🚫 ONLY A SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW IS AVAILABLE. READ MISC SECTION ON WHY 🚫

Ion Fury brings an action experience that aims to replicate its inspirations from over twenty years ago using today's technology, as if to bring a game that features a retro charm with contemporary elements. And it works, Ion Fury is very successful at striking a balance between the retro feel and today's amenities that make gameplay more enjoyable.
👉 opencritic SUMMARY

With its frantic action and sharp level design, Ion Fury on the Nintendo Switch is more than worthy of the time and efforts of any players who enjoy a more old school experience that didn't stop in time.
👉 metacritic SUMMARY

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ M I S C

◻️ ⚠️ Review originally written for FNintendo (defunct website) and published on May 22nd, 2020. Full review is currently unavailable. Expect restored written piece translated into English.
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◻️ ✍️ in European Portuguese (Main body of text translated into English with A.I.)
◻️ 📜 Review Number 39

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ F I N |

One of my new favorite Boomer Shooters of the modern era.

Ion Fury is a game that I have heard a lot of great things about over the years, but I never actually got around to trying out. I honestly thought the hype around this game was going to be overblown, but it turns out I was completely wrong. This game absolutely owns and it proves that the Build Engine is the undisputed GOAT of FPS games.

I think the biggest things this game gets right are its guns, enemies, and aesthetics. Every weapon has its niche, and there was never a point where I felt that I was underutilizing a certain weapon. Bowling Bombs and the Disperser especially were 2 of the most fun weapons in the game, and some of my new favorites in the entire genre. The enemies also all felt incredibly unique, and other than the little head spiders, none of them were particularly annoying.

The visuals are a particular high point, as the art direction shows that the Build Engine still has incredible potential when it comes to its graphical capabilites. Most levels were a joy to look at, with a lot of little details that stood out and made the whole experience feel so lively. That, and also the great performance from Shelly.

My issues mainly come from the fact that I feel the game loses a lot of steam in its last 3 episodes. There are some absolute winner levels in there, a standout being Eskel's Estate in my opinion, however the levels begin to start dragging on and on without stopping. The last few levels all have their own individual loading zones in them, which make them feel like they will never end. Add in one of the worst clusterfucks of a final boss I have seen in an FPS in a while, and you have a game that tragically doesnt stick the landing.

Even with its bleh final episodes, Ion Fury absolutely deserves its reputation of being a fantastic modern Boomer Shooter. I really hope Phantom Fury is just as good as this, but from what I have seen of the demo, vibes are at an all time low.

Can't wait to play Aftershock tho. I need my Sherry fix.

An impressive modern take on the classic Build games of yonder; of course, the game advertises itself as being made on the classic engine too. I Was impressed with how far they took the old game code pile. Maybe my only issues were a slightly small weapon arsenal and honestly too many secrets. Like there are actually so many secrets I just had to accept that I'd find what I did and be fine with a low percentage. Otherwise, I got everything I expected out of it, in a good way, an easy classic FPS recommend.

Rating: 8.2/10 - Great

Great weapons, enemies and level design. I do think that things can get a bit too key hunting and the secrets are too well hidden for the rewards they hold but those are minor issues.

Nothing here blows my mind but the overall execution is done so well that I can't help but put it in my current top 10 list for 2019.

TLDR: The levels are perfect but the actual shooting and weapons feel bland to me.

OK, I feel actually bad for giving this game my rating. Because I absolutely love that this game is built in the Build Engine and it's levels are just amazing, with crazy hard secrets to find and extremely detailed little extras everywhere.

My core problem which made me abandon this boomer shooter: The shooting just doesn't feel good to me. And when the shooting doesn't feel good even amazing levels can't fix it.

Hit feedback doesn't feel as good as it should. The majority of weapons feel bland or useless (Clusterpucks are a great example for that). And the main weapons I used (revolver, shotgun/grenade launcher and SMGs) just do not carry the "oomph" I would like them to. I understand that not every hit feedback can be as good as my beloved Cultic, but even in a "simple" boomer shooter like Dusk it feels way way better to actually hit stuff than here in Ion Fury.
I don't need crazy weapons in my boomer shooters. I don't even need a BFG type. The before mentioned Cultic has very standard weapons too, but in Cultic landing headshots even with the bare bones pistol feels absolutely amazing, whereas in Ion Fury it's just "ok".

Also I absolutely hate the spider enemies, because they are just annoying.

But still huge respect for developing this in the Build engine. And as always plus points for releasing this game on GOG without DRM.