Ion Fury Review

There's something to be said about games that do more than just chase after the current proven formula. To do something unique in some way that sets them apart, whether they try to find some hidden corner of a genre that's been mostly blended with a host of others or tunnel down on a specific mechanic or art style instead of being a catch-all of popular gimmicks, it's hard not to appreciate the effort when it's given. Ion Fury certainly falls into the latter category, whereby its singular focus on paying homage to the early era of over-the-top FPS is done in such a way that it's hard not to appreciate it. Having begun its journey as Ion Maiden, a lawsuit brought upon the team by the holding company of Iron Maiden saw the title of the game changed to Ion Fury. Still, a decidedly badass name but a shame nevertheless. Ion Fury is the prequel to the 2016 game Bombshell, titled after the lead character, Shelley "Bombshell" Harrison, whose shoes you step into once again. Originally to be a supporting character to none other than Duke Nukem, following a legal dispute (notice a pattern here?) between the developer, Interceptor Entertainment, and Gearbox Software, who owns the rights to Duke over the unapproved use of the character, Shelley became the star of the show. And now, Ion Fury expands on her past leading up to the events of Bombshell, a particularly complicated start for such a niche game, to say the least.

A little less complicated is the setup of Ion Fury. A bomb disposal expert of the Global Defense Force, Shelley "Bombshell" Harrison has chosen to fight the good fight and take on the transhumanist cultists led by Dr. Jadis Haskell, who has unleashed hell upon Neo DC. You're a one-woman army with an arsenal of weapons you could classify as just this side of crazy, and you're going to do it with as many sassy one-liners and cheap jokes as humanly possible. If that sounds like a female Duke Nukem to you, then well, you wouldn't be particularly far off. Not that that's a bad thing. We're not talking about Duke Nukem Forever here; we're talking about the Golden Age Duke, but with an extraordinary eye for detail and a lot of loving references to the pop culture of that era and more, all aided by the thing that really makes Ion Fury stand out: its audiovisuals.

Ion Fury runs on a modified version of the Build Engine, the engine created by Ken Silverman for 3D Realms that would power Duke Nukem 3D some twenty-four years ago. Other than the team having more modern tools in which to draft textures and other visual elements at their disposal, the engine itself is largely unchanged and comes with all the limitations it had over two decades ago. That's a lot of what makes Ion Fury so impressive. The team at Voidpoint has squeezed out nearly every ounce of performance the Build Engine can provide and has truly put together some astounding visuals because of it. Ion Fury enjoys an immense amount of atmosphere and a surprising amount of visual variety given the constraints the engine imposes, with sprawling levels full of neon and nostalgia. It's a great example showing that when game developers have such limits imposed upon them, creativity often blooms. Sometimes it feels that with bleeding-edge game engines on hand, creativity doesn't always need to be as utilized in the same sense, and you get a lot of games that look and/or play the same. That certainly isn't the case with Ion Fury.

For as good as the game looks, and that's likely what will draw the attention of most, Ion Fury sounds just as spectacular. The gun sounds are as crunchy and as detailed as you'd expect, interacting with the environment provides the satisfying auditory feedback of the era, especially the menu sounds, and the soundtrack is especially noteworthy, with not a weak track in the list, full of fantastic synth, grit, and grime. If you've been exposed to and have enjoyed this kind of music in the past with other games, you'll certainly appreciate what's provided here. In fact, I suspect that for as good as the game looks, the music is likely to be as memorable or more so for many.

Shelley has an impressive list of one-liners, both generic and contextual, and while the jokes don't always land, they tend to do so more often than not and don't feel as out of place as frequently as some of Duke's more recent quotes. The delivery of the lines, however, is a bit more of a mixed bag, but it's not exactly an easy task to even just pay homage to the legendary John St. John. Speaking of Mr. St. John, he wonderfully portrays the big bad, Dr. Haskell, and proves yet again that he's a top-shelf voice talent.

So, you've been roped in by the distinctively retro visuals, the title screen music has you in full-blown cyberpunk heaven, and now you're wondering how the game actually plays. As it turns out, it plays really, really well, though you aren't going to get a lot of surprises here if you've played Duke 3D in the past or other games like it. The game is fast, fluid, and full of enemies to dispose of. You have the aforementioned arsenal of wild weapons that range from a three-barreled revolver to a laser arrow-firing crossbow, and you'll end up making use of just about all of them. Each weapon has a primary and alternate firing mode that helps give combat even more variety, which is aided significantly by the game encouraging you to mix it up. Between changing up the amount and types of ammo available to you throughout any given level, you'll often find yourself relying on guns that fall outside of your favorites. As much as I relied on and enjoyed using the shotgun and pistol, for example, I wasn't always able to lean on them because of ammo scarcity or enemy types. While you can take out just about any enemy with just about any weapon you'd like, there are more efficient weapon choices for certain enemies that will dramatically speed up the killing process and save you precious ammo. This, I imagine, only becomes more and more important as you climb the game's difficulty levels. Make no mistake, while veterans will have a relatively painless experience at the default difficulty, the game can hand out punishment if you want it to, and of course, sometimes even when you don't. I never felt the game was particularly unfair, even when tasked with taking out rooms of powerful enemies, and a lot of that is thanks to every weapon being useful in its own way.

There is an element of auto-aim at play here, even on keyboard and mouse, and it can create some awkward engagements for you. Aim for the head but shooting in the chest or vice versa. It isn't exactly game-breaking, but it may annoy some of the more particularly precise gamers out there who want to be always rewarded for their accuracy.

For as fast as you can move about in Ion Fury, however, just like in games that it pays homage to, you will be slowed down by the classic color keycard gimmick, complete with many levers to be pulled and wheels to be turned. It's the time-tested beauty of blasting your way through hordes of enemies as you find key cards placed in the most obscure places, just so that you can go find another one somewhere else. You'll also occasionally be tasked with some light platforming, and once or twice required to solve a puzzle, but I use the term "puzzle" very loosely. It's fully committed to the genesis of what would go on to inspire games like Half-Life and Halo, for better or worse. As I said before, there are no real surprises here, but what there are a lot of are secrets to be found.

Just like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Duke Nukem before it, although with far less wall-humping, Ion Fury litters its levels with hidden areas that reward you with everything from weapons, ammo, and armor to fun pop-culture references. What's more, before you leave a level, it will tell you how many secrets are in the area that you've missed, in case you want to continue searching before you move on. It's even common for you to be able to open shortcuts back to previous areas of a map so that you can go on such a hunt without having to backtrack the whole way. Don't expect to come across these secrets easily, though. Even if you take the time to slow down and keep an eye out for likely spots, you'll be lucky to find half of them on your first pass through the game. There are truly some fun and unique ways they've hidden some of these secrets, and you're often rewarded with some equally fun references for going out of your way. In addition to being rewarding, the secrets do a great job of encouraging you to slow down, at least sometimes, as you sprint through these levels. It's a good way to take in all the details the team has included, and I highly recommend making at least a minor effort to do so on your first playthrough. For completionists, it's also a great excuse to go back and replay levels beyond simply seeing how fast you can get to the finish line.

There's not a heck of a lot to gripe about with Ion Fury, and most of what may be weaknesses are also its strengths, such as the use of the Build Engine or its blue humor. During my time with the game, I only encountered a couple of minor bugs. One really odd bug whereby Shelley would float when two specific enemy types were on the map, which resolved itself after you killed them, and one where the prompt that shows you would save the game would stop showing up despite still saving the game. As mentioned earlier, a couple of levels are less than stellar in their layout, and if I had to get really nitpicky, I'd say the double jump power-up is temperamental. But that's about it, really.

Ion Fury knows exactly what it's about and does little to make you think otherwise. It's a unique experience in today's market and a lovingly crafted homage to those who came before. Its quick, satisfying gameplay won many over, even if they previously never experienced similar games, and its soundtrack is just as likely to put a smile on your face. While it may lack the variety of more modern games and while it isn't the pinnacle of its category in terms of level design, it's an entirely impressive effort that would be hard not to recommend for nearly all those who are interested. If you get the opportunity and it seems to be up your alley, I can absolutely recommend Ion Fury.