Yet, here I am, kicking and shooting but having a little less fun. Don’t get me wrong – Anger Foot can be an enjoyable first-person shooter that takes a relatively simple concept and stretches it in unique ways. An occasionally unclear damage system, lack of checkpoints and random occurrences aren’t enough to outright ruin it, but they do sour the experience.

"You can kick everyone regardless of what they’re doing or what they have to say. It doesn’t provide any benefits, but you can do it."

The story is equally simple and surreal, with extensive amounts of gonzo. Set in Shit City, where crime is supreme and unchecked, Anger Foot finally completes his collection of Preemo Sneakers. The moment is ruined by GooCop, however, who steals them away with the help of the Violence Gang. Since there are four pairs of sneakers and four corresponding gangs, Anger Foot sets out to run roughshod over each one, feet first.

At some points, you can converse with random civilians. They’ll provide information on just how extensively messed up the city is and, more importantly, why they like it. One shopkeeper says he hasn’t been looted in days – not with a sense of relief but worry that no one likes him anymore. Speak to a pair of friends, and one will sadly outline how they were mugged on the nearby staircase last week. The other will then joyfully chime in about how they recently mugged someone on the stairs. Go up the staircase, and you’ll meet who else but the muggers, who promise excellent rates.

Alternatively, you can kick everyone regardless of what they’re doing or what they have to say. It doesn’t provide any benefits, but you can do it.

The real meat of Anger Foot is in its rundown residential buildings, harrowing rooftops and shadowy sewers where gang members hide. Shit City leaves up to its name, with its grunge aesthetic and cartoonishly disgusting hygiene. I’m not a fan of the more juvenile aspects, but the attention to detail is commendable, especially with the environmental destruction and sound effects.

"The level design further embraces the carnage by planting explosive barrels and cylinders throughout, triggering even more chain reactions."

The objective is fairly simple – eliminate everyone and get to the end. Keep doing this until you eventually fight the boss of that territory and repeat. It starts simple enough – every regular enemy falls to a single kick. You have an extensive range with the same, which allows for kicking several enemies at a time. Jump and kick to plant both boots into an enemy’s face.

However, there is some more nuance behind this impromptu boot camp. There are several firearms available, albeit with limited ammo. When a weapon runs out, you can throw it, stunning an enemy (or a group, if they’re bunched together enough) and providing ample opportunity for a follow-up kick. Each weapon has unique properties, from the handgun and its precision to the SMG with its higher magazine and spread or the shotgun with massive front-loaded damage. There are several ranged threats, so knowing when to kick something in the face versus shooting it is in some situations.

Anger Foot can also kick down doors, flattening any enemies in their path. Facing three doors into a room and wondering which one to open? Kick them all down to take out a threat or two early instead of charging straight in.

It’s possible to kick explosive enemies and grenades, wiping out entire groups. The level design further embraces the carnage by planting explosive barrels and cylinders throughout, triggering even more chain reactions. There are some bizarre discoveries, though, like a toilet style with four bowls facing opposite to each other. Or a room full of toasters with bread cooking. It’s enough to give you pause before returning to the kicking.

"The sheer number of enemies with firearms in some cases also makes it easy to die, though they can shoot each other in tight enough spaces."

Further aiding Anger Foot on his journey is the rest of his shoe collection. By completing levels and optional challenges, you gain stars, which can unlock new shoes with significant benefits. One pair grants ammo on kicking enemies – perfect to complete an objective that requires killing enemies without throwing away your gun. Another turns enemies’ heads big, and while it may seem humorous, it’s also ideal for completing challenges that require headshots. Those who want to take a firearm-less approach also have tasks to get through levels using only kicks, no shoes or running through without killing anyone.

Despite the over-the-top style, Anger Foot can be quite unforgiving. There are no checkpoints – dying places you back at a level’s beginning. It can be exhilarating, as you learn the placements of enemies and rampage through even quicker, optimizing your aim, strategies and kicks to return to where you died. Beating the timer is essential in many cases, but taking things slow can also be advantageous in Anger Foot, especially when you need time to heal.

That brings me to one key issue – damage. Sometimes, two shots from an enemy’s handgun are enough to take you down, but that’s not always the case. Maybe they’re doing less damage from farther away. Maybe they’re not – it’s hard to tell at some points and not worth risking. The sheer number of enemies with firearms in some cases also makes it easy to die, though they can shoot each other in tight enough spaces.

SMG-wielding foes only need a single burst to down you, which I’m fine with since they often have a delay before firing. Why are the goofy alligators able to one-hit kill with their melee attacks, adding to the frustration when kicking a group of enemies doesn’t down one who then gets a lucky shot in? Your guess is as good as mine.

"The pulse-pounding action and aggressively pulsing soundtrack, combined with the bizarre setting and fun combat, make for a unique first-person shooting experience."

The lack of checkpoints further exacerbates this, but it’s worse when you factor in the environment. I can appreciate bits and pieces of doors getting in the way while moving or the fact that shooting an enemy that’s about to explode will leave a corpse that’s prone to detonate. The finer details become less appreciable when a random moving cylinder kills me after a firefight because I moved towards the exact spot where it did.

Learning a level, taking down its threats through various means and optimizing one’s run is fun. Random nonsense isn’t. On the bright side, there are options to dial down the difficulty, making enemies and/or bosses easier to deal with or turning off death altogether. I also appreciated the extensive aiming and control options and the boss fights can be endearing, though far from the most mechanically demanding.

Though it only goes slightly above and beyond its selling point – that of angrily kicking dudes in the face – Anger Foot is enjoyable. The pulse-pounding action and aggressively pulsing soundtrack, combined with the bizarre setting and fun combat, make for a unique first-person shooting experience. While some aspects of the default difficulty could use some fine-tuning and checkpoints, at least for the standard levels, would be appreciated, it’s still a unique odyssey of kicking first and not bothering with questions later.

This game was reviewed on PC.

The “story” of Anger Foot is pretty straightforward, as the titular protagonist seeks to retrieve his Preemo Sneakers from four gangs. It’s a lot easier said than done, however, as he must deal with the Violence Gang’s thugs and corrupt cops, the Pollution Gang’s horrors and whatever is going on with the Debauchery Gang.

Fortunately, he has two powerful tools – anger and feet, the latter surprisingly effective at knocking out baddies. It’s also possible to scrounge for firearms, from pistols and SMGs to shotguns and assault rifles. Even a gun with an empty magazine can become a valuable tool and stun targets when thrown.

Head here for more gameplay of Anger Foot, which showcases the first territory and its boss to the Pollution Gang’s sewers. You can also check out how the title has evolved over years of development.

Starting in a level with Violence Gang members, the protagonist kicks, shoots and hops across rooftops. Certain enemies detonate after a period, but you can turn the tables by kicking them into enemies. It’s also a highly effective tactic for kicking grenades back at enemies. Eventually, Anger Foot battles the GooCop in his patented GooCopkopter, which has three phases.

The gameplay cuts to the Pollution Gang’s turf, where you must kick valves to open doors. Shotguns are also available for more potent damage, though they only offer four shots. Nevertheless, with the number of baddies available, it’s just a matter of throwing the empty weapon and scrounging for another. For more gameplay, check out the release date announcement trailer.

Many gameplay fundamentals were already in place with the old build, from kicking down doors (and enemies) to throwing away empty firearms. The new build features substantial improvements to the lighting and character models alongside the environmental destruction. Breaking doors feels more visceral with wood splintering realistically.

The sheer amount of detail in the levels, from graffiti to posters and signs, has also increased dramatically. The expansion in playable space for some sections, including the house in the last comparison, is also notable, along with the variety of enemies and additional weapon types.

Anger Foot will be available on July 11th. Stay tuned for more details before its release.

Among the five new levels is Polluted Bay, where a polluted river has rendered the landscape uninhabitable, and Scorched Caldera, a volcanic crater. While the former is challenging to clean up due to the land’s division by the river, the latter tasks players with terraforming it into a freshwater lake.

Fortunately, you’ll have nine new buildings to assist in this task and a now-fully 3D map for a more detailed view of the environment. The wildlife system has seen the addition of new species like the jaguar, though they now have a “deeper set” of needs to manage.

Nevertheless, watching the environment thrive with life at a more natural clip is nice. Stay tuned for details on when the update goes live on Nintendo Switch in the coming weeks.

Along with the release date, the new trailer also lets us take a look at some of the game’s frantic actions, as well as the variety of footwear that will be available to players, and how different shoes will affect gameplay.

Anger Foot is a fast-paced action game where along with an arsenal of guns, players will also be able to make use of powerful kicks to take on a variety of enemies through levels. The game takes players through various zones in Shit City, where players will have to shoot and kick their way out.

The game, originally announced back in June 2022, will throw players into a variety of different types of levels, ranging from slums, to skyscrapers, and even back down to sewers. Players will have access to a standard shooter arsenal, as well as a variety of shoes so that they can kick in style.

As a reverse city builder, Terra Nil sees players inheriting a ruined wasteland and restoring nature’s beauty. Using various machines, you’ll clean water, plant forests and much more, eventually attracting animals back to their surroundings. Each map is random, offering different challenges when restoring the world as you work around mountains and rivers to restore the environment.

Once the task is finished and the machines are recycled, you can enter Appreciate Mode to observe the landscape. Praised for its environmental messaging, gorgeous aesthetics and soothing soundtrack, Terra Nil has garnered its fair share of accolades (check out the trailer highlighting them here).

Free Lives hasn’t announced its next project or whether more updates are coming to Terra Nil, but it also released Broforce’s final expansion, Broforce Forever, back in August.

Described as a “reverse city builder,” Terra Nil tasks you with transforming a dilapidated wasteland into a vibrant environment. The terrain is randomized, as you work around mountains, rivers and oceans, clearing out the dirty water, planting forests and even attracting wildlife. You’ll use different machines to achieve this purpose, balancing the function of each with the needs of the environment.

Of course, once the ecosystem is restored, you can recycle those machines and return to nature, as it were. Appreciate Mode is then used to, well, appreciate your work and the beauty of nature as a whole.

While not an overly long or complex game, Terra Nil does offer a relaxing presentation with gorgeous hand-painted landscapes and calm music. It also doesn’t hurt that 8 percent of the profits from sales go towards the Endangered Wildlife Trust. Stay tuned for details on future updates.

Pre-orders are also available, which provide a free upgrade to the Deluxe Edition for a soundtrack and digital art book. Up to and after launch, profits from Terra Nil will be donated to the Endangered Wildlife Trust. In a press release, co-creator and lead designer Sam Alfred said, “From the very beginning of development, we’ve wanted Terra Nil to be able to have a real-world impact.

“After much searching, we found the perfect partner to make this happen in the Endangered Wildlife Trust. Free Lives will be donating a portion of the profits of each sale of Terra Nil on Steam to the Endangered Wildlife Trust to help them in their efforts to preserve and restore ecosystems in the real world.”

Described as a “reverse city builder,” Terra Nil starts players in a barren wasteland. Your goal is to restore its ecosystem using a variety of machines, whether it’s cleaning the oceans and cultivating coral reefs or planting trees and adding wildlife. Biomes range from volcanic glaciers and tropical islands to the ruins of cities with unique climates, flora and fauna, and geology.

They’re all procedurally generated, ensuring a different experience each time. However, total playtime should be about six to eight hours, and there are alternate levels to unlock. Once a biome’s ecosystem has been restored, you can recycle the machines and admire it all with Appreciate Mode.

Terra Nil takes place on procedurally generated maps, which are essentially wastelands. Using various machines, the world brims to life in different ways. Trees emerge, wildlife returns, coral reefs grow, and much more. Once the environment is fully restored, you can recycle your machines for a return to nature.

You can also enter Appreciate Mode and glimpse upon the restored world, admiring its various spectacles. The environments are hand-painted and the music creates a relaxing atmosphere. Even without the latter, the ambient sound effects are also nice to listen to. Stay tuned for more details and gameplay on Terra Nil in the coming months.