A new Build engine classic!
Ion Fury is a game that was well worth waiting for. Strong level design with highly detailed environments, an arsenal that has no bad weapons, vast numbers of secrets to discover (many of them creative in how you access them), and fitting voice actors whose efforts breathe life into Bombshell and the main villain. It's one hell of a game.
There are a few weak points from my perspective:
1. Many maps later in the game aren't as satisfying as those in earlier zones. I couldn't get enough of the early urban maps - which are easily the best in the game - but later on the player is stuck in one underground facility after another with rare exceptions such as the first map of zone five, which was a breath of fresh air. Sadly, the next map sends you right back underground.
2. Performance was poor in some areas, particularly some of the boss battles where enormous numbers of explosions and the like could drastically reduce frame rate. Thankfully these occasions were rare.
3. The selection of enemies is a bit lacking in variety. The game slowly rolls out new types of hostile as the player progresses, but not quite enough of them to keep you wondering what new horror may lurk in the next map or zone. Just a few more enemy types could have gone a long way.
4. The highest difficulty, Maximum Fury, seemed easier than it should have been. While the numbers of enemies felt about right, the amount of health and ammo made available to the player never left you feeling vulnerable for long. Fifteen to twenty percent less ammo alone would put more pressure on the player by forcing the use of more weapons in more situations rather than sticking with their favorites that rarely run low.
Despite these flaws, Ion Fury is one of the best FPS games to be released in a long time and is possibly the best Build shooter in history. I hope 3D Realms and Voidpoint release more games using this legendary engine in the future.
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