FORECLOSED Review (PS5)

I think it’s fair to say that 2021 is the year of cyberpunk games, yeah? Yes, I’m counting Cyberpunk 2077, too, because, let’s be honest, we all waited well into 2021 for those patches. Then we had the action-packed, twin-stick shooter The Ascent, where mega-corporations owned you. Now, we’re getting a third-person shooter called FORECLOSED by Antab Studio. A cyberpunk title where you have to fight for your identity’s freedom, but this one takes a unique approach. If you’re a fan of comic books, you might want to give this one a shot.

Developer: Antab Studio
Publisher: Merge Games
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series
Review copy played on the PS5.
Release Date: August 12th, 2021

Fight for your rights

Set in a cyberpunk future where corporations own your identity. Ethan Kapnos wakes up one morning to discover that Securtech, the corporation that owns his identity, had suddenly gone bankrupt. As he makes his way to court to settle things, an attempt is made on his life. Ethan’s experimental implants activate moments before, and thanks to a mysterious woman, he narrowly escapes with his life. On the run from the powers that be, it’s up to Ethan and his new ally to get to the bottom of things.

I actually really enjoyed the way the Antab Studio committed itself to the game’s comic book storytelling. As you progress through the game, the scenes shift around and form panels on a page. Dialogue boxes fill the screen during the uneventful portions of the game, and it lends itself to the more “cinematic” moments in the game. One moment that stood out for me was when Evan gets captured in the earlier hours of the game. It’s a moment where one of his implants is activated, and he’s able to use telekinesis. As his mysterious capture leaves, you’re able to lift a nearby fire hydrant and chuck it at the clueless schmuck nearby. The whole scene leading up to that moment is really cool. Another cool moment is where I shimmied along a ledge, and then a panel appeared on the screen. The panel was an image of a window that slid closer to Ethan as he moved. When the panel was under Ethan, I could leap across, smashing through the window and into a fight.

One of the weaker parts of the storytelling is the voice acting. It just kind of sits in the middle of good and bad. Much of the game is narrated by Evan in a noir-styled fashion. He’s a man who has his whole life pulled out from under him. So, it’s understandable he’d have something to say about it. The problem is, he just says some things without much feeling. For instance, he makes this reference to lights and trains. “I thought I saw the light at the end of the tunnel,” he thinks to himself. “As it turns out, that light was a speeding train coming right at me.” Now, that line has the potential to sound really good. However, thanks to the monotone way it’s delivered, it causes it to fall flat on its face. I did enjoy that your partner’s voice comes out of the controller speaker if you’re playing on the PlayStation console. It added that subtle touch of immersion.

Bringing out the big gun

FORECLOSED is a third-person shooter that, despite its outdated mechanics, still manages to be quite fun. Ethan only has access to a cybernetic pistol that is powered by his implants. As he takes down his foes, Ethan gains experience after each encounter, gradually earning skill points in the process. There are twelve abilities to unlock, six for Ethan’s implants and six for the gun. Unlocking these abilities makes confrontations much simpler and a lot more fun. Going into a gun against six armed and shielded men is fun when you have telekinetic bullets and shields.

Spamming Ethan’s abilities are ill-advised, however, as they do generate heat, including firing your gun. If you do happen to overheat your implants, you’ll be stunned for a few seconds, which would be incredibly bad. There’s nothing like burning out and exposing Ethan to a room full of enemies. Thankfully, however, cooling down your implants only takes a few seconds of waiting, so it never feels like an inconvenience. There’s also an upgrade that allows you to generate less heat when using your newly acquired abilities.

I played on the “Hard-boiled” difficulty setting and quickly learned that Ethan’s implants do not make him more resilient. If you don’t utilize Ethan’s newfound abilities, those guards will make quick work of you. One mechanic that would have greatly benefited FORECLOSED is a cover system. I found myself consistently edging Ethan in and out of cover because the AI is pinpoint accurate. Expose too much of Ethan, and it’s back to the checkpoint with you. Thankfully, you can swap shoulders to alleviate a small portion of the stress. Though there is a stealth mechanic, it’s under-utilized, and the AI spots you far too quickly. Don’t confuse that complaint with being easy to be caught, though. As long as Ethan isn’t within their line of sight, the AI doesn’t notice ANYTHING. Two guards could be having a staring contest as you murder one from behind cover, and the other wouldn’t lift a finger.

Another thing that really hurts the gunplay is the camera. When you’re not aiming, the camera feels impossible to control with a joystick. While you can adjust Ethan’s aiming speed, that only affects you when the gun is drawn. Otherwise, it moves much faster than it should, making it unreliable, ultimately slowing down gunfights for me. These two things shouldn’t be separate entities, and hopefully, a future patch will fix it.

The game does have some puzzles to solve but it doesn’t do a good job at explaining them. Some puzzles only appear once and then never again. One level had me wire an electrical box, and another had me playing a memory matching game. It never really went into what to do, nor did they ever return after I did them the first time. I guess, on the one hand, it makes specific moments in the game feel more unique. On the other, it just makes me wonder why they ever existed in the first place. It’s also 2021, and FORECLOSED features forced stealth sections. They may be few and far between, but they’re also a cardinal sin these days.

Finally, for my last issue, when the game started to pick up, I had reached the end. I don’t mean that in a sense that it was just that fun, and time flew by. Having gotten the hang of the mechanics and the populated levels with tools to use, it was over. FORECLOSED is way too short, and it doesn’t offer enough for multiple playthroughs. There are two decisions you can make in the game, but they’re minor at best. One upside to this, though, is that it’s going to be a very easy platinum trophy or 1000 achievement score.

Do you like comic books?

I do like the comic book style of the environments immensely. When you look at the other cyberpunk games coming out lately, it makes FORECLOSED a much more unique title. That being said, it also hurts the game. Everything looks like the background in a comic book and there isn’t a whole lot of detail looking closer. The HUD is pretty clean and minimal so it’s a lot easier to notice these things. Again though, that’s where the stylized comic book transitions help it. Another detail that builds on that comic book aesthetic are Ethan’s implants. When in use, Ethan’s implants can be seen outlined inside of his body. It reminds me of those moments in a comic where the hero uses their powers and it’s cool.

Playing the game on my PS5, I never noticed any performance issues except for one. It isn’t a performance issue either. When you finish a gunfight and have eliminated all threats, the last kill slows down briefly. It signals that you’re safe but the problem is, it feels awkward, like the frame rate bottomed out momentarily. Another thing I noticed was that the game doesn’t take great advantage of the haptics on the PS5. You can feel some resistance from the triggers when firing the gun, but it’s minimal at best.

As I said earlier, the voice acting is just in the middle of the pack. It has its upsides but plenty of downsides as well. The guns sound fine, and Ethan’s gun will change depending on the perk you’ve equipped it with. For instance, using telekinetic bullets make it sound much quieter. I think the best part of the audio is making it come through your controller. It’s cool, and referring back to a previous statement; it adds that touch of immersion. 

I don’t have much to say about the soundtrack other than it’s loud and blends into the action well enough. Nothing about it ever really stood out about it, and at the end of the day, it’s just generic. This is disappointing, considering its genre. With cyberpunk, you don’t think of generic action music. Your mind goes to something with more tech behind it that’s harder and darker. The FORECLOSED soundtrack does not have that.

A word from the author

When it comes down to it, I ultimately enjoyed FORECLOSED. However, I have to acknowledge the archaic mechanics like forced stealth and lack of a cover system. Thankfully, it does present strong, narrative-driven gameplay thanks to the comic book style storytelling. I was just sad to have reached the end so quickly. At least it doesn’t overstay its welcome, unlike some games have in this day and age. Hopefully, Antab Studio has something else planned for Ethan in the future because I would come back for more.