Phantom Fury: When Retro Tries to Be Modern

Phantom Fury is the kind of game that tries to revive the golden age of shooters, but ends up feeling more like a high school reunion where everyone is trying to impress each other with things no one really cares about. With action that mixes nostalgia with an excessive dose of modern attempts to be “cool”, this game is like that pavé uncle who still thinks that using baggy pants it's fashionable.

The Action: Explosive, But Shallow

Running over trains and dodging helicopters, Phantom Fury It does everything it can to be exciting. The action is full of explosions – because, of course, what would a shooter be without? random things exploding everywhere? It's a desperate attempt to capture the essence of old-school PC gaming, the ones you pirated on floppy disks in the 90sbut it ends up feeling more like an off-key serenade under your teenage crush's window with a keytar broken.

Ion Fury's Spiritual Sequence? More for a Confused Spirit

Too Much Dialogue, Too Little Fun

The game tries to inject a dense plot into each mission, but honestly, anyone who plays a retro shooter to listen to a soap opera? We are here for action, not for a deep analysis of the existential meaning of intergalactic wars. There are so many dialogues that you could take a break to eat a rotten X-tudo on the corner and come back without missing anything important.

Unnecessary Interactions: Why Touching Everything is “Fun”

The game's obsession with incidental interactivity is like those old Atari games where you press buttons just to see if something happens. Except that, in Phantom Fury, you can interact with just about everything, from flushing a toilet to adjusting the speed of a ceiling fan. It's an attempt at immersion that feels more like a cheap gimmick to mask a lack of substance.

Physics: A High Point in a Sea of ​​Mediocrity

One of the few saving graces is the physics of objects and interaction with the environment. Yes, it's fun to use a crane to stack boxes, but that quickly becomes another item on the to-do list. “things I can do, but that don’t add anything to the game”.

Conclusion: Much Ado About Nothing

In the end, Phantom Fury is a classic example of a game trying desperately to be more than it is. With so much focus on non-essential elements, they forgot what makes a shooter fun: simplicity and direct action. It's a failed attempt to modernize a classic, which ends up feeling like playing one of those complicated Atari games that no one really liked, but played because there was nothing better available. In short, Phantom Fury tries to revive the past, but perhaps some classics should stay right where they are – on an SD card on your Everdrive.

Pros

• Explosive and Dynamic Action: Despite its flaws, the game offers explosive action sequences that capture some of the charm of old shooters.
• Fun Interactive Details: The abundance of interactive objects in each level brings an element of curiosity and exploration that can be fun.
• Physics and Mechanics of Objects: The physics elements applied to objects and environments are well executed and offer creative and engaging gameplay moments.

Cons

• Heavy and Intrusive Narrative: The game suffers from an excess of dialogue and a plot that frequently interrupts the rhythm of the action.
• Heavy and clumsy movement: The change from classic fluidity to heavier movement can frustrate players who expect the agility of old shooters.
• Excessive and Unnecessary Interactivity: The excessive amount of interactive elements often feels more like a gimmick than a genuinely useful addition to the game.
• Visual and Navigation Confusion: Problems with visual communication lead to frequent confusion about what is interactive, what is navigable and what is merely decorative.

Rating: 5.0/10.0

Phantom Fury tries to honor the legacy of retro shooters while introducing modern mechanics, but ends up getting lost in its own complexity and attempt to be more than a straight action game. The result is an experience that, while sometimes fun, often feels weighed down by its own ambitions and a lack of focus on what makes shooters fun: simplicity and fluidity in the action.