Ion Fury

🎮 Steam ⏳ 15 hours ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

Modern Retro Shooter #

This title is a love letter to classic ’90s first-person shooters, built on a modernized version of the old Build engine that powered Duke Nukem 3D and Blood. It captures the speed, intensity, and charm of that era, with fast-paced combat, non-regenerating health, creative weapons with alternate fire modes, and sprawling levels filled with secrets to uncover. It is impressive how this engine can achieve to create such diverse games, while still feeling modern enough to support indie developers with unique ideas, not to mention it is still powering a lot of mods being made for existing games, which sometimes become their own thing.

Stylish Level Design #

The level design stands out in particular, offering large, detailed spaces that reward exploration and make firefights feel dynamic and unpredictable. The presentation leans into retro style without feeling outdated. Pixelated visuals are enhanced with modern lighting effects and small interactive touches, giving each stage a lot of personality. The sound design, from punchy weapon effects to a fitting soundtrack, complements the chaotic action and keeps the adrenaline high, this is truly one of the most stylish titles that I’ve ever experienced.

Faithful Genre Throwback #

That said, Ion Fury doesn’t try to push the genre forward. Its narrative is paper-thin, mostly an excuse to throw waves of enemies at the player, and the environments can start to feel repetitive after a while. Overall, Ion Fury succeeds at what it sets out to do: delivering a faithful, exciting throwback to the golden age of shooters. For fans of old-school FPS design, it’s a thrilling ride filled with satisfying action and nostalgic charm, though those looking for innovation or a strong story may find it a little lacking. This is truly one of the best oldschool shooters that I’ve experienced, I highly recommend not skipping it if you like this sub-genre.