These Two Fast, Silly Shooters Have Finally Come to Consoles (And One Is Much Better)
There has been a dearth of single-player first-person shooters from the larger studios in recent memory, a drastic overcorrection from the flood of them that crowded the market in the decades prior. But it’s a hole that smaller or indie teams have been filling, shotgun in hand. They often harken directly back to the genre’s earlier days like Dusk and Ion Fury, or they capture the fast-paced spirit of those titles. Anger Foot and I Am Your Beast are two strangely similar games that fall in in the latter category and have finally escaped their PC prisons. And despite having a tempo strongly benefitting the more accurate control of a mouse, the two finally get to spread their greatness to new platforms. Well, mostly.
The two shooters don’t seem too similar from the outlook, but have nearly identical gameplay loops. Both take players through short challenge levels where a clean run often only takes a minute or two. The focus is on fast firefights where players chuck their guns after a few blasts instead of reloading them — even an empty firearm can be a deadly tool when coupled with an accurate throwing arm. Players are encouraged to return to these levels to chase higher scores, faster times, and secondary challenges, all of which are accompanied by a thunderous soundtrack that booms as loudly as the action.
With such similar goals, it all comes down to execution, and Anger Foot is the better executioner in all senses of the term. I Am Your Beast’s cel-shaded art style gives it a solid comic book-like look, but Anger Foot’s Adult Swim-esque visual style and color palette is much more striking and unique. Lively pinks and teals soak this grimy, depraved world in bright colors, clashing with Muppet-esque NPCs who are often sitting on toilets or groaning about crime through surprisingly hilarious writing. Shit City, as it is appropriately called, has an undeniable style that is made up of conflicting grossness and vibrancy; it’s a lovely acrylic painting of an overflowing dumpster.
The contrast between the colors makes everything easy to pick out and the enemy silhouettes are different enough so that it’s not hard to discern between the surprisingly diverse amount of anthropomorphic criminals. Death comes swiftly, so while there are some times where a shotgun-wielding middle finger-headed guy is cheaply waiting just around a corner, being able to quickly know what is what is crucial. Guns also have a bright pink shine to them and will automatically be picked up off freshly killed enemies or the ground, which is a thoughtful bit of streamlining.
I Am Your Beast falters because it’s more muddled. The option to highlight items must be bugged because it just doesn’t work, and the game pays dearly for it. Because of this and the obscenely dark nighttime levels, it’s tough to spot where the armor, weapons, and health pickups are, and that works directly against a game that is about getting into a murderous flow state. Hugo Martin, director of the recent DOOM trilogy, explained that those three hellish shooters have hard-to-miss glowing pickups because the player’s eye has to be guided toward the important parts when moving at high speeds. Visibility and clarity are crucial, and it’s advice developer Strange Scaffold would be wise to heed. At least the enemies have bright red goggles like Killzone’s iconic Helghast soldiers.
Even if that alleged bug is squashed and the darker stages are made brighter, I Am Your Beast’s action still doesn’t flow as well. Both the cooldown timer between melee hits and the finicky nature of grabbing a gun out of the air slow things down, as does the high health each enemy has. Instead of cleanly carving through squadrons like the elite predator the game hypes up protagonist Alphonse Harding to be, those who don’t land headshots have to slow down and pump multiple bullets into each soldier before moving on. Even stunned enemies who convulse on the ground don’t die in one shot from most weapons. With a ton of practice, it is possible to become the effortless murderer Alphonse is portrayed to be and that process can be gratifying, but the path getting there is often frustrating because of how much the game’s more laborious systems gum it all up.
Anger Foot is the complete opposite, and it’s a big reason why it is the superior shooter. Almost every single twisted adversary dies after a single shot or kick, so it’s much easier to keep up the momentum. Aggressively booting open a door and laying waste to everyone in just a few seconds is much more exhilarating because of how empowering it is. It still requires plenty of trial and error since it usually only takes two shots to die, but glass cannon duels are much more conducive to thrilling runs since there’s less time wasted on each individual; it’s go, go, go.
Anger Foot is like Hotline Miami in that sense, a comparison that’s further accentuated by its sneaker system and incredible soundtrack. Picking unlockable shoes lets players customize how they wreak havoc in Shit City, as their effects can range from giving players a double jump to making kicked doors explode. It adds an extra bit of flair and variety, but sadly isn’t reinforced by its challenge system. These optional objectives are almost always based around grueling, unfun goals like speedrunning and not using guns. It’s a terrible way to highlight Anger Foot’s many different abilities, and they would better suit the intended tone by being centered around clearing levels with certain shoes. I Am Your Beast’s optional objectives are better and add more welcome replayability, but there’s not much of an incentive to go back outside of the pride that comes from nailing a run, which is sometimes enough for the better levels.
Even though I Am Your Beast’s gameplay tempo frustratingly fluctuates, its soundtrack is consistently excellent and thumps as it should with its creative mix of hip hop and house music. Anger Foot, again, comes out ahead with its vibrating score because of how it factors into gameplay. It’s always pulsing in the background and then seamlessly erupts when Shit City’s worst pour out of whatever outhouse or sewer pipe they were holed up in. These outbursts can sometimes start and stop suddenly as firefights aren’t always long, but this fusion — along with the quality of the beats — supports and augments the frenetic energy seen in the gunplay. Even the level wrap-up tune slaps.
Anger Foot and I Am Your Beast play their parts in elevating the type of solo first-person shooters AAA studios have more or less forsaken in their pursuit of the golden live service goose. This gives both of them value, but it’s hard to ignore how much smoother Anger Foot is with its more appealing aesthetic, wittier dialogue, and smoother gunplay. It just kicks a bit more ass.
