Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison is back in a new shooter, titled Phantom Fury. This game is set in the Bombshell series, set between the original Bombshell and its prequel, Ion Fury: Aftershock. These games channel the spirit of the late ’90s/early 2000’s shooters with modern sensibilities. But does Shelly have what it takes to bridge the gap between retro and modern styles of shooters, or do we have to keep ‘em separated?
Come Get Some, Context
Phantom Fury once again stars Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison, who can be described as a legally distinct female alternative for Duke Nukem (and was originally created to be a support character in a since-cancelled Duke Nukem game). She was the star in one of the best Build Engine games (Ion Fury) and its expansion (Aftershock), as well as whatever Bombshell was. Now she’s back in this pseudo spin-off/sequel to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and I’m sure you can guess what she is out of!
Shelly wakes from her slumber, in a hospital bed with a new robotic arm after she failed to defuse a bomb left by her arch nemesis, Dr. Heskell. She’s told by the General of the Global Defense Force she works for that there is a mole in the force. Now she needs to make her way to her great-grandfather’s cabin halfway across the country to start to make any sense of what’s gone on.
If you have guessed you’d get a journey full of conspiracy, double-crossing, and military hoo-rah with a bunch of one-liners, cheesy dialogue, and wanton destruction, then you would be exactly right. That’s just how this “road trip movie” type of narrative ends up going, as Shelly makes her way across the country, finding secret labs and dispensing justice in her unique and aggressive way.
Sadly Phantom Fury doesn’t quite nail the delivery that its inspirations nailed all those years ago. You are left in the dark as to what is going on initially for far too long in the plot to care when story threads start to unravel. By the end of the story you’ll likely guess every plot twist as well. There’s a small amount of supporting cast members to try and push the story along, but sadly even the cameo from John R. Blade of SiN fame can’t save it from being anything beyond fluff to fill the gap. This story really only serves to work as a bridge between Ion Fury and Bombshell and how Shelly has a robot arm in the latter.
Full Life, Half-Life, What’s The Difference
Like the rest of the Bombshell games, Phantom Fury is a first-person shooter. Unlike the others, it isn’t running on the Build Engine. Instead, this game runs on Unreal Engine, with more focus on 3D effects. It leans further into the combat and puzzle aspects of the genre rather than focusing on having more explorative and large maps. You get a narrower, yet tightly packed experience.
The game has otherwise typical mechanics and interface common to the genre. You have health and armor meters to keep on top of, replenishing them with health and armor kits. Health can also be slightly raised by eating food or drinking various drinks (including booze), that are strewn around the levels (and yes you can get Shelly rather tipsy should you down a few too many beers).
You can find an item around stages that can be used at upgrade points to unlock secondary fire on some weapons, give you new abilities, or improve your attributes. I unlocked a good chunk of these by the end of the game, and felt like you can have everything unlocked by the final boss of the first playthrough if you explore enough. Outside of the secondary fire on some of the weapons, none of the upgrades felt too substantial. Only the shield and ability to run with heavy weaponry really impacted how I would approach combat.
Control is the standard affair of 8-way movement with the option of Freelook. You can also crouch and sprint, and even slide if you crouch while sprinting. Some surfaces can be scaled, noted by whether they have scratches on them (rather than a more gaudy option like yellow paint). And of course, you have a robot arm, so it would be criminal if you couldn’t punch people in the face with it. Ultimately Phantom Fury doesn’t have the pace of a more twitch-oriented shooter, instead feeling a lot closer to titles like Turok 3: Shadows of Oblivion.
You Get What You Deserve
Shelly has plenty of weapons to keep her prey firmly in check. Alongside genre staples like the pistol, shotgun, and rocket launcher, you also have Shelly’s iconic “Loverboy” revolver; it looks like a revolver but kicks like a shotgun and feels so good to use. The Ion Bow is also back from Ion Fury. There’s also a triple-barreled shotgun, and even some kind of alien weaponry to get your mitts on. In all, there’s a rather safe but fun arsenal of weapons on hand to kick ass and deal damage with.
Sadly, the first issue I had with Phantom Fury and that is the combat feels held back, especially in comparison to the visceral combat of Ion Fury/Aftershock. The shotgun doesn’t seem to have enough spread or deal enough damage. Gunfire is far too focussed for a game without scope-based aiming, meaning you’ll likely end up accidentally missing a fair bit. Splash damage from explosions doesn’t have a wide enough radius to make it particularly effective, and the whole package just doesn’t have the feedback or “oomph factor” when compared to the other games in the franchise. It left me wondering how much the change in engine influenced this rather than the game’s actual design.
The variety of enemy types are quite lacking too, which is a shame. You have generic GDF troops, special troops that take a few more hits, mutants, and drones…and that’s really your lot. Boss fights also come in exactly three flavors, two of which are repeated. You really only get three original boss fights, and none of them are anything more than bullet sponge riddled exercises in patience. Coming off of Ion Fury: Aftershock, the enemy count is quite a letdown.
Roadhouse……Roadhouse
Phantom Fury is a lot like a game version of a “road movie”, presented as one continuous journey through its story. Rather than doing a sequence of separate missions, Shelly alternates from the open road to various facilities along the way. Usually this involves an obvious transition between sections, such as a time when she jumps on the train at the end of one stage before doing the following stage on said train.
Rather than the rather expansive levels full of secrets fans of the previous games might come to expect, Phantom Fury feels much more linear. Only a few levels require much exploration and backtracking. A lot of levels funnel the player towards the objective, with locked doors and sets firmly pointing you in the right direction.
Combat tends to be broken up by the need to find keys, passwords, or terminals to open up doors. At times you’ll also have to do physics-based puzzles, such as using a crane to move stuff out of the way before using the crane claw to climb up. Sadly the puzzles, much like the enemies and bosses, only come in a few variations. By the midpoint of this ~14-hour adventure you have seen everything the game has to offer multiple times.
Fortunately, outside of the military facilities, the level variety is fantastic. When you get past the first couple of levels, the actual level design is a lot of fun despite the repetitious enemies and puzzles. There are some genuinely impressive moments when you’re making your way around. For example, you have a bar level with an impressive amount of interactivity and mini-games to play, and a vehicle-based level where you drive through the picturesque countryside. Levels like those kept me engaged in Shelly’s trip across the country.
I’ve Been To The Year 2000
Phantom Fury has the charm of the AA games of the Playstation 2 era.The physics engine doesn’t quite work all of the time, with all sorts of amusing but otherwise non-game-breaking jank like people clipping into doors and items flying across the floor with all the speed of a blue hedgehog. It’s refreshing that Slipgate Ironworks opted for this style of FPS over following the oversaturated market of Doom/Quake clones.
Despite the grievances I have pointed out, I still felt compelled to push myself further into this game. I liked the ability to upgrade Shelly’s fist to produce a shield, and how later upgrades and weapons changed the way I would approach combat. Outside of the first few levels, Phantom Fury absolutely nails its pacing. It’s done well enough that despite my issues with the combat and puzzles having repetitious aspects, I always felt that there was something new on the horizon to look forward to. The expert pacing and that moment when the combat finally clicks make Phantom Fury well worth any FPS fan’s time.
Looking Good Harrison
While previous Bombshell titles were mainly 2D sprite and texturework affairs with simple 3D models for buildings and the like, Phantom Fury favors high-polygon visuals throughout the whole experience. Shelly has jumped forward since her previous outings into the world of more gaming, and that has its pros and cons.
Phantom Fury’s environments can look absolutely beautiful, especially when considering the limited toolset used to give it the feel of an early 2000s game. The game has strong art direction and creativity that make it appealing beyond just making things look hyper-realistic. Sunshine permeates through the forest in the outside levels, decimated cityscapes look so good despite having little under the hood, and the train section has a fantastic transition which simply has to be experienced. Sadly, my praise for the visuals doesn’t quite carry over to the character models, aside from being able to tell what attack most of them will do as soon as you see them.
The game is chock full of neat visuals like explosions and weather effects, which all look absolutely fantastic in motion even while doing actions like diving to cover trying to avoid fire from GDF troops and ever-encroaching mutants. Despite having the design of an early 2000s game, the developers put forth that extra step to make it feel quite special in places with all these effects that would have made Half-Life blush back in the day.
As was common for mid-2000’s shooters, the cutscenes in the game are done in the first-person perspective. This is done in a way to keep you engaged in the game and immersed in what’s going on around you. For the most part, this is fine, but Shelly’s hands do animate a little awkwardly. This is probably a side effect of the animators only really allowing her to communicate emotion using her arms and voice; it works for the game, and there aren’t too many game-interrupting cutscenes to deal with anyway.
Loud and Proud
The soundtrack unfortunately made absolutely no impact on me at all. When you think 3D Realms, you think of that iconic Duke Nukem theme song, the soundtrack of Rise of the Triad from the olden days, or even the jingle of Crystal Caves. Sadly, nothing comparable to those highs ever stuck out in Phantom Fury. I actually remember having to dive into the options settings and turn the volume up just to be sure there was actually music in the game!
Shelly is her usual one-liner-spewing self, but it doesn’t feel like she was quite into it this time around. Compared to her previous outing, her voice seemed rather dull in comparison and the lines themselves didn’t feel quite as strong. For example, I’m sure anyone who played Ion Fury got a small chuckle out of her referencing The Offspring’s “You’ve gotta keep ‘em separated”, whereas with Phantom Fury, Shelly will sometimes proclaim “You get what you deserve” (presumably a Nine Inch Nails nod) but with much less gusto.
The rest of the voice cast is fine. You’ll hear the General a lot, as he updates your objective, and there is a scientist who also radios you from time to time. As previously mentioned Phantom Fury has a small supporting cast, but it works for the narrative and doesn’t bog you down with cutscenes every couple of minutes. It was also amazing to see John R. Blade again in his brief cameo.
Verdict
Phantom Fury is a fine homage to the late 90/early 2000s first-person shooter game and a fun game in its own right. The issue is that, compared to Ion Fury and Aftershock, it just doesn’t quite stack up due to how soft combat feels and repetitive enemy and puzzle variety are. Fortunately, it’s not quite as bland as Bombshell, and has a fun and well-paced campaign for any fan of the genre or Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison for at least the one playthrough.
The game clocked in for me at just over 14 hours, though this is likely to come down on subsequent playthroughs as there were a few sections where the difficulty spiked quite high. The game is well paced and there is plenty to see and do throughout Shelly’s road trip, but go in knowing the ride is going to be a little bumpy, so put that seatbelt on.
PHANTOM FURY IS RECOMMENDED
Purchase: Humble Store
If you are looking for another boomer shooter, check out our review of Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun.
Thanks to 3D Realms for providing a PC review code for Phantom Fury.
Pride of utopia & greatest thing ever, I found the One Piece, Collected the Dragon Balls & won the Mortal Kombat Tournament in one night, it was quiet for me that night! Follow me on Twitter @powahdunk
