You’ve probably seen a movie or TV show where someone from the FBI kicks open a door. That officer is likely wearing SWAT clothing, complete with a riot shield, a nine millimeter, boots, and a helmet.
In Anger Foot, it’s like you’re actually playing the role of that FBI agent. Except you’re an alligator without the armor. Just wearing jeans and all you start off with is your trusty foot.
That foot is not one to be mocked though. With it, you’ll bust open doors. Doors that lead to other rooms, bathrooms, kitchens, empty closets filled with cockroaches. Or a door that leads to yet another door, which you’ll kick like a stack of dominos. That door will fly at such a high velocity it will kill anyone in its path (and more often than not, an idiot will be standing in the center of the room who will be the unfortunate victim of their demise). That foot will kill anyone who dares stand in its way with just a single blow. Stay away from the foot!
The game is set in first-person. There are ten levels, most of which aren’t going to last any longer than a minute or two. No particular boss here, but there are five different types of enemies:
- Alligators who are equipped with either a pipe or a spiked bat that will try to get close and knock you out with just one hit
- Hooded blue creatures who are equipped with a pistol
- Red dogs who wield an Uzi
- Creatures who possess shotguns — I can’t tell if they’re a pig or an octopus
- Pigeons who are equipped with a riot shield and pistol
Sounds strange, doesn’t it? Everyone’s an animal in this game, yet have human characteristics. Maybe there’s some trend going on?
During the first level, all you have for a weapon is your foot. Foot your way through the doors, through the enemies, into a staircase that will move on to the next level. From the second level onward, you’ll be able to use a firearm, so you can dispose of enemies from a distance rather than always having to get up close, or set off an explosive barrel that will get rid of them in quick succession.
Run out of ammo? Just chuck the weapon at someone and they will get knocked out. If they were in possession of a firearm, just walk over to them and your character will pick it up automatically, with a full clip inside. There’s no reloading in this game.
One of the things that make this game intense is the music. It starts off with a beat, but will grow more intense after you kick a door. It makes sense, because that second or two after you kicked the door open is when you have to think fast, aim your crosshair carefully, and try to get everyone in that room before they get you. If you don’t react fast enough, you’ll be shot dead. Your enemies will dance in mockery as the camera becomes filled with blood. Then you’ll have to start the level all over again.
Trying to eliminate everyone at once after you’ve busted open a door isn’t the only option, however. One of the things that I’ve tried to do is wait for the enemies to come to me and take them down one at a time, without entering the new room. This allowed me to play the game a bit more safely, having more cover from the walls in the event of enemy fire.
Playing the game in its entirety probably won’t take any longer than 15 minutes, but somehow you get this great satisfaction from kicking doors and anxiously anticipating what’s going to lie in store for the next room.
As for the setting of the game or the lore, there isn’t much detail on the game’s itch.io page, but other reviewers are apparently reminded of Hotline Miami, if that’s your thing. If I were to take a guess, the game has an 80s or 90s aesthetic to it; don’t ask me how I came to that conclusion. But I just proved myself wrong when there’s a poster in the game that points to modern-day musicians:
As you can probably tell, because of the graphic nature of this game, you might want to keep your kids away from this one.
The great thing about this game? It’s free, both as in monetarily free and DRM-free. Even better? There’s a native Linux version here that runs fantastic. There’s no gamepad support, but you can easily use one by adding the game as a shortcut on Steam, then configuring the pad in BPM to mimic the mouse/keyboard.
Anger Foot got a big update a few months ago that added a few more music tracks, enemies, weapons, levels, among many other enhancements. And evidently the game will continue to get updated, as seen by some of the developer’s comments on the game’s itch.io page. So, if you ever feel like busting open a door with mere human strength, Anger Foot could be your remedy.
