Ion Fury

This game surpassed my expectations. I waited until official full release to buy, and I'm glad I did. This game is fantastic. The use of the build engine here is amazing. Gameplay is fast and action packed. The graphics are great. Character sprites are detailed and original. The 2D rendered backgrounds have great detail, and feature references to other 3DRealms games as well pop-culture. Level design is well structured, similar to other build engine games. Pressing 'TAB' opens a level map and pressing it a second time layers the map with textures...awesome! The protagonist is likable and spouts witty one-liners from time to time. The settings menu features plenty of options to tailor the experience to your liking, and lower system recommendations make this game accessible to pretty much anyone. Pros: -fast paced action FPS -great level design -VOXELS! -awesome soundtrack and SFX -detailed sprites, backgrounds, items, etc. -love the witty one-liners, enemy dialog, and humor -tight responsive controls, along with controller support (though I prefer keyboard/mouse) -save anywhere Cons: -controls may be a little too tight, but this is a nit-pick Overall, this game is a blast to play and I highly recommend it. It is worth every penny of the full purchase price, almost a steal if grabbed on sale. Buy it now, pick up your LoverBoy, and start blasting!

This is, what I was looking for: Blast from the past, but running fluidly on (semi-)modern machines. I tried a lot of Doom and DukeNukem-like games, but was not 100% happy with each one: some games haven't aged so well and were quite boring, somtimes the fiddly or clumsy controls get on my nerves, all thede remakes didn't quite convince me. Some new "old school" games didn't run fluidly on my semi-modern computer (awful frame rate and so on), in some game, the theme was not for me.... But finally this game came and I decided to pay the 15 bucks and I am glad I did!!! The game is like a modernized (but not too modernized) DukeNukem3D! Modern controls settings, runs VERY fluidly and IS FUN! The weapons have much more crunch than DukeNukem3d's weapons and playing it feels very satisfying! It is like a journey to the past, but without any disappointment. For me, this is the perfect blend between nostalgia/old-school ond modernization. It's simply straight fun. Thanks!!!

Very solid shooter heavily reminiscent of Duke Nukem, Doom and other 90's era shooters. Those looking for these kinds of games know exactly what to expect here. My only critique is that I felt like some of the levels were a bit too long. I really loved the protagonist's witty (and punny) phrases and honestly wish she had a few more. Don't think about it as long as I did and just purchase already!

The technical achievement on it's own is pretty amazing and it's great to see a retro game being made with the actual tools of the time! It makes it feel ten times more authentic then some retro-inspired shooters. The level design is great and very detailed but feels a bit over-produced sometimes with alot of large open arena's. I feel games like this work best in short to medium range but all in all the gunplay itself is great. Blood is still my personal favorite of the Build-game era but it comes close.

What's been achieved here with such an archaic engine is quite astounding. The novelty of a brand new Build game aside, this is a masterful FPS by any era's standards. The combat is extremely polished and exhilarating despite the modest arsenal and enemy roster. Whilst each enemy has a unique and identifiable look, they feel like specialised units of a larger force and (acid-spitting giant centipedes aside) there is a wonderful sense of cohesion. Great audio mixing and music, the gun sounds are meaty and very present in the mix. The ambient noise for each level puts many modern games to shame. Lots of great references to pretty much everything imaginable from the Duke-ish keycard readers to the grenade clangs modelled after those in Quake. Ion Fury puts into perspective once again how boring AAA games have become. If 2.5D is this good, who needs 3D?