Phantom Fury is a mere phantom of the classics – Overview – WGB

The regular rise of the boomer-shooter has been one thing moderately particular, a deliberate transfer again to the times when FPS video games had been much less in regards to the realism and extra in regards to the pure enjoyable. There are a lot of parts that make a recreation a boomer-shooter, from the graphical fashion which apes the classics to the run and gun taking pictures. Make no mistake: Phantom Fury is a boomer-shooter. Sadly, it isn’t one of many higher ones.

That is truly a sequel to Ion Fury, itself a sequel to 2016’s Bombshell, which was launched in 2021, that includes Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison and her robotic arm. Whereas Ion Fury was impressed by the likes of Duke Nukem 3D and DOOM, Phantom Fury shifted its focus towards the late 90s and early 2000s. Assume Critical Sam: The First Encounter and also you’ll be in the fitting ballpark.

However whereas this can be a sequel, you don’t have to have performed Ion Fury to leap into Shelly’s newest journey as a result of, actually, the plot is extra like background noise anyway. Shelly awakes from a coma to seek out herself inside an underground base, grabs the closest weapon (a stun baton) and embarks on a journey to avoid wasting the world from some nonsense or different. She’ll throw out some one-liners and quips alongside the way in which, none of which seize the crassness or charisma of Duke Nukem. The occasional character pops in as nicely, making an attempt to justify your shenanigans and all of the explosions however by no means managing to.

Like its inspirations, Phantom Fury is about taking pictures way over telling a cohesive or fascinating story. There’s none of that main and secondary weapon nonsense right here: Shelly is old-school and may magically match her total arsenal of firepower, of which there’s quite a bit, into her non-existent pockets. It’s that or she’s becoming them some other place, however I refuse to enterprise up that rabbit gap. There’s the everyday decisions of a shotgun, an assault rifle and a rocket launcher, augmented with a spicier implements of destruction like an acid-spitting alien tentacle…errr, factor, a photon rifle and bowling ball bombs. Whereas I love the concept of creating gamers determine which weapons to take, there’s one thing stunning about having each weapon immediately obtainable.

The factor about having a giant arsenal is overlap, and that’s one thing Phantom Fury does undergo from. The usual pistol is totally ineffective in comparison with the Loverboy revolver which additionally boasts an absurdly overpowered lock-on potential, whereas the SMGs are largely usurped by the assault rifle. The Stun Baton has no cause to exist apart from often powering up an electrical field, and the identical could be stated for the round noticed which you’ll generally whip out to grind by way of a locked door however is in any other case ineffective towards enemies on account of an absence of ammo for it.

Alongside the way in which you get an opportunity to improve your weapons, giving them additional talents that serve no goal in comparison with the superior go well with and gun upgrades. The shotgun’s blinding flashlight is ok, for instance, however probably not value spending improve factors on.

The fight is pretty fast-paced, emphasising loads of strafing and dodging out and in of canopy at any time when it’s obtainable whereas waves of baddies attempt to flip you right into a high-quality pink mist. Its very fundamental motion, considerably missing in suggestions from the enemies you shoot and affected by anaemic weapons. It’s not unhealthy per se, however I can’t say I loved the gunplay both – it’s serviceable, often enjoyable however largely forgettable and in want of extra enemy selection to maintain issues contemporary.

One factor Phantom Fury doesn’t push as a lot because it ought to is Shelly’s robotic arm. You possibly can smash enemies to a pulp with it, therefore an honest recharge time, however with the wealth of firearms obtainable I truly discovered myself barely ever utilizing Shelly’s helpful battering ram. It doesn’t get used a lot in puzzles or exploration both, which is stunning. Contemplating its her sole defining trait (her character doesn’t have a lot happening) you’d count on it to be woven into the gameplay.

One of many enjoyable little methods Phantom Fury mimics its inspirations is thru heaps of interactable objects, reminding me of the times of Duke Nukem 3D the place you may flush bathrooms, chug booze and press each button. Most of it’s fully pointless however that doesn’t cease it from feeling oddly satisfying, and generally it results in cool minigames resembling an arcade gentle gun recreation. Different instances it may be a bit baffling as a result of objects that look interactable, together with doorways, aren’t at all times. I actually thought we had moved previous the times of some doorways being, y’know, precise doorways whereas others aren’t, however right here we’re. Thoughts you, Phantom Fury hasn’t fairly moved previous the concept of invisible partitions, both.

The sport is at its finest after the primary few hours of linear ranges. Later environments open up into sprawling layouts that twist and loop, together with a number of doorways that require good old school colour-coded safety playing cards. These larger zones require some correct exploration and even an honest reminiscence since there’s no mini-map or something like that. God aid you in the event you cease enjoying and are available again after just a few days. On the one hand, nearly all of the time its enjoyable to determine what to do subsequent and it appears like the sport and its builders truly belief you get the job completed. However, there have been just a few moments had been I discovered myself genuinely caught for some time as a result of I couldn’t fathom what the sport wished of me as a result of the signposting wasn’t as much as snuff.

There are just a few vibrant areas resembling a jungle or a enjoyable part involving a pub, however final there are too many corridors, army bases and gloomy interiors, harkening again to the old fashioned shooters within the improper means. Hell, the sport even manages to wedge a sewer part into the motion that appears depressing from a graphical standpoint. Positive, it makes the few splashes of colors present in out of doors ranges stand out, however I’d moderately spend much less time exploring the within of a concrete bunker, particularly in the course of the closing third of the sport.

Phantom Fury additionally tries to interrupt up the move every now and then with one thing completely different, like driving alongside boring roads in a 4×4 or an on-rails helicopter part the place you gun down enemy plane. These sections are very hit and miss by way of high quality, however do at the least present some selection. The identical could be stated of the boss fights which usually pit you towards some large foe with an equally large well being bar to whittle down by way of the cautious software of shit-tons of ammo and explosives. I can’t say there’s something ingenious about these fights, although: you’ve seen ’em all earlier than.

Even weeks after launching, I discovered fairly just a few technical issues with Phantom Fury, the largest of which was the dozen or so crashes on my PS5. At one level it crashed a number of instances in a single part, shutting down the sport simply earlier than I may get to the subsequent checkpoint and thus halting my progress till I fully turned off the console and booted it again up. Different issues are much less annoying, like being randomly catapulted into the air because of the physics system actually not liking that particular barrel that rolled into my ankles, or enemies ignoring my existence like I’m an issue they’re furiously hoping will go away in the event that they don’t transfer. They’re improper.

I’d be extra keen to disregard these points if the gameplay was stronger, but it surely isn’t. It’s not a nasty recreation, however there are many different boomer-shooters on the market – like Boltgun, the superb Selaco and even Ion Fury, for that matter – that do it so significantly better.