😎 Foreclosed | XSX | Review | 6.5/10 | ‘Metal Gear Solid for the Hipster Generation’ 😎 @showmemagic #IndieGame #IndieGameDev @MergeGamesLtd

I’ve already sunk several hours into Cyberpunk 2077, so I’m going into this review hot and ready to be entertained. Unfortunately, I’ve already lost interest in the aforementioned game, so let’s see how Foreclosed holds out. Don’t worry, I won’t be making any comparisons, that’s just unfair. It’s just good to know I’m in the futurist zone and keen to play this game. It has, how the French would half-say, ‘piqued my interest’.

Foreclosed is a sleek, stylish interactive graphic novel and immersive narrative-driven action-shooter with the difficulty default setting of Hard-Boiled! I like my games to be sunny-side up - but sod it, I’m in the mood for a challenge. Le regret?

Foreclosed is set in the year 2084: Year of the Cyberpunks, May 3rd 2084 to be exact. I’m not going to look it up, but I assume it’s a Monday because our protagonist Evan Kapnos has just woken up to the news that his life has turned to crap …and it’s raining… it has to be a blue Monday.  Evan has lost his job, his brain implants* and access to the city grid – he has been Foreclosed! 

His objective is to escape and reach the justice court before he loses his identity and implants forever to the highest bidder in some black-market gumtree.  I’m in a hurry to leave his apartment, mainly to escape to God awful reggae-infused song that’s way too loud and making my hangover worse.

The combat is of course hi-tech, which will see you become the silent overlord by using your upgraded implants to hack and overheat the CPU mind of the well-dressed henchmen. Acquiring Telekinesis will see you using the environment to your advantage and get creative with your kills. Killing the suits and hacking equipment will gain you firmware XP which can be used to update your skills such as:  Raise Mental barriers, to Temporarily Cage an Enemy – Yes, it’s as cool as it sounds!

The hacking system looks like it was designed by Golden Labrador for a small child. Likeable? Yes, but it might as well have a big red button reading “press to hack.” It’s a nice idea but there’s no real challenge.

This game feels like a cool Metal Gear Solid, where stealth will see you victorious. Fear not though, your thirst for blood is rewarded with quite a tasty, satisfying hand cannon that can be upgraded to blast your way through the neon filth. Unfortunately, the game is slightly let down by the gun controls. They are not perfect - far from it - and you will need to adjust the gun aim and speed assist settings to reduce your spraying and praying all over this cinematic, conspiracy-themed adventure.  You will get used to the controls - and it does add a strategic element to your attacks which will keep you entertained, and make those hard-earned kills so much sweeter.

Corporate junkies are not the only threat. Be careful during the interactions with your helper, answer questions in the ‘wrong’ order and you’ll end up in an endless conversation loop, like the small talk between parents at the school gate.

*The mobile phone has been replaced with spinal implants. What could possibly go wrong?! Is this the new order?