as finishing the stage, and these will reward stars used to unlock sneakers. The challenges make replaying the stages fun, allowing you to approach them in different ways, and in some cases, will have you doing absurd things you never thought of. Some challenges will be contradictory to each other, such as only using your feet to finish a level, as well as getting “X” number of headshots, but I never found replaying the stages frustrating.

Anger Foot is fun on its own, but adding new ways to play a level was exciting. For completionists, this will be a definite highlight. Not only will you get the rush of three-starring a stage, but feel the frustration as you fail time and time again.

As mentioned earlier, the stars are used to unlock new sneakers, and these will add additional functions to your kick, some of which are required for certain challenges, but even if you are not going out of your way to complete the challenges, the functions added from the sneakers can heighten the excitement of a run. Some will make doors explode when you kick them, others replenish ammunition from a kicked enemy, and some revive you on your first death, so getting a few of these sneaker upgrades adds a massive level of enjoyment and variety to your runs.

Free Lives hasn’t gone all balls to the wall when making Anger Foot, and you won’t need itchy trigger fingers or cat-like reflexes. They have graciously added an accessibility option that allows you to adjust the difficulty at any time, including easier enemies, easier bosses, a combination of both, or even so far as invulnerability, so if anything I have mentioned so far has excited you, but you’re concerned by how intense Anger Foot may be, you will be fine. They’ve made it so that players of any skill level and physical ability can enjoy the wackiness.

The graphical presentation of Anger Foot is just as explosive as its gameplay. Everything is presented in a cartoonish style, but the characters, however, are given a vibrant splash of colour that makes them pop right off the screen. Like a drug-addled dream, your eyes will pop right out of your skull as your brain tries to take it all in as you run through the levels kicking, shooting, and exploding enemies into colourful smears.

Your eyes are not the only sensor to be set ablaze. The mind-blowing hard-based synth beats as you run-and-gun will pump vigorously into your ears, getting you hyped as Anger Foot eviscerates the environment. The combination will get your heart palpitating with such force that your ribcage will struggle to contain it.

The preview of Angry Foot is yet another gem Free Lives has developed in their already great lineup of games. With Devolver Digital in their corner, I am looking forward to the full release as well as their next game as my excitement for Anger Foot was justly rewarded. If you love fast-paced run-and-gun first-person shooters, Anger Foot needs to be on your radar and should not be missed. The only thing to be mindful of is the sensory overload you may experience if you are susceptible.

Written by: Ashley Barnett-Cosgrove