Ion Fury

If you ask me, the recent decade has shown that just because a game developer used to be good and made some well-known games, this doesn't mean that whatever they make now is automatically going to be top shelf. After all, game design marches on, and what used to be good might not have been if it came out now. And Ion Fury is... eh, it's not mind-blowing, but it's fun, tight, with a lovingly detailed level design, and it's not afraid to do its own thing. There definitely are far superior boomer shooters out there, but if you're a fan of the genre and looking for your next fix, you've found it. [h1]Are you a BAD enough B*TCH?[/h1] In many ways Ion Fury is a look back at the 90s gaming culture, but with some things changed up a bit. Shelly aka "the Bombshell" - our protagonist - is a self-described BADDEST B*TCH ON THE FORCE; think Duke Nukem, but with the cringy one-liners toned down just a bit, and female - but not like Lara Croft with overflowing booba and a skimpy outfit. Shelly's look is rather plain; sure, she's wearing a skin-tight police outfit, but she's not here to impress you with her looks, she's here to f*ck sh*t up. Which she does. Watching her interactions with the main villain is entertaining, and her combat lines definitely feel badass ("Dance, f*cker, dance!" or "We're done when I say we're done."), but the variety is unfortunately kinda low. I could use more of Shelly's f-bombs. And if you're not a fan, you can enable "silent protagonist" and pretend you're playing a buff dude or something. Just stay away from the mirrors. [h1]A girl likes her toys[/h1] A good boomer shooter needs a good weapon arsenal, and Ion Fury delivers, even if some weapons feel a little awkward. You might need to go against your instincts here and there, but once you do, I'm sure you'll enjoy the contents of Shelly's bedside drawer. The Loverboy - your 6-shooter-revolver - has an auto-kill option. You can scan and mark enemies, and Shelly will pop 2 shots in every mark, killing most of them. I found it stupid at first, but this ended up one my favourite ways to kill some enemies. The shotgun has a grenade launcher, but in order to use it, you have to -switch- to the launcher mode, which is cumbersome. You'll also get a lot of ammunition to it, and ever since Half-Life we were trained to consider the side grenade launcher a valuable bailout tool, so using it willy-nilly is something that doesn't come naturally. Here, you absolutely can do that - and killing enemies with explosions grants armour shards, so it's even a good thing. There's also some other weird pieces. A flaming dual uzi, a cluster bomb hockey puck, bowling bombs (self-explanatory), a crossbow that works nothing like crossbows do in other games (a good thing)... and a motherf*ck*n minigun. Although the ammo to that last one is somewhat sparse, so it's a little situational. Oh, and a police baton, which has some unique uses. No, not that kind of use, although I don't know. [h1]Copaganda, but make it ACAB[/h1] Most of the story (such as it is) is told via worldbuilding; you're not expected to treat it seriously, and that's fine. Shelly is described as being proud in keeping the order of PERMANENT MARTIAL LAW for example, and you're clearly supposed to laugh at that - but then you deliver indiscriminate, extrajudicial waste to pretty much everything, soooo... which is it? Eh, it's okay, they're all robots. Fleshy robots. But robots. And yet, the levels (and even some dialogue) show that eh, maybe the police force ain't all good?... or... at all? It's kinda weird, the way I see it it kinda dances on the line and ends up getting confused in its own message. So just forget about it and shoot the damn robots. [h1]Press A to lower the ladder[/h1] The levels are very interconnected in this Dark Souls kinda way. They're also rich in variety, visual funsies and secrets; I worked REALLY hard to find secrets early on, but eventually got frustrated and decided to just pick up the ones that I end up finding somewhat naturally. It worked - I even managed to find one super secret just by following my curiosity - but in the end my final secret tally was merely 44%. I can't say I ever was starved for resources, though. At first I tried to play on Hard difficulty, but something about it bothered me and I switched to Normal. That perhaps was a little too easy (except some fights, including the final boss. Ugh), but it made me feel powerful, which seems to be what the design is going for. Mission accomplished? [h1]Conclusion[/h1] Yeah, it's alright. 17% of players got the achievement for killing the final boss, and otherwise the achievements paint a picture of a dropoff of roughly half of the players every few levels, although if you manage to get to a certain point, you'll likely go all the way. My personal gripe is that it ended up being somewhat easy to get lost later on - the levels get huge - and the pacing sometimes feels a little slow. But I played it over multiple sessions, sometimes a few hours a time, sometimes just 15 mins, and 15 hours later, bam. My guess is that you'll like this game if you actually lived through the times that this game hearkens back to. And if you can execute the crouch jump without issue. Take that advice for what you will. [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/42922988/]There are some boomer shooters on my curator page[/url]

Okay, hear me out It's not bad So okay, the game when it was released, it had a shaky start. It was originally called Ion Maiden, but then Iron Maiden sued 3D Realms, which had to have a name change to Ion Fury, and then we had the whole censorship in dialogues etc... It left bitter taste with some fans which I would assume is why this game had mixed ratings at the start, though the ratings have been improved after several years. So controversy aside, what is this game? Well this game is a successor to Duke Nukem 3D... more or less. Other than being published by 3D Realms, the creators of Duke Nukem 3D. It uses the same engine, the Build Engine, although upgraded and modernized to run on newer systems obviously. Visually, I think this is one of the best build engine games out there. The level design is fantastic. I love the details, the atmosphere, I genuinely think this could have actually been what 3D Realms imagined Duke Nukem Forever would have looked like if they continued using build engine. So graphics are top notch, kudos to devs for it. Now as for the gameplay part, the game is I would say long for a boomer shooter. It took me 25 hours with DLC to complete the game. Now funny enough I played this at first around the time it launched, on the Maximum Fury difficulty, and I remember being brutally hard. I remember basically the enemies could easily melt your hitpoints, it wasn't like Duke Nukem 3D where it was a lot slower paced, here bullets flied everywhere... but actually over time I kind of got better at the game. I utilized weapons better, the accessories and eventually I mowed through the game. And it was good... 7/10 that's all I could give. Now why am I not giving a bigger rating? Well other than cringy dialogue that the protagonist throws (not nearly as memorable as Duke's quotes), there are various problems. For starters, did you know if you have the DLC installed, you have to turn it off if you want to play the original campaign? Well that's because there is a bug that makes one of the weapons unusable, even the devs admitted this. Why they have never fixed this? I don't know, I think they are focused more on the sequel which is coming out. But other than that, some other problems include enemy hitboxes feel a bit off, especially when you try to hit fast flying enemies, there are enemies which are unbalanced in my opinion, and some of the weapons straight out suck. The shotgun and the revolver are not great, comparing to duke nukem 3D where the pistol was a great weapon at the start before you get more serious weapons and the shotgun was great at close range. The bowling ball bombs also have weird trajectory and are awkward to aim, comparing to pipe bombs from duke nukem 3D, and the same can be said for grenade launcher which I barely used. I think developers obviously tried to have different level design than duke nukem 3D, which does work for some weapons, like I think the crossbow is a great far range weapon and the uzis are great at melting enemies at close range. I would have loved if some duke nukem 3D weapons like the devastator made a come back here honestly, but that's just me. And overall... The game was fun, I enjoyed it, despite it's flaws. Is it as good as Duke Nukem 3D? No. Is it a worthy successor?... Only by level design. Is it still worth the price despite it's flaws? Yes, and make sure to get Aftershock DLC too. In my opinion, Aftershock DLC is better than the original campaign. Shorter yes, but for an expansion, it was surprisingly good.

Ion Fury is good. The maps are generally memorable and fun to explore. The combat is overall punchy and quick. Your shotgun is a long range stapler with a tight spread, and one tapping grunts the moment you see them was never not fun. There are also moments that are completely overwhelming. The game can throw far too many enemies at you at once, and you don't possess the fast-moving accuracy present in a game like Quake. This can lead to long sections of a more stop-and-pop style of gunplay, which the game isn't suited for. Still, it maintained my interest to the end and I had enough fun to recommend it.

Tight combat, lucrative level design, punchy audio, and a well thought through story. 10/10

after playing so many games lately that were good with some caveats, this game is nothing short of a true breath of fresh air. it is a finely crafted gem of an experience and the decade+ of experience that the team has making games of a similar style really seeps through practically every corner. the weapons are almost all unique twists on otherwise old standards. the starting revolver fires shotgun shells and has a homing attack that is great for cleaning up small groups of fodder enemies. the shotgun doubles as a grenade launcher, although for some reason instead of an alt fire (which the shotgun and grenade launcher both don't have) it counts as a seperate weapon with a reduced weapon switch time, which is weird. the crossbow is laser-fied and stuns enemies while also allowing you to charge up multishots. the bowling bombs have homing capabilities and will roll when tossed. the SMGs set things on fire. the mines can be thrown like grenades (which is 100% of what I used them for), only the mighty and strong machinegun had no extra flair. the enemies are well designed in a similar fashion. it starts out simple enough with robed cult mooks that shoot crossbow bolts and shotgun shells at you along with the occasional special forces man. but then it starts getting a lot more creative, with spider robot heads that hang on the ceiling forcing you to either look up when traversing new territory or get ambushed. men with no skin that fly around shooting electric bolts and exploding when they die. giant mechs. zombies that toss goo at you like they're right out of quake. it does feel like the length of the campaign could have used one or two more enemy types to keep the gameplay fresh the entire time throughout, but I'd say the enemies only started getting stale around the last two zones. not perfect pacing, but a lot closer to it than most other games reach. and the level design, my god, the level design. it's a crowning achievement not only standing up to legends of the FPS genre, but even superceding some of them. each level is finely crafted in such a way that I was hardly ever lost (though it did happen once or twice). constant looping hallways and shortcuts, never showing you a key without forcing you to pass by the door it unlocks first. and the detail in each one is off the charts, especially in the beginning. in the opening few zones that are outdoors you can see decorations litering every six inches, most of them references to other properties like duke nukem or doom or even the movie commando. I will however agree with criticism I've seen other people levy that late game takes place in far too many underground levels. sewers, train metros, underground labs, throwing in a few more topside ones near the end would have made things a little less samey. this is going right into my top games of all time list somewhere, maybe even top 10, and as soon as I recover from my slight fatigue from marathoning this game for nearly three days straight I will tackle aftershock next so the fun won't end just yet. I greatly hope that whatever game this team puts out next will live up to the promise this game not only showed, but delivered on masterfully. if you've got even a slight, remotely vague interest in old school FPS shooters, Get This. it has some flaws, but what little it has are masterfully overshadowed by everything it does right. ps. this game actually made me laugh out loud more than once. it's probably the funniest any game of this type has been.

Classic build engine feeling, excellent weapon feedback, old school level design with some backtracking but not SO bad because lots of secrets hidden everywhere. clear recommendation!

7.9/10 The Pros + The Build Engine but improved significantly + Big open levels with more secrets than a James Bond movie + Shelly has a wide range of One liners that dont overstay their welcome , and they always bring a smile to my face + The enemies will kick your teeth in on higher difficulties so the Alt fires are actually very damn useful + A charming story-line where an evil doctor is trying to send Shelly to her room but with all the whiskey being outside hes not having an easy time + The DLC ost is an absolute banger , no like seriously often times I put Hotline miami music but not for this one + It has Secret levels as most Build engine tradition games + The Combat arena encounters are refreshing and they fall into a nice ballet dance as long you stay on your feet + You can play a piano + The Best Motorcycle ever made [ yes dlc again but its a good level ] + The Combat loop consists of moment to moment gameplay that is more survive this encounter less one guy at a time as other games + The Enemies you encounter in-game are somewhat disgusting up-close whilst alive , not vile or disturbing but it adds to the story + You can finally fit a grenade launcher in your bag [ dlc ] The Negatives - Besides Loverboy , Skull Grenade and the Ion Bow the rest of the weapons feel lack-luster , effective but they lack a meaty visual feel and aesthetic that can sometimes be felt further into the robot genocide one man woman crusade adventure - The world can sometimes feel empty as at least in Blood you could sometimes see non enemy npcs - The enemies dont have satisfying death sounds Overall Id say Ion Maiden [ Fury] is the best purchase I've made in recent years , not that its the highest of bars but compared to the dozen or so other steam games I have , I return to this gem every once in a while as the levels always feel fresh , jazzy and they feel overall nice to traverse , are they perfect ? nah The Art Style ? Hell yeah Id pprobably pay for someone to inject the Blood double barrel tho thats the only bit I feel like thats the only gist holding the game back

I have always preferred the build engine games over the ID games because the level design aren't stupid mazes and being able to aim the gun upwards actually made it feel like an FPS.

if you r a fan of dukenukem 3D, this is a must buy. same great kind of game, but with improved smoother gameplay. and same attention to detail in the map and enemy designs. each level is deep and well done, and the weapons r great to use. the personality of harrison is great too. and the music is aprobriatly 90s. this is a 10/10 boomer shooter.

A lovely callback to when games were just fun. Simple, uncomplicated fun. A time when you got the whole game in the box with no DLC, no MTX, no nonsense. Just a fun, tough as nails shooter that lifts the spirits and gets the blood pumping.

I took my time before purchasing Ion Fury and I regret not playing it sooner! This game is a wonderful love letter to classic first person shooter games from the mid-1990s and is full of tight gunplay, fast action and great level design. I highly recommend this 'modern' masterpiece.

Uglier than any of the games it's inspired by. Not enough enemy variety. Weapons are mostly meh. Horrible color design. Play any original boomer instead... Doom, Blood, Duke Nukem, Dark Forces, etc.

Weapon hit detection and registering of shots is garbage. DOOM 2 ports have far exceeded beyond what this game offers in terms of gunplay. Wonderful visuals and soundtrack though.

Pure 3D Realms old-school vibes. OST and voice acting are awesome !

Something is really off with the game, even with mouse sensitivity turned up to max, aiming still feels sluggish. Even with auto aim turned off, still feels like there's auto aim messing with my shots. Not sure if there's some kind of mouse acceleration or smoothing, but game just feels bad to play.

This would be a good game if they didn't put transphobic shit in it. I had no idea they did that until today

Great aesthetics and level design. Lots of vents to crawl around in, objects to interact with, alternate paths and secrets to find. A lot of Boomer Shooters have an issue with maze-like levels but the majority of Ion Fury's are visually distinct with clever shortcuts. The platforming puzzles are challenging and mostly for optional secrets but they are well worth going for and not overly time consuming with the quick save. The weapons are a mixed bag but all come in handy if you know how to use them. Despite a couple guns feeling 'off' all of them provide satisfying gibs and create a wide range of shootout scenarios.

Very cool! A worthy member of the family of games made on the Build engine!

enemy visibilty is dog. Don't even know what im getting hit by half the time.

Blood and Ion are the peak of Build games

Very Boomy. Very Shooty. Much Enjoy.

Good old Build engine, thanks!

Fun Boomer Shooter.

You gotta keep 'em separated.

HUMAN GRIT BEATS ROBOT MAGIC

I like women

juegazi

BANGER

If you like Shadow Warrior and Duke 3D, there's a good chance you'll like this.