More Like Phantom Annoyed
HIGH Fast action. Clever hidden items. Lots of interactivity.
LOW Backtracking. Damage sponge enemies. Crashes and bugs.
WTF Why are the Bowling Bombs so addicting?
I’ll admit it doesn’t take a whole lot for me to enjoy a game. I’m lenient on lackluster AI, I don’t need the fanciest graphics, and I am satisfied with linear experiences. The way I see it, sometimes a guy just wants to blow a bunch of stuff up and mow enemies down, ya know?
My main requests are A) be respectful of my time — as in don’t make me backtrack a ton, or at the very least give me a good reason, and B) PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD LET ME SAVE WHERE AND WHEN I WANT.
To its credit, Phantom Fury gives me a lot to do, a ton of stuff to play with, and lots of enemies to shoot in the face. Unfortunately, it steadfastly refuses to follow rules A or B, and after the fifth crash to desktop and an unwillingness to launch afterwards, I finally gave up, even though I’d be quite content to kill a bunch more dudes with bowling ball bombs to see credits rolling.
After her appearance in 2019’s Ion Fury, protagonist Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison returns to do… something about terrorists? Or something?
Basically, she’ll save the world from evildoers by emptying clip after clip, turning them into ludicrous gibs of gooey spray in the process. Shelly’s ancestor was the inventor of tech that powers her bionic arm, and somehow that same tech can be misused to threaten the free world… I guess? I stopped paying attention because despite the fact that there’s a story here, it’s paper thin and serves only to give Shelly license to kill folks, wreck stuff, and spout one-liners of varying quality. (And to be clear, since I’m here for the action, the lack of solid narrative is completely forgiven.)
Anyone who’s even heard of a first-person shooter knows what to do here. Players control Shelley as she blasts her way through hordes of baddies, explores her surroundings for better weapons and gear, and solves basic environmental puzzles like finding keys to unlock doors or using computer terminals to shut down bothersome turrets.
What makes Phantom Fury stand out in an otherwise-crowded market of FPS titles is the level of interactivity and some clever item placement that rewards a bit of poking around the generally linear levels — things like Shelley using an enemy’s stun baton as a portable generator, supplying power to elevators and doors. Additionally, our hero can pick up crates and stack them to climb up to higher vantage points. She can rifle through file cabinets, pick up items from desks, and even play arcade games and pinball machines. These unnecessary (but appreciated!) interactions go a long way towards making Phantom Fury feel like a lived-in world.
Sadly, for every little detail that delighted me, there were many that were tedious — I could open every drawer in an office, but the vast majority were empty. I could access every terminal, but most of them repeat similar messages, which quickly stopped being funny or clever, and so on.
In terms of loadout, Shelly has the standard pistols and machine guns, but she can also annihilate foes with her metal arm, snipe with a crossbow, and blast away with a foam cannon that does freeze damage… possibly? I could never tell, but it looked cool and messed enemies up. The most enjoyable of these, though, are the Bowling Bombs — homing bombs which are rolled towards enemies, causing satisfying explosions that will down a swarm of foes in one blast.
Most weapons can be upgraded or modified to allow secondary characteristics by spending collected currency at specialized stations. These stations also allow her to also upgrade her arm, and an “ion suit” she acquires later in the story.
Unfortunately, despite the solid fundamentals I’ve just listed, Phantom Fury ends up as an experience that’s more irritating than entertaining.
Damage-sponge enemies mindlessly rush the player, with an enormous amount of firepower required to bring down even the earliest opponents. Their movements are also too erratic and quick to allow for effective aiming, making what could have been fast, frenetic combat unsatisfying.
This lethality towards the player leads into my next issue — Phantom Fury relies completely on checkpoints, and contains no manual saving of any kind. This might not have been a problem, but the save points are way, way too far apart. Shelly will get killed — often, even on the easiest difficulty levels — so players can expect to cover the same ground over and over again as they try to make progress.
This forced retreading of content is accompanied by mission-based backtracking where Shelly has to make her way through places she’s already been to open a door she couldn’t access previously, or similar. For instance, in one infuriating level, I was required to go through five or six rooms to pick up a key to unlock a door back in the first “hub” room, then go upstairs to another area, search all of those rooms for another MacGuffin to allow me to enter another room back on the “hub” floor, and so on. A sequence in an office suite made me do the same, having to go back and forth through rooms I’d already seen more than a few times so I could go through a door back at the beginning. The issue wouldn’t be a dealbreaker on its own, but coupled with the other problems, it’s maddening.
It’s a pity — thanks to fast action, tremendous atmosphere, and some genuinely clever weapons, Phantom Fury could be special, but it winds up as frustrating as it is enjoyable. At this point it’s a tough one to recommend, but I’m hoping that it can be salvaged with some patching and rebalancing in the coming months.
Rating: 5 out of 10
Disclosures: This game is developed by Slipgate Ironworks and published by 3D Realms. It is currently available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 13 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. There are no multiplayer modes.
Parents: At the time of review, this game had not yet been rated by the ESRB. However, the game is graphically violent. Featuring human enemies frequently torn in half, beheaded, etc., with blood and remnants left on the screen. Additionally, there is liberal use of intense language, with numerous uses of F— and S— along with other profanity. It also encourages the use of alcohol (various drinks restore Shelly’s health. The use of alcohol only serves to make Shelly sway slightly when moving.
Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are present.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. All mission critical dialogue is fully subtitled, but incidental enemy chatter is not. All gameplay-critical sound cues are represented visually, but sniper shots are not displayed unless they actually damage the player character. The game therefore is not fully accessible.
Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.
He juggles this passion for gaming with his most important job, being a husband and dad.Fortunately, his boys are growing up as gamers (with decidedly more skill, much to his annoyance) and he has a very understanding spouse.
He hangs out on Twitter sometimes as @JPSJeffOrt, Facebook FAR less frequently, and while he misses performing all the interviews from his former online life, he’s much more relaxed now!
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