FORECLOSED
- August 12, 2021
- Antab Studio
- 4h median play time
FORECLOSED wants players to embrace its brightly colored future, but watch out for a little jank and some frustrating sections that may scare some people off.
"FORECLOSED is a single-player, 4-hour cyberpunk shooter game, featuring an interactive graphic novel-style narrative. As protagonist Evan Kapnos, players must escape a city that's auctioned off his identity and implants. Combat is hi-tech, with RPG-like skill system upgrades, blending seamlessly with cinematics in a visually striking comic book aesthetic."
Reviews
- The comic book art style and visual presentation are striking and engaging, enhancing the overall experience.
- The game features a variety of mechanics, including shooting, stealth, and unique abilities, which add some depth to the gameplay.
- The story, while simple, is interesting and provides a solid foundation for the gameplay, making it enjoyable for fans of the cyberpunk genre.
- The gameplay is repetitive and lacks depth, with poor enemy AI and clunky shooting mechanics that detract from the experience.
- The game is short, often feeling abrupt and leaving players wanting more, with some narrative threads not fully explored.
- Technical issues, such as glitches and awkward camera angles, can lead to frustrating gameplay moments and hinder immersion.
- story60 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The story of "Foreclosed" is generally viewed as simplistic and generic, often failing to engage players despite its visually appealing comic book aesthetic. While some appreciate the potential for a more complex narrative, many criticize the execution, noting a lack of depth, predictable plot points, and unsatisfying character development. Overall, the game offers a brief cyberpunk experience that may appeal to genre fans, but it struggles to deliver a compelling story or meaningful player choices.
“There's a thing I really admire about Foreclosed, and that's its story.”
“The execution of the story, narratively and visually (using the interactive comic book frames) was excellent!”
“Foreclosed is a cool, short cyberpunk story with some cool visuals and moves along at an enjoyable pace before it concludes.”
“The story doesn't deserve to be told.”
“The story is classic corporate/secret experiments stuff, there's nothing to talk about.”
“Foreclosed is one of those games that you just hope that the developer learns from and gets a chance to make another game in the future, as potential is here with the interesting presentation style and different story camera angles, but it fails to deliver in the core experience of the game.”
- gameplay53 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The gameplay in "Foreclosed" is a mixed bag, featuring a variety of mechanics such as shooting, stealth, and puzzles, but often criticized for its simplicity and lack of depth. While the comic book aesthetic and some unique abilities add charm, many reviewers found the combat repetitive and the overall experience lacking in enemy variety and meaningful evolution. Despite its visual appeal, the gameplay struggles with execution, leading to a less engaging experience than expected.
“The gameplay is both action and stealth oriented.”
“Despite being 3 hours long, there is actually a rich variety in the gameplay.”
“This game is a short linear experience; however, there is a surprising amount of game mechanics going on: shooting, stealth, weapon upgrades, abilities, kinetic object manipulation, arrow input puzzles (I really loved these), blockchain transaction puzzles, signal tracking, spatial puzzles, mazes... admittedly none of the mechanics are too deep, but it is so much more than you'd expect for such a small experience.”
“While foreclosed is visually a very great work and manages to make the story somewhat interesting, the combat gameplay is so one-dimensional due to lack of enemy variation or big improvements on player ways to fight that it's hard to recommend for anyone unless they really want to witness great art-style.”
“Sadly, it's the gameplay that fails to deliver.”
“Unfortunately for foreclosed, the glitches, confusing systems, and undercooked game mechanics overwhelmed my experience with the game.”
- graphics45 mentions
- 44 % positive mentions
- 49 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The graphics of Foreclosed are characterized by a striking comic book aesthetic that many players appreciate, particularly for its creative camera work and visual storytelling. However, despite the appealing art style, the overall graphical execution is often deemed average, with criticisms aimed at the repetitive combat and lack of depth in gameplay mechanics. While the visuals capture the cyberpunk theme effectively, they do not compensate for the game's shortcomings in other areas, leaving some players feeling underwhelmed.
“I have to say it was not what I expected, the comic book visuals went much deeper than I thought with some very creative camera work to realize interactive vignettes at times.”
“I bought it for the unique aesthetic, and it didn't disappoint.”
“Foreclosed features a masterful comic book art style and pumping sci-fi soundtrack, but its average action and failure to capitalize on its cyberpunk themes make it a hard sell.”
“Apart from the comic-book style visuals and different story camera angles, the game is decent at best, but probably bad if you want to spend 20 euros on it and get your money's worth.”
“Foreclosed is a reminder of the adage to not judge a book by its cover as despite its singular, eye-catching comic-book-meets-cyberpunk aesthetic and some promising mechanics, the execution is a botched one.”
“Even taking into consideration the well-realized cyberpunk world, and the clever use of comic book aesthetics to present the game’s narrative, Foreclosed fails to impress on most fronts.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game features dark, edgy humor that revolves around sharply dressed characters with lethal skills, highlighting their impact on the lives of ordinary individuals. This blend of wit and cynicism adds a unique flavor to the overall experience.
“Dark, edgy humor about sharp-dressed people with even sharper skills ruining lives for the average person!”
- character development2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviewers highlight that significant effort and care were invested in the character design, suggesting a strong focus on creating well-developed and engaging characters.
“A lot of love went into the level and character design.”
- music2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
The music in Foreclosed is highlighted as a standout feature, with a "bangin'" sci-fi soundtrack that complements its striking comic book art style. However, some reviewers feel that the overall experience is diminished by average action and a lack of depth in its cyberpunk themes.
“The cyberpunk aesthetic is captured perfectly in an arresting comic book style, and the soundtrack is banging, with the core action featuring moments of fun.”
“Foreclosed features a masterful comic book art style and pumping sci-fi soundtrack, but its average action and failure to capitalize on its cyberpunk themes make it a hard sell.”
“The cyberpunk aesthetic is captured perfectly in an arresting comic book style, but the soundtrack, while energetic, doesn't elevate the overall experience.”
“The music is catchy, but it quickly becomes repetitive and fails to enhance the gameplay.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is significantly hampered by numerous glitches, confusing systems, and underdeveloped mechanics, leading to a frustrating experience for players. Issues such as graphical errors and flawed enemy AI further detract from gameplay, while the RPG progression system is described as opaque and ineffective.
“Unfortunately, the glitches, confusing systems, and undercooked game mechanics overwhelmed my experience with the game.”
“There are many underdeveloped systems, graphical glitches, enemy AI issues, and an opaque, ultimately obsolete RPG progression system.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game suffers from low replayability due to its short length of approximately three hours, limited to a single weapon, and poor AI that detracts from the experience. Additionally, questionable level design and dynamic camera angles can hinder gameplay, further diminishing the incentive to replay.
“You're limited to only having one gun throughout the entire game, which severely impacts replayability.”
“The poor AI spends the majority of the time shooting at walls, making each playthrough feel repetitive.”
“The short length of the game (3 hours) combined with questionable level design choices results in little to no replayability.”
Critic Reviews
Foreclosed Review (Xbox Series) – Drawn and Quartered
Related
80%Foreclosed Review
Foreclosed features a masterful comic book art style and pumping sci-fi soundtrack, but its average action and failure to capitalise on its cyberpunk themes make it a hard sell.
60%FORECLOSED Review (PS5)
Despite its issues and archaic mechanics, FORECLOSED manages to deliver a pretty solid narrative that’s carried on the back of its comic book-style presentation.
60%