Ion Fury
While Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison earned her codename defusing bombs for the Global Defense Force, when evil transhumanist mastermind Dr. Jadus Heskel unleashes the members of his cybernetic cult onto the streets of Neo DC, she knows it’s time to start causing explosions instead of preventing them. Her quest to slay Heskel leaves a trail of carnage throughout huge, multi-path levels filled with gigantic explosions, more secret areas than we can count, and inhuman foes behind every corner. There’s no regenerating health here; stop taking cover and start running and gunning. Shelly’s crusade to take down Heskel’s army will see her leave destruction in her wake with a wide arsenal of weapons, complete with alternate fire modes and different ammo types. Her signature revolver, the tri-barreled Loverboy, brings enemies pain and players pleasure with both single shots and Old West-style hammer fanning action. Who needs a regular shotgun when you can load buckshot into your grenade launcher? Violent, over-the-top Bowling Bombs rip enemies apart with ease.
Game Discussion
Steam User 5
Think of this game as if you were dating Duke Nukem's daughter: She's always gushing about how cool her dad is, and how similar she is to her father, even when you can tell that there are several differences and improvements. But, even though it looks like easy fun, there's a deceptively complex experience to be had here, and one that's pretty much a love letter to "Boomer Shooters".
Pros:
- Gameplay's fun and responsive
- Beautiful environments
- Shooting enemies is fun and enjoyable
- Shelly, our protagonist, is a mashup of Caleb and Duke's one liners, with her own extra kick
- It packs a punch in higher difficulties, giving you that old-school feel
- Lots of secrets, easter eggs, and pop culture references
- The game has a lot of content, even more with the Aftershock DLC
Cons:
- Lots of visual clutter, especially early on. Both the enemies and the environment are bright, neon, and colorful, making for a LOT of "Where the hell am I getting shot from"? moments.
- In line with Boomer Shooter tradition, some enemies are "hitscanners" which can be frustrating, especially in higher difficulties: "What do you mean I lost 30 HP the moment I turned a corner??"
- Finding all the secrets and ending all the enemies as the game encourages you can be a chore
- In line with the previous con, why in the hell did the devs think it was a good idea to make hidden enemies that don't show up in the radar?! This is idiotic, since the game pushes you towards 100%
Ion Fury is great, but not perfect. You'll enjoy it best if you have some background with the BoomShoot genre or if you enjoy some of the older fashioned games. I think it's great for the crowd it's aimed for, but probably won't be enjoyable for people who are used to modern features.
A solid 8/10 for me, but gets -1 for completionist-unfriendly design and -1 for the visual clutter + hitscanners.
Tldr: What Blood is to horror films, Shadow Warrior to martial arts movies, and Duke Nukem is to pop culture, Ion Fury is to the "Boomer Shooter" genre.
P.S. This is apparently a prequel in a trilogy of sorts. Seems like the game "Bombshell" and "Phantom Fury" are part of the same universe with the same character. Too bad those two are less polished than this one.
Steam User 9
I liked the gunplay. movement and some other aspects, but it was not enough to keep me playing another boomer shooter.
There is nothing too special about Ion Fury, except, that it's pretty flawless in every important aspect for an oldschool shooter.
There are secrets to find, good weapons and gunplay, good enemy and level desing and all of this on ~94mb.
But I just can't play games anymore, were I have to find the yellow, red or blue keycard to advance, without any hints, how to progress. I'm not saying that the "puzzles" are hard, but they just interrupted the gameflow too much. But yeah, this was already a thing in the 90s, so if you don't mind that, go for it.
If you search for something like e.g. duke nukem 3d or want more of it, this is probably it.
7/10
Steam User 5
The newer generation of players may not appreciate the game, but the one ones who are drawn to the simple, run-and-gun, load-outs be damned, just get in there and lay out the foe while having a completionist angle of the game reminding you that you have 9 or so secrets left before you leave a level takes this game's reply value into orbit.
Steam User 5
This game feels like it's from an alternate timeline where technology didn't move as quickly into true 3D environments. It is the epitome of classic FPS game design. The level design is incredible. The music rocks. Every weapon feels great to use from start to end. Exploring is rewarding. The combat never feels unfair. Where has this game been all my life?! It's perfect!
I couldn't put this game down for weeks. It's an all-time great, so when I say that it would be even better with a bit less time spent in tunnels and a little tightening up the zone theming to be as strong as Zone 3 (Heskel's office building) across every zone, that is nitpicking of the highest order. I love the addition of a radar item to help find secrets. I still couldn't find them all without guides, but I was able to get about 90% of them on my own and I adored the abundance of easter egg references to other games and media.
I'd love to gush more about this game, but I think my time - and yours - is better spent just playing it.
Steam User 5
Kind of crazy what you can pull of with old build engine, the lore behind this is crazy, they took the original devs that worked on those old school shooters and let them cook. I really enjoyed it. Can't recommend it enough, I had fun.
Steam User 4
Easily, the best game of the whole "saga".
A great boomer shooter, powered by a build engine. If you enjoyed Duke Nukem 3D back in the day, you must play this.
Level design is great, lot of references, humor, guns, one-liners, you name it. Enjoyed every minute of it, and the expansion is also great.
Steam User 2
Ion Fury has some of the best environmental storytelling of any FPS, ever. It is at its best when one is skulking around, infiltrating, and navigating intriguing enemy environments—of which, the game has droves.
The only thing I have to add to the discourse is that I loathed its final boss level. I never thought Build Engine games did arena battles well: leave that to Serious Sam, seriously.