Bite-sized Review:
Footgun: Underground

By Chris Picone, 14 April 2024

Footgun: Underground is a super fun, innovative roguelite shooter. The premise is simple: It's just like any other shooter of its type, but instead of shooting the baddies, you kick a weaponised soccer ball at them.  

Aesthetics

Gorgeous retro-modern pixel art.  You play through what's supposed to be an underground rail system but it reminds me more of a sewer, with pipes and drains all over the place acting as spawn points for freakish monsters.  UI's simple and slick, the characters and monsters look awesome (especially the bosses); levels are fairly simple but the special effects are really splashy and fun. It's a great looking game!

Gameplay

Kicking a ball instead of shooting a gun might not sound like a big change but it's all the little things that make this special. To aim, you have to bounce the ball to aim higher, which can be tricky in its own way. But once you kick the ball it then bounces off the walls, so you have to really position yourself and time your kick because the arc the ball returns to you on determines where it's going to go next. It takes some getting used to. And if that wasn't enough, you get two balls. You can and should shoot them both off because sometimes the enemies will come at you thick and fast - some on the ground and some in the air, and from all directions - but if the balls hit each other it changes their trajectory.  There's a good range of enemies; some just patrol back and forward but some charge at you, some shoot, some fly, and the combinations can get tricky. Particularly when there are spikes or other traps on the ground, platforms that limit your movement and angled walls that can send your balls all over the place if you aren't careful. The boss fights are a lot of fun but the real treat is that throughout each run you can find special levels where you have to kick your balls to hit targets or pop a pinyata.  You collect coins with each runs and eventually get to unlock a fairly extensive range of new weapons, upgrades, and characters. The unlock progression is super smooth, meaning you have some new toy to play with on each new run and as a result the game never feels boring.

Verdict

If you're into shooters, Footgun is a real gem.  I've been having an absolute blast with it - I've only beaten the first two bosses so far but I'm not even close to tiring of it yet.  

Links: 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2206240/Footgun_Underground/