REVIEW / Phantom Fury (Steam Deck)

As a callback to the days of the PlayStation 2, developer Slipgate Ironworks and publisher 3D Realms have crafted an experience that will make you dust off your old console and pull out some of those old first-person shooters from back in the day. In Phantom Fury, you take on the role of Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison who has spent the last few years in a coma after her fight with her arch-nemesis, Jadus Heskel. An old ally of Shelly’s realizes that a new threat is emerging and forces the powers that be to awaken her. He then brings her up to speed on whats happened to her and why he did what he did. She awakens to find out that she now has a new bionic arm and a new lease on life. Her mission, should she choose to accept it, is to locate and secure the legendary Demon Core, an elusive and highly dangerous artifact. As she embarks on an intense journey that will take her to many destinations across the US, she must overcome the demons from her past before she can ensure mankind’s future.

The good thing about Phantom Fury is that you don’t have to dust off your old consoles to enjoy it, you can simply download it to your PC or modern day console and jump right into the action. The not so good news, however, is that this game feels like something from decades past and fails to feel like something fresh and new. Like those shooters from the past, gameplay is fairly simple. As you make your way through the game, you are tasked with dispatching the enemies that are trying to stop you from procuring the Demon Core. You get your first weapon by taking out an enemy and using it against any subsequent threats that may come your way. Rinse and repeat. You may find other weapons in crates or on a table, for example, but that is par for the course for games from this era.

If you like shooter games that offer a plethora of weapons to choose from, Phantom Fury has you covered there. Over 20 unique weapons are on offer so if one weapon doesn’t suit your play style, then there are plenty others to choose from. From old stand-bys like Bowling Bombs to armor-piercing shotguns, electrified foam shooting devices and deployable drones, there is no shortage of uncommon weapons to use on your journey around several US locations. The developers tried to create weapons that aren’t just your standard run-of-the-mill pistol or shotgun but weapons that offer a bit of a twist to those found in other games of this ilk. While I found some of them to be fun to use, most of them fell flat after a few uses and I just ended up sticking with the more simple weapons such as Shelly’s upgradeable bionic arm.

Back in the PS2 days, if the visuals in a game weren’t the best, it was because the technology just wasn’t up to rendering photorealistic imaging just yet. Most people realized that fact and accepted that gaming consoles at the time were just not powerful enough to render the actual in-game content as well as the pre-rendered cut-scenes of the day. Visually, Phantom Fury leaves much to be desired which is harder to accept with today’s more powerful PCs and consoles. The environments in the game are varied enough that you don’t feel like you are stuck in the same place for too long, which is to be expected in a game that touts the fact that you will be going to different locales all over the US. However, the drab and dated design kept me feeling like the developers could have taken a little more time to make it look like a game that was released in 2024 and not 2004.

Sound effects and voice overs in Phantom Fury were probably one of the more positive aspects of this game. The sounds of gunfire and explosions felt weighty enough and each of the weapons sported a unique sound to help make it fell like you were using a serious tool in your endeavor to make your way through the hordes of enemies. The voice actors also did a fairly decent job of making the different characters feel believable and like real people. In addition, the soundtrack helped to bring the areas to life and did a good job of setting the tone of the game. While these elements were the highlights of the game, it just wasn’t enough to keep me invested and I fond myself getting bored with the experience pretty early on in my play playthrough.

While the developers of Phantom Fury tried to pay homage to an era of gaming that has long past, I just don’t think that they did enough to really get modern gamers to buy in. Like games back then, areas give no clues as to what you are supposed to do or where you are supposed to go. That was how games were made back then, however the design of games and how the developers guide the gamer through the levels have evolved since the early 2000s. With so many other great games to play these days, modern gamers would only serve to get frustrated and give up on an experience like this. If you enjoy an experience like this, I would say wait until this one is on sale and give it a go. Unfortunately, my feeling is that this game will only be attractive to a small niche of gamers and not to the general gaming community as a whole.

This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.