Cyberpunk heavy metal first-person shooter Ion Fury is now out on Nintendo Switch. Come learn more about it in our Ion Fury review!

 

Ion Fury is a prequel to Bombshell, a top-down action shooter featuring Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison as its main playable character. As her nickname would suggest, she’s a bomb disposal expert and leader of the Global Defense Force Domestic Task Force. She’s called into action after villain Dr. Jadus Heskel unleashes an evil cyber-cultist army of enhanced soldiers in the dystopian city of Neo D.C. The game’s story and gameplay mechanics pay homage to the old-school FPS classics of ages past, while also adding some quality of life improvements such as checkpoints in each stage so that you can get your FPS on without having to lose a lot of your progress when you make a mistake, having the game always equip pickups if new, or having auto-aim activated.

To play of its very metal nature, sci-fi setting, and female protagonist, Ion Fury actually started life as Ion Maiden, one would think as a nod to heavy metal legends Iron Maiden. As expected, it didn’t take long for the Iron Maiden legal team to get in touch with 3D Realms about the similarity in the game’s name and the band’s name, and after some back and forth, it was decided that changing the name to Ion Fury would be the best solution. On the bright side, in a twist paying tribute to a beloved first-person shooter franchise, Jon St. John, the voice of Duke Nukem himself, is the voice actor for the main villain.

 

With Ion Fury being a first-person shooter, you can expect to move Bombshell around with the left analog stick, aiming and moving the camera with the right one. The B and R buttons are for jumping, and the X button will be for climbing stairs, opening crates, etc. You can crouch down with the A or L buttons if needed. The ZR button is for firing, and the ZL button is for the alternate fire mode. You can reload your weapon with the Y button so that you’re never caught off guard with low ammo. Bombshell’s Electrifryer police baton can be activated by pressing down on the right analog stick. You can also check your map with the – button so that you can know where you’ve already been to, and where you should be heading to. There’s also the option of switching between weapons by pressing up or down on the D-Pad. There’s also a radar that can be activated by pressing right on the D-Pad, or a medkit – if you’ve found one – that will heal Bombshell by pressing left.

 

The game features four difficulty settings so that players of different skill levels can take it for a spin. You have First Blood, which is an easier difficulty that allows players new-ish to FPS shooters to get used to what Ion Fury has to offer. Wanton Carnage is the standard normal difficulty, but don’t let that make you feel at ease, because the regular difficulty is still a challenging experience. Ultra Viscera bumps up the challenge by a bit, so you’re definitely going to die a lot more than in Wanton Carnage. And then we have Maximum Fury, the highest difficulty setting in which everything is going to kill you in the blink of an eye.

As you explore each stage, you’ll be picking up ammo power-ups to boost your overall defense, as well as health power-ups to help Bombshell recover from some of the damage received from her opponents’ attacks. There is also ammo to collect so that you can keep your weapons fully loaded and ready for action, as well as many secrets to find here, there, and everywhere! Did you find what seems to be a dead-end? Don’t forget to try and interact with all the walls to make sure there isn’t a secret wall in there!

 

Along with the main Campaign Mode, Ion Fury also includes a trio of bonus missions for you to take on. These include Crisis in Columbia, Queen of the Hill, and Bombardier Trial. Crisis in Columbia is the level that was made available for Ion Fury during early access, and its something that will take you 20-30 minutes to complete depending on your skill. Bombardier Trial is the same level, but you’re going to have a ton of bombs to make short work of anything that stands in your way. As for Queen of the Hill, it’s an endless mode in which you’ll be trying to kill as many enemies as possible before you’re done for.

Ion Fury is a fun first-person shooter that does a good job of paying homage to the old-school games in the genre. It offers a chunky story Campaign, some bonus missions to take on, and many quality of life improvements you’d expect from a game releasing in2020. If you’re an FPS fan, then be sure to give this one a go. Ion Fury is out now on Nintendo Switch for $24.99.

Disclaimer
This Ion Fury review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by 1C Entertainment.