Foreclosed is a narrative-driven third-person action-adventure, where you play as Evan Kapnos finding out why his life suddenly went downhill. In this world, everybody has implants or augments of some kind. They are integrated into society. But your augments are special.
Level up and upgrade your weapon and implant to take down all who get in his way. Hack your way through the world using your implants, using a simple but elegant hacking mechanic. That when under pressure, the easiest of things can become a nightmare.
The art style of Foreclosed may look very similar to those who have played the first-person shooter XIII back in the day. Foreclosed is standing on the shoulders of giants from a graphical standpoint, and it reaches the sky like no other. It does the cel-shaded aesthetics true justice. From the comic book style cutscenes to the viewpoint of many angles all on one screen, it all comes together perfectly—like a comic book, it shows, not tells.
As you progress through the game, your special implants will learn from your experiences and give you new abilities to use against your enemies. This is one of the strengths of Foreclosed. It gives a sense of progression. One other strength is the game’s flow, which is stupendous. One level passes into another practically seamlessly. If you blink, you’d never know when a level ended and another begins. It’s the ultimate form of a comic book come to life.
Your main weapon is a gun that can be upgraded with various passive effects, such as explosive shots and bullets that penetrate armor. You can also learn abilities such as shielding yourself or caging an enemy away. But using abilities will overheat your implants, and if they overheat too much, Kapnos will grab his head in agony for a few seconds, leaving you as one wide-open target.
However, while the gun passives are exceptional, your implant skills are practically useless—apart from a few near-end-game skills. Most are uninteresting and are not needed, since landing head shots can take enemies down faster than any skill in your arsenal.
Verdict - We Recommend
Foreclosed is a short game, one that aims high and strikes success. The narrative isn’t that engaging, but the gunplay and the mini puzzles bring out the fun in this title. The HUDless screen adds to the effect of playing a comic book, and the flow between sections is phenomenal. The added dialogue options make you in charge of Kapnos; you decide what he should do, but ultimately, it changes nothing.
The forced stealth sections with backtracking are a letdown, along with the skills you can learn, but that doesn’t degrade from the experience as a whole. If you are after a spiritual successor of XIII, then Foreclosed is as close as it’s going to get.
