Release Date: August 12, 2021 - PS4, PS5 , Xbox One and X/S, PC
Developer: Antab Studio
Platform: PlayStation 5
Price: $16.99, Also included with PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium

Bringing comics and graphic novels to life while still making them look and feel authentic is usually best seen in a literal sense with motion comics. Also, the DCAU has faithfully adapted many graphic novels into movie format with them often replicating panels exactly as well as dialogue. Naturally, these shots don’t literally look like panels as they are not rectangular nor do they have a border. Shows like Samurai Jack did this technique excellently but it was still something you watched–not something you played. FORECLOSED is a cyberpunk game that decided to do it themselves with neon soaked visuals and a narrative told through panels and speech bubbles.

FORECLOSED released on August 12, 2021 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One and S and Nintendo Switch. This game is included in PlayStation’s Game Catalog and I was able to try it out in August of 2022. I took interest in it based on the art style alone as well as the plot. Being it was a third person shooter, it wasn’t unfamiliar territory for me and the core elements often seen in this genre are here: duck-and-cover combat, stealth based moments and environmental traversal. Unfortunately, each of these aspects has its flaws and it doesn’t make the game unplayable, but the issues are hard to ignore.

The lights are definitely on. Image via author.

The story follows Evan Kapnos who learns the company he worked for has gone bankrupt and his identity (that includes a brain implant)–which is connected directly to it–has now been foreclosed. Naturally, he must find out why and meet people who want to help and hinder him from finding out what’s really going on. This plot combines something new with something we’ve seen many times but the stylization of FORECLOSED is its biggest draw. Dialogue scenes between characters are done through speech bubbles and Kapnos’ internal monologue pops up as square boxes to indicate they are internal thoughts. The voice acting in the game isn’t the best with his voice actor really playing up the “gritty conflicted male protagonist” tone a little too much. Sometimes the audio differs ever so slightly (a “the” or “of” may be used in a different place or not at all) from what is seen in the speech bubbles and the script itself falls victim to tropes. There are multiple moments throughout the game where the comic book-like panels become part of the gameplay as we see Kapnos walk across a rooftop through the panel itself in a wide or top-down angle. This helps mix up the over-the-shoulder perspective and helps enhance immersion. Comic book-like sound effects pop up on the screen throughout the game too, such as anytime Kapnos shoots we see “Blaam!” and various other onomatopoeia for other happenings. These words are not too large nor distracting from gameplay and tie in well with the PS5’s DualSense controller

The panels and comic book sound effects are all over the game. Image via author.

The mechanics of FORECLOSED are where it unfortunately falls short. Stealth moments are weighed down by inconsistencies of how close you have to be to do a stealth kill and there’s no way of knowing when you’re truly in an enemy’s vision area even with the awareness indicator above their heads. When shooting at enemies, it (usually) takes a lot to take them down but a headshot is fittingly an instant death. “Boom!!” pops up to indicate you’ve landed said headshot. Having unlimited ammo is beneficial but the inconsistencies of the engagements overshadows how convenient this is. Aiming was difficult no matter where my sensitivity was. Combat moments in general started to get repetitive as there is only one pistol that can be used. It does have upgrades and some are mandatory for some enemy variations. As the game progresses, Kapnos also earns upgrades for his brain implant that makes fighting enemies more interesting than duck-and-cover shooting but these can be tricky to manage and balance. To access most new areas, you must find terminals and hack them. Finding these was not hard but it was tedious and it wasn’t fun. Other hacking moments only require the usage of the D-pad which is easy but still time based.

Kapnos wants answers now. Image via author.

FORECLOSED is a game that looks cool but the actual gameplay has its issues. The environments and music fit the cyberpunk style well with neon soaked spaces, rain and an EDM soundtrack that fittingly changes in tone depending on what’s happening. The story may be held back by the technical aspects connected to it, but I still wanted to see it through to the end. For fans of either comic or cyberpunk aesthetics, this title is worth giving a shot for that alone.

PROS:

Cool and consistent aesthetics
Short Playthrough (2-3 hours)
PS5 DualSense controller haptics

CONS:

Clunky gameplay mechanics
Less than stellar story elements

FORECLOSED Review