Admittedly, Ion Fury mostly caters to a very specific audience. The people that will enjoy the game the most are gamers that like classic FPS games, but would enjoy some quality of life upgrades to make them less frustrating to play. Gamers that love Duke Nukem, DOOM, and Shadow Warrior are the target audience of Ion Fury. It’s the first game in 19 years to use the BUILD engine by Ken Silverman - which shows just how long gamers have been waiting for a similar title, and how old the engine itself is.

Ion Fury looks like an old game, but with modern upgrades to make it more enjoyable. It doesn’t play much like a modern shooter though and has a distinctly classic feel to it - all the way from the fast pace to the graphics to the gore. That makes the game cater very specifically to a market of fans that miss these old shooters and enjoyed them in the past. Younger gamers may not have the same nostalgic feeling when playing the game, and while they can certainly enjoy it, Ion Fury wasn’t necessarily made for them.

One of the first things to expect when playing Ion Fury is violence. A lot of violence. Ion Fury doesn’t hold anything back when it comes to gore and carnage on the screen, and the developers are very upfront about this. So it’s important knowing going into the game that Ion Fury is not acceptable for all ages, shouldn’t be played casually at work, and also isn’t great for people who are squeamish or don’t like gratuitous violence. Gamers who have played Duke Nukem 3D and Blood should already be familiar with the style of 3D Realms games and can expect something similar.

Ion Fury is a new game using an old-style and an old game engine, so you can expect to see features of modern games brought to you in a classic way. The graphics may not be the same as a modern-day, hyper-realistic shooter, but that’s done intentionally using the BUILD engine. Don’t worry, you can still expect newer game features that affect the quality of life, like autosaving and clean level transitions. And you can also enjoy headshots and interactivity with your environment. But Ion Fury stays true to an old-school shooter style in the way it presents itself and progresses, so you can expect the best of both worlds.

Ion Fury is the prequel to the 2016 game, Bombshell. You play as Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison, a bomb defuser in the Global Defense Force. But while she has been busy defusing bombs across Neo DC to keep everyone safe, an evil cult leader and transhumanist mastermind named Dr. Jadus Heskel has been just as busy. But instead of doing good for the city, Heskel has been engineering an army from his cybernetic cult followers, and now they’re unleashing hell in the streets. Suddenly Shelly has to go from defusing bombs to setting them off if she wants to save Neo DC.

Luckily, Shelly has a huge arsenal of weapons that she is skilled at using, and she can use whatever means necessary to take down Heskel and his army. With her trusty three-barrelled revolver at her side, you take control of Shelly as she rains down carnage and destruction through the streets. You can choose how to progress through the seven levels in the game, running and gunning your way to victory and leaving destruction in your path. How you defeat the enemies is entirely up to you; from buckshot loaded shotguns to bowling bombs, unlimited destruction is at your fingertips.

Ion Fury is a run-and-gun FPS game with a heavy focus on violence and chaos. You can use whatever weapons you can find to destroy the enemies on each level and bask in the gore all around you. That’s kind of the point of Ion Fury, to be honest. It’s all about using crazy weapons to annihilate foes in gratuitously violent ways, all while feeling like a total badass. Ion Fury also doesn’t have health that regenerates over time, so you might as well forget taking cover and waiting it out. It’s better to just jump in there, guns blazing, and unleash hell.

A big feature of the gameplay in Ion Fury is that it isn’t a rail shooter and it doesn’t have linear levels. While there are seven stages that you need to clear in the game, how you go through them is up to you. There are multiple paths and choices, and lots of secrets to discover through exploring the whole map. It gives you a lot more freedom as a gamer than other classic FPS games did in the past, and adds more replay value to Ion Fury. Plus the game features achievements to unlock and share with your friends to show off your progress.

Ion Fury did what it set out to do, which was to use the old BUILD engine to create a classic shooter in a modern world of gaming. It’s a true successor to old school first-person shooters and feels right at home compared to DOOM or Duke Nukem. For fans that have missed playing that kind of game, Ion Fury delivers entirely. Plus it’s hard to not feel like a total badass when you’re playing and wielding Loverboy, Shelley’s trusty three-barrel revolver. We couldn’t find much to complain about beyond a few flaws certain gamers may not like as the game certainly isn’t for everyone - but for who it was made for, Ion Fury is incredible.

Ion Fury is truly the modern descendant of classic FPS games. It kept all the best elements that gamers loved while bringing the game into today’s world. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea with its high level of violence and gore, but for the players, it was written for, Ion Fury is fantastic. It’s fun, fast-paced, exciting, and worth playing more than once. It offers a challenge while not being punishing, and it’s the kind of game that people can pick up and just have a good time with. If you like other titles by 3D Realms, you’ll like this one, too. As long as you go into Ion Fury knowing what it is, it doesn’t disappoint.

Have you played Ion Fury yet? What did you think? Do you agree with our verdict or what would you have said differently? Are you going to buy it now? What about the game is most appealing to you? Let us know in the comments!