Foreclosed

Foreclosed excels in world-building and presentation. The graphics and stylistic choices of a comic book frame the narrative and its structure. Though the brightness of the neon lights are strewn throughout the city, this dystopian world is rather dark. It’s a shame the game is only a few hours long, making it more of a cinematic experience. Despite its shortcomings with control and narrative, I still had a lot of fun trying to get Evan’s life back from the authority above.

While it has a strong premise and some neat ideas, Foreclosed is let down by rote, subpar third-person shooter action and unimpressive stealth sections during its short runtime.

Foreclosed's visual style is nice, the cyberpunk aesthetic is one I fell in love with and wished could be explored more in-depth, and the plot is by the numbers but still engaging. Unfortunately, all of these good things are held back by a lackluster upgrade system, a laughably incompetent enemy AI, and sometimes downright insulting level design that feels more like it’s built around trial and error rather than tactical usage of resources and abilities. The game should be approached with caution as it can provide a fun experience but also a mildly infuriating one.

With its tempting line-drawn comic universe, Foreclosed has shown itself to be rather attractive over the thumbnails and changes of viewing angles. But gameplay as narration are seen too limited, providing an experience too on the surface, which ends abruptly without managing to engage us sufficiently in its yet attractive universe. And Foreclosed's shimmering paw has too much trouble to compensate for the pallor of its action phases.