Ion Fury Review

"Throwback Blasting"

Campaign

August 17, 2019 at 2:55am
By Jason Stettner

It’s an interesting time in gaming, as we’re starting to see innovations appear even in titles that feature an older style. With Ion Fury, you play as Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison and battle it out in the streets of Neo DC. It’s an old school type of game that was created using the ancient BUILD engine, but things have been greatly enhanced here.

With that, this is somewhat light in terms of a narrative, but at the same time you get some story delivered. This is through your exploration, overhead audio displays and some rather well scripted cutscene like cinematic segments. It’s surprising in that regard, and fast paced as it wants to throw you right back into the action afterwards. The levels are very well done in terms of the presentation and the flow. They mix in those narrative segments well and it’s just generally awesome.

You blast through areas taking out any enemies in the way, and then search for hidden aspects within the environment. This includes items such as keys, spots where you swat switches or even secret passages that are hidden along the way. It feels setup in a way where things matter, and your experience is set throughout the many levels you get to play.

Gameplay

With this being a classic style game on the BUILD engine it features 3D looking environments. The sprites are beautifully designed with gorgeous levels of depth to them. There’s also a deep level of interaction which is surprising. You can smash glasses, flush toilets and do other things in what feels like one slick cyberpunk type environment.

The levels are distinct as you progress as well, some areas feature more freedom whereas others are more claustrophobic in nature. You’re largely aiming to progress swiftly, and this doesn’t take too long usually as the pace is always blazing. You may need to look around for certain hidden things, but it’s largely a blasting experience.

There are many guns to find as you play, and they all offer something different. You’ll come across many enemies, and hear many neat little one liners from your badass character. It handles really well, it’s very visually appealing and it retains that classic look while feeling entirely modern. It can be quite challenging, but there multiple difficulty options. I’ll also mention that saving is important.

The Conclusion

Ion Fury is one blazing fast paced experience that brings classic shooter action with many modern upgrades. It’s fun, it feels great and it was a surprising joy ride. I really didn’t anticipate that I’d enjoy the game so much. I looked forward to it once I heard about it many months back, but I was truly surprised jumping into this. Everything is sleek, the interactions are awesome and the combat just packs a punch. You get many toys to play with as you eliminate any foes in the way, and the designs of the levels are really clever.

They’re straight forward, yet offer an element of freedom in how you move through them. There are hidden secrets to find, different challenges as you progress and it’s just a pleasure to work through. It feels like a classic title which many old school players will appreciate, yet at the same time I think this is a really good modern effort. The art style holds strong, and makes this stand out in comparison to the shooters of today.

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Ion Fury Review on PC
Review Code Provided by Stride PR

Rating Overall: 8.2