Release Date: 15/08/2019
Played On: Win
Available On: Lin / NS / PS4 / Win / XBO
Time Played: 7h 32m
Progress: Completed
Developer: Voidpoint / General Arcade
Publisher: 3D Realms
NB: The screenshots used in this post are from the game’s steam page.
I've never really considered myself to be a 'retro gamer', as I rarely go looking for older titles to play when there are modern options available. It's not that I have anything against older games, in fact I fondly remember many classics and hold them in high regard. Perhaps playing those games when they came out means that I'm not left pining for something I never experienced, but whatever the reason, I'm just not into playing old games on outdated engines.
Although, much like the modernisation of FMV gaming, there's something that's been happening with retro FPS engines that has certainly piqued my interest. Not long ago I played through Vomitorium, a contemporary game made on a modded Doom engine, and I loved every minute of it. Seeing how a modern designer dealt with an old engine and pushed its limitations in creative ways was a real pleasure for me, elevating the game itself to another level. In fact, I had such a good time that I turned to some of the other 'retro-inspired' shooters I've picked up over time to see what else was out there.
Ion Fury caught my eye immediately, as I already knew of its existence thanks to playing through Bombshell a few years back. That game was a modern isometric action game, which later spawned the prequel Ion Maiden, a cyberpunk retro first person shooter, later to be renamed Ion Fury.
At first I had dismissed Ion Fury as just another crappy retro game made on an old engine without anything interesting going on, but after picking up a copy in a bundle, I figured it was worth a try either way. After all, it was the first game to be made using the Build Engine in 20 years (that's the engine that powered Duke Nukem 3D), so I was curious to see what a modern game would look like on an engine I was so familiar with.
Much like the Doom engine, Build Engine was a faux three dimensional engine, seeing as it utilised 2D mapping that ended up looking 3D when it rendered. The engine itself breaks maps down into two dimensional shapes, which become a kind of 2.5D when a height variable is added to each shape. Meanwhile everything else in the game is rendered via 2D sprites and textures, offering that classic blend between dimensions that existed before actual 3D modelling became the standard. Of course, I spent a lot of time playing Doom and Duke Nukem 3D during their day, and I even learned how to make wads (maps) using the Doom engine, which is why my curiosity was sparked.
Firing up Ion Fury managed to tickle that nostalgia button for a short while, but I was thankful to quickly realise that it was more than a simple retro-throwback. I have to admit that I wasn't expecting a whole lot, but I was soon reminded of how Vomitoreum stretched and manipulated the capabilities of its engine, as this game was immediately making the most of modern technology to improve its 20 year old framework.
The most striking difference between those retro games and this modern one, is the sheer density of objects and details in the environment. It's not the most prominent feature of the game, but it's always something I notice, even with modern examples. I remember playing Uncharted 2 for the first time and being blown away by how much clutter and junk was rendered in each environment. While Ion Fury may not be emulating the fidelity of something like an Uncharted game, it goes a long way to show what the Build Engine is capable of putting together when it has modern hardware to work with.
Every street and building is more than just simple geometry, with garbage laying around and shelves filled with bits and pieces that are individual entities instead of a flat texture on a box. Technical props like computers and screens have detailed geometry and programmed lighting that blinks and blips away as it should. Plus, most of these props can be interacted with and either shoved around or destroyed by explosions and gunfire. Having this kind of detail in the world goes a hell of a long way to immersing me in the environment of any game, so seeing it in an old engine like this one really brought a smile to my face. I was immediately sucked into the cyberpunk world I found myself in and was excited to work my way forward and see what else was in store.
World building aside, the actual game plays just how you would expect it to play if you've experienced any other game made on an old engine, using modern hardware. There are mechanical improvements like having mouse-look and other little quality of life changes such as higher resolution graphics and detailed sound design. Although, perhaps the area with the least amount of visible change has to go to the moment to moment gameplay loop that involves running through levels at break-neck speed and shooting bad guys with an arsenal of weaponry.
It's nice to see that some of the same weapons from Bombshell are reimagined and repeated in Ion Fury, as we once again play as the protagonist Shelly "Bombshell" Harrison. She's a wise cracking, hard-boiled, ex-military super star soldier type whose dry humour and deadpan commentary actually ads some personality to the ordeal. I had fun playing with her in Bombshell, and I had fun again during Ion Fury.
The enemies are somewhat varied, even if a few feel like reskins of the same dudes, but for the most part there's a nice range of different bad guys to defeat. The fun part is that most of them have a weakness to some kind of weapon you're carrying, so along with the limited ammo drops, you're encouraged to switch up your shooting style as you go. Sometimes it's time to roll grenades across the floor at foes, while other times it feels great to get up in an enemy's grill and unload some flaming shotgun shells right into where their head is about to not be.
At times the enemy variety and sheer numbers can make everything a little frantic, leaving you to run like mad around whatever arena you're in, firing everything at anything that moves. In these moments it managed to capture something of the manic gameplay feeling that I used to get from playing Doom and Duke 3D on their hardest settings. With the speed and recognisable environmental geometry, it's easy to get caught up in the mix and reminisce about what classic shooters used to feel like. Although I wonder what a new player thinks about when they play a game like this with no frame of reference, and I'm not sure it would be all that favourable.
Unfortunately, even though there's a good dollop of nostalgia and interesting changes throughout Ion Fury, the actual story falls pretty flat. It starts out strong with a clear bad guy who has created a bunch of cyber-augmented bad dudes to hunt you down and kill you, leaving you a clear motive to kill them all first and track down the evil scientist who started it all. It's obvious and cheesy, but I actually enjoyed that aspect of the game, as there were times when it leaned into the fact that it's a modern game with classic limitations. Sadly though, it didn't last all that long.
After the first chapter and the first couple of boss fights, I did start to feel like I was going through the motions and occasionally got stuck and couldn't figure out how to advance. Perhaps I would have preferred it if Ion Fury was only half the length it ended up being, because the entire back half seemed like some of the weakest parts of the game that could have easily been shortened or removed entirely. Then again, I always believe that less is indeed more, and especially when it comes to video games that rely on some element of sentimentality in order to succeed.
I don't mean that to sound rude, as it's fair enough that a game like Ion Fury is cashing in on a little bit of nostalgia in order to make itself more attractive and interesting. I mean, people have made new games that imitate old ones before, and many of them don't do very well, so being the first game to use the Build Engine in 20 years brings a certain pedigree and has to count for something. Even though I don't consider myself a retro gamer, I can definitely see the appeal of giving a nod to the classics that mattered in the past.
However, that kind of throwback will only take you so far and I have to say that by the end of this game, I had run out of steam and enthusiasm. Sure the boss fights are fun and I still managed to finish the game without giving up and retiring it forever, but what kept me playing wasn't really anything to do with the plot. Instead it was the world that hooked me in, thanks to all the reasons I've already mentioned. Just seeing what the developers managed to pull out of an old engine was fascinating enough for me to get sucked in and play through to the end, but I don't think it's enough to base an entire game on either. I suppose the overall plot and character motivations of kill-bad-guy eventually lost their pull for me somewhere in the final act.
It got me thinking about the appeal of these kinds of games and what I hope to find in others of their type when I fire them up sometime in the future. The bundle I purchased came with a handful of retro-inspired shooters, so I'm looking forward to getting stuck into some other possible wells of creativity. Except now I'm thinking that I need to focus less on the plot, and more on the evolution of those game engines I'm so familiar with. I've learned that the part I get excited about is not whether or not the new bad guy will be defeated in the end, but discovering all the cool ways that modern developers are able to squeeze every little bit of polish from such relics. Otherwise I just end up feeling like I'm playing a fairly bland version of a game from an era that I left behind so long ago in favour of the new and more powerful alternatives.
Despite any of that though, I did have a good time playing through Ion Fury and seeing what was possible; it just didn't blow my head off. Instead I had more than enough fun checking out the new ways the engine can be used and discovering where all that potential has gone over the years. I still miss the speed and chaos of older shooters, but it was nice to have the itch scratched for a little while.
Sure the story might be a bit mediocre, and the game only just managed to stand on its own two feet, but I had fun shooting through the world either way. Nostalgia might not be the best element to build an entire game on, but it managed to sell the game to me enough to see it through. Ion Fury Is ultimately a good time, although it straddles the line between being a fun game in its own right, and being a showpiece of an old engine on modern hardware. I'm thankful that I still had fun though, so whatever the reason for that may be, I'm glad I played it.