I bear in mind some years in the past occupied with how cool it could be if some fashionable builders created video games in outdated engines. Particularly, I used to be occupied with Ken Silverman’s legendary Construct Engine, a cluster of technical trickery that stands as, maybe, the very best 2.5D raycasting engine ever designed.

So, I used to be excited when Ion Fury popped up, doing simply that. Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison was created as a stand-in for Duke Nukem, so it appears acceptable that Shelly (I’m undecided Bombshell is a nickname that may stick) would finally make it to the engine that made him well-known. Sadly, I couldn’t actually get into it.

Then I attempted once more later and nonetheless couldn’t get into it.

Then I attempted one other time, and it nonetheless wasn’t clicking.

Now, with its first enlargement, Ion Fury: Aftershock, I’m making an attempt one more time. And, uh, nicely, there’s one thing right here that also isn’t working. Sadly, I picked it up for overview, so now I really must dig into why I can nonetheless take pleasure in Blake Stone however can’t get into what, on paper, is my dream recreation.

Ion Fury: Aftershock (PC)
Developer: Voidpoint
Writer: 3D Realms
Launched: October 2, 2023
MSRP: $14.99

Ion Fury: Aftershock picks up a short while after the top of the bottom recreation. Shelly received the battle, however the conflict wasn’t over. Heskel is alive and free from the repercussions of his conflict on humanity. Shelly is suspended from the World Protection Drive, and is drowning her sorrows in a bar when Heskel’s goons spill her drink once more.

Why? I do not know. Perhaps it’s a sort of flirting.

So, Shelly resumes her bloodthirsty vendetta towards Heskel, however this time, the GDF isn’t going to take a seat idly by as she does extra harm than the machines she’s combating. It actually bothers me that I don’t know what Heskel is making an attempt to perform. He makes use of cyborgs and believes in transhumanism, nevertheless it simply seems like he’s wrecking shit. Shelly’s blind, psychopathic vendetta, however, I can get behind.

Aftershock is an expansive enlargement. The brand new marketing campaign is a hefty one, so for those who’re anticipating a easy map pack, put together your self. That is primarily a direct sequel.

It additionally crosses into a few of my favourite environments in retro shooters, akin to a grocery retailer and a comfort retailer (don’t ask, I do not know). Sadly, the degrees are extraordinarily diversified in high quality, and the shops aren’t significantly excessive factors.

Aftershock appears to try to stick to the extra open key-hunt designs of yesteryear than the bottom recreation did. Nevertheless, it’s nonetheless relatively railroaded, and it’s nonetheless incapable of determining a superb tempo. The motion continues to be usually extra chaotic and fixed than video games like Doom, however with the identical stopping and beginning as you ponder how one can get to yonder change. Coupling that with the best way the sport urges you to verify for secrets and techniques.

The degrees can also’t determine if they need you to find via exploration or preserve you on the golden path. I completely perceive the significance of environmental cues for guiding the participant, however the cues in Aftershock are literal exit indicators. Not simply above doorways that lead you out of buildings, however on doorways which are nowhere near the exit.

I feel the primary subject with Ion Fury’s stage design that’s repeated with Aftershock is how unreadable the environments are. They’re much more cluttered than different Construct Engine video games, utilizing extra environmental objects and lighting together with extra geometry. As somebody who has messed with the Construct Editor, I’m impressed by what they’ll make the engine do, however as a participant, I’m aggravated that it’s as much as me to determine what vents will be shot out and that are simply decorations. Or what glass will break, and what’s bulletproof. What is taken into account to be a door, and what’s simply painted on the wall?

It’s the final vibe of Ion Fury that I’ve bother grappling with. It reaches to be in tune with Duke Nukem 3D’s adolescent humor, however not solely do I probably not take pleasure in Duke Nukem’s adolescent humor, Ion Fury doesn’t even come shut. The visible gags see posters plastered all around the environments, which are very not often humorous. I’m undecided why somebody at Voidpoint thinks home abuse is so humorous, however no matter.

Shelly additionally spouts one-liners like Duke Nukem and Lo Wang, however, identical to the posters, few of them are any good, and a few of them are simply terrible. I used to be questioning if the cringe-worthy “clear up on aisle your ass,” quip was a reference, however after I searched it on-line, I simply received some…recommendation.

However this actually butts up towards the sport’s retro design when it tries to inform a narrative. That is usually performed via Heskel popping up on TV screens and Shelly shouting on the TV like somebody watching Cops. At any time when this occurs, you must cease what you’re doing utterly, in any other case, the dialogue simply will get drowned out by every part.

For that matter, Shelly typically makes feedback throughout common gameplay about one thing happening within the atmosphere. These is perhaps about the place she must go or some inconvenience that she’s about to expertise. Nevertheless, I’m undecided if it ever occurred on an event the place I may inform what the Hell she was speaking about.

By way of what Aftershock provides, nonetheless, as I mentioned, it’s very beefy. Past simply the marketing campaign, there are additionally new weapons, enemies, and an Prepare Mode that remixes the bottom recreation’s ranges. That might be cool, however first Ion Fury would want to persuade me that I need to replay the bottom recreation.

One of the crucial closely marketed elements is a bit the place you journey a “rotorcycle” via environments. Once more, I’m impressed that Voidpoint was capable of get this to operate in a passable method inside the Construct Engine, however the ranges with the bike really feel actually misplaced with the remainder of the design. It needs you to go quick and blow issues up, but additionally seek for secrets and techniques, which don’t gel very nicely. It’s satisfying to some extent, however simply provides to the uneven feeling of the enlargement.

Nevertheless, the purpose right here is that for those who loved Ion Fury, then I’m nearly sure that Aftershock is value your time. To its credit score, I loved the brand new marketing campaign greater than I did the bottom recreation, so there’s an endorsement.

Nevertheless, for me, Aftershock has merely confirmed that I’m not going to take pleasure in Ion Fury irrespective of how laborious I strive. My important points with the sport are laborious to nail down, however the actuality is that it’s nearly every part. It’s a recreation of highs and lows, which simply makes an aggravatingly coarse floor. That feeling carries over to the Aftershock enlargement. The Construct Engine simply isn’t sufficient for me to utterly overlook its flaws.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}