Anger Foot Review

First announced in 2022, Anger Foot was revealed, and it’s exactly what you think it is or what you think it might be. Just as the name suggests, it’s a game about kicking stuff angrily, and with such an outrageous concept, you know that Devolver Digital is working its magic behind the curtains.

Developed by the team behind Broforce, your mission is straightforward: reach the end of each level by obliterating obstacles—both with bullets and furious kicks. The game encourages speedrunning, challenging players to set fast clear times and accomplish daring feats reminiscent of titles like Neon White and Children of the Sun.

This is not your typical cover shooter, and Anger Foot emphasizes fast-paced run-and-gun type gameplay, a booter-shooter if you will, where your main weapon is your (angry) foot. It’s fun, frenetic, and a crazy enough concept that just works. You’re practically John Wick… or John Kick, in this case.

Kick Back and Relax

Anger Foot unfolds in the gritty urban sprawl of Shit City, a place where four ruthless gangs—Violence, Pollution, Debauchery, and Business—hold sway over the streets. Everyone is a gang member except for one unlikely hero: you, Anger Foot.

In the game, you are… well, Anger Foot. You love sneakers, and upon obtaining the last of the Preemo Sneakers to add to your sneaker vault, the Violence Gang takes them away, and now you are on the hunt to take back what’s yours to the backdrop of some sick EDM beats.

Your primary weapon? Well, your foot. Kicking your way through levels becomes an art form, and along the way, you can also wield firearms, though scarce ammunition will force you to rely on your trusty kicks and fast reflexes over your firearms, which act mostly as a secondary tool.

Levels in Anger Foot are short, where your main objective is to reach the endpoint while surviving the goons and bullets and whatever hazards are littered along the way. While it may sound easy, you aren’t invulnerable, and it only takes a few hits from incoming fire before you die and restart the level.

Armed with only your foot for the most part, what results is basically a speedrun through a level where your reflexes are key to surviving the run. Busting down doors with your kicks will often take down an enemy hiding right behind it, and as soon as you proceed, you’ll encounter more goons to creatively take out either by deflecting their grenades back at them, using your firearm, or just by getting close and kicking the living daylights out of them.

Foot Patrol

Creativity is the key, as with every attempt at a level, you’ll find a more efficient way to go about your business. Clearing out your pistol might not be the most efficient way to clear out a hallway filled with goons, but an explosive barrel could do the trick in style. Environmental objects become tools for survival, enhancing the replayability of these adrenaline-fueled levels.

Much like Soleslike games (heh), you’ll be dying a lot in Anger Foot, all while learning the intricacies of each level, devising strategies to reach the end amidst the mayhem. Apart from setting their record time, players are encouraged to obtain stars to unlock sneakers, and while you get one star by finishing a level, you can get a couple more by meeting certain conditions like finishing the level in under a certain time and other crazy conditions like finishing a level with only kicks, and some of which are really tough.

The obsession with sneakers is not simply cosmetic, because they are what add a further twist to gameplay. While your default kick will do the trick, some of these sneakers really change the way you approach the game. One sneaker called the Firefighters renders Anger Foot immune to fire and explosion damage, basically giving you permission to blow up everything in sight without a care in the world. Another sneaker called the Brain Expanders will make enemies’ heads grow, where headshots will be made much easier for those tough headshot challenges.

There are a lot of sneakers to unlock in Anger Foot, and the main point of repeating the levels to earn as many stars as possible is to collect all sneakers that will then paint these levels in a whole new light, seeing as you can now approach them once again with a new skill that may be suited to that level and net you a faster clear time.

Stomping Grounds

Playing Anger Foot on the Steam Deck was a smooth experience, as it stuck to 60fps for the most part even on some of the busier sequences. Setting the TDP limit to maximum will yield smooth gameplay at the cost of battery life, but I liked how you can tone down a lot of the settings like shadows, lighting, and more to play it on the go.

While Anger Foot definitely feels like a Steam Deck game, its fast-paced nature made me wish that I was either using a dedicated controller or just playing it on a PC with a mouse and keyboard, as I noticed that some of the challenges I failed to accomplished boiled down to me not turning fast enough due to low sensitivity or just simply not having enough control compared to a dedicated controller / MKB setup. Mileage may vary, of course, but the Steam Deck is perfectly capable of running the game smoothly without any hiccups.

It took me around 10 hours to finish Anger Foot on the Steam Deck, unlocking a bunch of sneakers along the way and mostly mainlining the game. I would have to venture a guess that unlocking more sneakers will take at least 4 to 5 hours more, especially with how tough some of the challenges are on some levels.

Verdict: Buy it!

Anger Foot is exactly what you’d expect from a Devolver Digital game. It’s fun, quirky, hilarious, unapologetic, and simply a damn good time. With a straightforward premise and easy-to-learn mechanics, the game is given depth with its inventive use of sneakers and replayability to give it a much-needed kick.

Sometimes, a simple compliment works best, and it’s more than enough to point out how Devolver Digital has a knack for finding titles such as Anger Foot, further bolstering their portfolio with another entertaining romp that highlights uniqueness and creativity.

*Anger Foot was reviewed on a Steam Deck with a review code provided by the publisher.