One Really Cool Trick
HIGH A unique mechanic for a roguelike.
LOW Very low replay value.
WTF How do I kick a bomb without it blowing up?
TRANSCRIPT:
Hi everyone! Eugene Sax here with another review from GameCritics.com!
I played a lot of soccer growing up, so I have a soft spot any time a game uses it as a mechanic in a more fantastical setting than the average FIFA match. Footgun Underground is exactly this, and gives me the option to use a soccer ball as a weapon and in roguelike fashion? Yes please!
Players take control of a protagonist who’s got a bionic leg and uses a deadly ball as a weapon. Players take a subway car through five different worlds, fighting enemies along the way and picking up money and upgrades as they do so. Players will occasionally find shops for additional upgrades like more health or kick strength, and ball upgrades like growing it in size as it bounces off walls or making it leave a trail of bombs as it’s kicked. At the end of each world, players will encounter a boss enemy they must defeat in order to escape this hellish subway ride.
Footgun Underground rewards players for skillful kicks in each room — bouncing the ball against walls to have it hit enemies multiple times with a single kick will be the most efficient way to deal spherical death, but depending on their build at the moment — remember, this is a roguelike — players might want to hit the ball off of a few walls first before it collides with the enemy, or perhaps the player might want to aim a single straight kick to deal max damage by hitting enemies directly.
While mastering ball handling in the way I’ve just described might seem like a novel way to approach combat, it’s a lot easier to talk about it in a video than it is to do it while playing.
While the hero does have the option to kick the ball while in place in order to take better aim, that requires them to stand still — not conducive to staying alive as enemies constantly attack. However, most arenas are small enough to not require much aiming. Simply kicking the ball again and again will get the job done in as much time as it would have taken to aim each kick. This is especially true in boss battles, as every one is a bullet sponge, er, rather, a ball sponge, and they take ages to defeat whether the shots are skillful or not.
However, while the ball handling doesn’t quite deliver on its concept, the biggest crime is that progression isn’t satisfying.
After each run, players can use currency to take a chance on a gacha machine for random items that will later appear randomly in each run. However, none of these upgrades felt worthwhile. One of the balls I unlocked was a turret which stuck to a wall and fired three shots instead of bouncing, but the shots didn’t do any more damage than the basic ball. Another upgrade was a “Bolt” ball. It dealt extra damage while it hit enemies, but the ball actively moved away from the player, making it extremely hard to kick. I understand good game design often deals in trade-offs, but these unlocks have to offer at least some joy, or else, what’s the point?
I had so much hope for Footgun Underground, but it fell short in so many ways. It has a unique concept and weapon, but fails to execute it in a way that kept my interest for more than a couple of runs. Many of the upgrades feel unnecessary, and the bosses have too much health. Players itching to try a new roguelike may find something to enjoy here that I didn’t, but there are so many other good roguelikes on the market right now that it’s hard to recommend this one.
For me, Footgun Underground gets six unneeded unlock capsules out of ten.
Disclosures: This game is developed by Turtle Knight Games and published by CobraTekku Games. It is currently available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 4.5 hours of play were spent playing, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.
Parents: The game is not rated through the ESRB. Players will be kicking balls made of metal, lava, a bomb, etc. In one area, enemies will explode into blood splatters, while others normally explode into pixels and dust as they are killed. The player explodes into pixels without blood when killed. There is no text in the game for language.
Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: There is text in-game, but it is not resizable. Audio mostly serves aesthetic purposes and is not needed for gameplay. The game is fully accessible.
Remappable controls: Controls are not remappable.
While Sonic and Street Fighter were great places to start, his first love was Final Fantasy X when his dad bought a PS2. Ever since, that love for gaming has evolved -- there are a number of game worlds out there, and he intends to explore them all. RPG to horror, platformers to casual and everything in between -- if it’s available, he’ll play it.
While his time is short between writing reviews, tabletop gaming, and attempting to start a cheesecake business, he has caught all 806 pokemon and can speedrun Star Fox 64 in less than 40 minutes. He’s always looking for new things to try and new challenges to conquer. You can find him on Twitter -- @eugene_sax.
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