The
steady
rise
of
the
boomer-shooter
has
been
something
rather
special,
a
deliberate
move
back
to
the
days
when
FPS
games
were
less
about
the
realism
and
more
about
the
pure
fun.
There
are
many
elements
that
make
a
game
a
boomer-shooter,
from
the
graphical
style
which
apes
the
classics
to
the
run
and
gun
shooting.
Make
no
mistake:
Phantom
Fury
is
a
boomer-shooter.
Unfortunately,
it
isn’t
one
of
the
better
ones.

This
is
actually
a
sequel
to
Ion
Fury,
itself
a
sequel
to
2016’s
Bombshell,
which
was
released
in
2021,
featuring
Shelly
“Bombshell”
Harrison
and
her
robotic
arm.
While
Ion
Fury
was
inspired
by
the
likes
of
Duke
Nukem
3D
and
DOOM,
Phantom
Fury
shifted
its
focus
toward
the
late
90s
and
early
2000s.
Think
Serious
Sam:
The
First
Encounter
and
you’ll
be
in
the
right
ballpark.

But
while
this
is
a
sequel,
you
don’t
need
to
have
played
Ion
Fury
to
jump
into
Shelly’s
latest
adventure
because,
honestly,
the
plot
is
more
like
background
noise
anyway.
Shelly
awakes
from
a
coma
to
find
herself
inside
an
underground
base,
grabs
the
nearest
weapon
(a
stun
baton)
and
embarks
on
a
journey
to
save
the
world
from
some
nonsense
or
other.
She’ll
throw
out
some
one-liners
and
quips
along
the
way,
none
of
which
capture
the
crassness
or
charisma
of
Duke
Nukem.
The
occasional
character
pops
in
as
well,
attempting
to
justify
your
shenanigans
and
all
the
explosions
but
never
managing
to.

Like
its
inspirations,
Phantom
Fury
is
about
shooting
far
more
than
telling
a
cohesive
or
interesting
story.
There’s
none
of
that
primary
and
secondary
weapon
nonsense
here:
Shelly
is
old-school
and
can
magically
fit
her
entire
arsenal
of
firepower,
of
which
there’s
a
lot,
into
her
non-existent
pockets.
It’s
that
or
she’s
fitting
them
somewhere
else,
but
I
refuse
to
venture
up
that
rabbit
hole.
There’s
the
typical
choices
of
a
shotgun,
an
assault
rifle
and
a
rocket
launcher,
augmented
with
a
spicier
implements
of
destruction
like
an
acid-spitting
alien
tentacle…errr,

thing,
a
photon
rifle
and
bowling
ball
bombs.
While
I
admire
the
idea
of
making
players
decide
which
guns
to
take,
there’s
something
beautiful
about
having
every
weapon
instantly
available.

The
thing
about
having
a
big
arsenal
is
overlap,
and
that’s
something
Phantom
Fury
does
suffer
from.
The
standard
pistol
is
completely
useless
compared
to
the
Loverboy
revolver
which
also
boasts
an
absurdly
overpowered
lock-on
ability,
while
the
SMGs
are
largely
usurped
by
the
assault
rifle.
The
Stun
Baton
has
no
reason
to
exist
aside
from
occasionally
powering
up
an
electric
box,
and
the
same
can
be
said
for
the
circular
saw
which
you’ll
sometimes
whip
out
to
grind
through
a
locked
door
but
is
otherwise
useless
against
enemies
due
to
a
lack
of
ammo
for
it.

Along
the
way
you
get
a
chance
to
upgrade
your
guns,
giving
them
extra
abilities
that
serve
no
purpose
compared
to
the
superior
suit
and
gun
upgrades.
The
shotgun’s
blinding
flashlight
is
fine,
for
example,
but
not
really
worth
spending
upgrade
points
on.

The
combat
is
fairly
fast-paced,
emphasising
plenty
of
strafing
and
dodging
in
and
out
of
cover
whenever
it’s
available
while
waves
of
baddies
try
to
turn
you
into
a
fine
pink
mist.
Its
very
basic
action,
somewhat
lacking
in
feedback
from
the
enemies
you
shoot
and
suffering
from
anaemic
weapons.
It’s
not
bad
per
se,
but
I
can’t
say
I
enjoyed
the
gunplay
either
–
it’s
serviceable,
occasionally
fun
but
mostly
forgettable
and
in
need
of
more
enemy
variety
to
keep
things
fresh.

One
thing
Phantom
Fury
doesn’t
push
as
much
as
it
should
is
Shelly’s
robotic
arm.
You
can
smash
enemies
to
a
pulp
with
it,
hence
a
decent
recharge
time,
but
with
the
wealth
of
firearms
available
I
actually
found
myself
barely
ever
using
Shelly’s
handy
battering
ram.
It
doesn’t
get
used
much
in
puzzles
or
exploration
either,
which
is
surprising.
Considering
its
her
sole
defining
trait
(her
personality
doesn’t
have
much
going
on)
you’d
expect
it
to
be
woven
into
the
gameplay.

One
of
the
fun
little
ways
Phantom
Fury
mimics
its
inspirations
is
through
heaps
of
interactable
objects,
reminding
me
of
the
days
of
Duke
Nukem
3D
where
you
could
flush
toilets,
chug
booze
and
press
every
button.
Most
of
it
is
completely
pointless
but
that
doesn’t
stop
it
from
feeling
oddly
satisfying,
and
sometimes
it
leads
to
cool
minigames
such
as
an
arcade
light
gun
game.
Other
times
it
can
be
a
little
baffling
because
objects
that
look
interactable,
including
doors,
aren’t
always.
I
honestly
thought
we
had
moved
past
the
days
of
some
doors
being,
y’know,
actual

doors
while
others
aren’t,
but
here
we
are.
Mind
you,
Phantom
Fury
hasn’t
quite
moved
past
the
idea
of
invisible
walls,
either.

The
game
is
at
its
best
after
the
first
few
hours
of
linear
levels.
Later
environments
open
up
into
sprawling
layouts
that
twist
and
loop,
including
multiple
doors
that
require
good
old-fashioned
colour-coded
security
cards.
These
bigger
zones
require
some
proper
exploration
and
even
a
decent
memory
since
there’s
no
mini-map
or
anything
like
that.
God
help
you
if
you
stop
playing
and
come
back
after
a
few
days.
On
the
one
hand,
the
majority
of
the
time
its
fun
to
figure
out
what
to
do
next
and
it
feels
like
the
game
and
its
developers
actually
trust
you
get
the
job
done.
On
the
other
hand,
there
were
a
few
moments
were
I
found
myself
genuinely
stuck
for
a
while
because
I
couldn’t
fathom
what
the
game
wanted
of
me
because
the
signposting
wasn’t
up
to
snuff.

There
are
a
few
colourful
areas
such
as
a
jungle
or
a
fun
section
involving
a
pub,
but
ultimate
there
are
too
many
corridors,
military
bases
and
gloomy
interiors,
harkening
back
to
the
old
school
shooters
in
the
wrong
way.
Hell,
the
game
even
manages
to
wedge
a
sewer
section
into
the
action
that
looks
miserable
from
a
graphical
standpoint.
Sure,
it
makes
the
few
splashes
of
colours
found
in
outdoor
levels
stand
out,
but
I’d
rather
spend
less
time
exploring
the
inside
of
a
concrete
bunker,
especially
during
the
final
third
of
the
game.

Phantom
Fury
also
tries
to
break
up
the
flow
now
and
then
with
something
different,
like
driving
along
boring
roads
in
a
4×4
or
an
on-rails
helicopter
section
where
you
gun
down
enemy
aircraft.
These
sections
are
very
hit
or
miss
in
terms
of
quality,
but
do
at
least
provide
some
variety.
The
same
can
be
said
of
the
boss
fights
which
typically
pit
you
against
some
giant
foe
with
an
equally
giant
health
bar
to
whittle
down
via
the
careful
application
of
shit-tons
of
ammo
and
explosives.
I
can’t
say
there’s
anything
inventive
about
these
fights,
though:
you’ve
seen
’em
all
before.

Even
weeks
after
launching,
I
found
quite
a
few
technical
problems
with
Phantom
Fury,
the
biggest
of
which
was
the
dozen
or
so
crashes
on
my
PS5.
At
one
point
it
crashed
multiple
times
in
one
section,
shutting
down
the
game
just
before
I
could
get
to
the
next
checkpoint
and
thus
halting
my
progress
until
I
completely
turned
off
the
console
and
booted
it
back
up.
Other
problems
are
less
annoying,
like
being
randomly
catapulted
into
the
air
due
to
the
physics
system
really
not
liking

that
specific
barrel
that
rolled
into
my
ankles,
or
enemies
ignoring
my
existence
like
I’m
a
problem
they
are
furiously
hoping
will
go
away
if
they
don’t
move.
They
are
wrong.

I’d
be
more
willing
to
ignore
these
issues
if
the
gameplay
was
stronger,
but
it
isn’t.
It’s
not
a
bad
game,
but
there
are
plenty
of
other
boomer-shooters
out
there
–
like
Boltgun,
the
excellent
Selaco
or
even
Ion
Fury,
for
that
matter
–
that
do
it
so
much
better.