Phantom Fury (2024)

Phantom Fury - albeit with more than a few reservations - is a decent sequel to Ion Fury. The maps, aside from the disarming linearity in the first few hours of play - feature sprawling layouts that intertwine and require adequate exploration and even a decent memory in terms of exploration, the gunfights, although the gun system did not fully convince us, manage to entertain just enough by alternating between a few divergent sections that also require driving vehicles, the interactive environments that wink at illustrious works of the past and the “old style” graphics make up for the shortcomings in terms of performance (definitely many) and several questionable choices such as the save system, which uses classic checkpoints and which does not always work very well forcing the player to replay rather extensive portions of the game, and an AI that to say seesaw is putting it mildly. In short, all elements that as disorienting as they are in 2024, can be easily fixed with a corrective patch. At the moment The title from Slipgate Ironworks and 3D Realms is just a good game that barely exceeds sufficiency. If you are a fan of boomer-shooters you certainly cannot fail to give Phantom Fury a chance; if, on the other hand, you are looking for a qualitatively superior product, we advise you to direct your attention elsewhere!

Phantom Fury is a fun throwback to classic shooters from the 1990s. It’s action packed with a decent variety of weapons at the player’s disposal to create a bit of chaos. While the core gameplay is enjoyable, it’s the few things around it such as the piss-poor weapon wheel, lack of aiming and the true to the classic formula: where do I go type of gameplay. If you can get over these like quirks, you’ll find a fun, challenging and fast paced shooter.

Fans of the shooter genre will find a good time with Phantom Fury. While not perfect, slipping a bit with map design and pacing among some other smaller things, Shelly "Bombshell" Harrison's latest outing still hits more than it misses.

Phantom Fury unfortunately doesn't work as it should. The levels are unimpressive, confusing and packed with an inflationary number of enemies. The weapons are really fun and there are lots of nice little gimmicks and attempts to add some variety to the game, but it remains an average shooter that falls well short of its potential.

Phantom Fury attempts to be a love-letter to retro shooters like Doom and Duke Nukem 3D, but only ends up disappointing with its plethora of bugs, poor level design and frustrating enemy AI.