Ion Fury: Aftershock Review – Return of the Queen

Ion Fury: Aftershock

Ion Fury: Aftershock is a massive expansion to the 2019 game, featuring more of everything that made the original a blast to play

Product Brand: 3D Realms

Product Currency: USD

Product Price: ‎$14.99

Product In-Stock: InStock

Editor's Rating:
9

Ion Fury is a fine game. It’s so fine that we reviewed it twice (here and here). While the 2019 Build Engine Boomer Shooter played it safe compared to some of its peers, it managed to deliver a lengthy, action-filled campaign that was original and at the same time, chock-full of fan service. 4 years later, Shelly ‘Bombshell’ Harrison is back to kick some more asses in Ion Fury: Aftershock, an old-school style expansion pack featuring more levels, more enemies, more guns, more gibs and even a hoverbike to boot. Presenting, Gameffine’s Ion Fury: Aftershock Review.

No Rest for the Badass

Picking up some time after the ending of Ion Fury, Aftershock begins with Shelly drowns her sorrows in a bar. Apparently, Dr. Heskel managed to get off scot-free, and Shelly finds herself being defamed for her antics. It doesn’t take much time for things to go down the shitter as Heskel’s cultists once again rains on Shelly’s parade by attacking her in the bar. Armed with her trusty ‘Loverboy’, Shelly goes on a rampage to finish off Heskel for good, defying The Global Defence force in the process.

You know the drill-story in a boomer shooter and all. Suffice to say that, much like the original, you won’t really care for Shelly or the plot after the initial cutscene. Gameplay is all that matters in Aftershock. I find myself repeating my 2019 review when it comes to Shelly. Retro FPS are known for having some of the most badass, iconic protagonists in video games. Shelly? She’s just not that. While the voice acting and dialogues are slightly less corny this time around, I’m still not entirely sold on her. Maybe Phantom Fury will do a better job in presenting Shelly as the badass the game thinks she is. Then again, as I’ve said before, gameplay is king, and you can just mute her lines and focus on shooting the shit out of cultists and robots.

Bigger and Better

Aftershock can simply be summed up as a bigger and better Ion Fury. Aside from the length of the campaign (which can range from 4 to 15 hours depending on how much secret hunting you do), Aftershock is a noticeable improvement over the original. The maps are much more open and are designed competently with more verticality, interactable objects, interconnected pathways and of course, plenty of well-hidden secrets. Aftershock adds a whopping 15 new levels to the game and they are more varied compared to the original. Think less sewers, more shopping malls. The maps in Aftershock are probably the most detailed Build Engine maps you’ll ever see. In fact, there’s so much detail to them that it can be hard to make out enemies among all the visual clutter. This is a problem that is present in the base game as well.

The new additions don’t just stop in the improved level design. I noted in my review of the base game that the selection of weapons felt very pedestrian and by-the-book. Aftershock tries to rectify this by tweaking and adding alternate firing mode for some of the original weapons. The Dispenser shotgun now fires explosive pellets and gas grenades. The Penetrator SMG’s incendiary rounds are now much more effective. Aftershock also adds an entirely new BFG weapon to the game, The Homewrecker, which fires powerful plasma projectiles that pretty much one-shot all enemies. Moreover, Aftershock incorporates seven new power-ups that you can pick up and use at will. These include a gimmicky bullet time mode, one that drastically supercharges your weapons, a Robocop-inspired god mode that gives you unlimited revolver ammo, another one that spawns a flame vortex and more. These are so ridiculously overpowered and fun to use, essentially making Shelly an invulnerable killing machine.

The next big addition to Aftershock is a hoverbike named Road Ripper, which is armed with homing missiles. When available, Shelly can use Road Ripper to traverse levels Half Life 2 style, take part in a linear race against time, and of course, blow enemies to smithereens. Honestly, I never expected the bike to feel as good as it does. It controls amazingly well and the homing missiles are borderline orgasmic. The sections where you ride the Road Ripper are easily the best sections in the expansion.

There’s also a new difficulty added in called the Angel of Death. On this difficulty, dead enemies respawn after a set time, but unlike Doom, you can gib their bodies to make them stay dead. Aside from these improvements and additions, Aftershock also features Arrange mode. Arrange Mode basically lets players experience the base game with a new coat of paint, incorporating remixed enemies, weapons and increased challenge. Even some of the level layouts gets mirrored and secrets get rearranged. This is a fantastic addition as it gives you a reason to revisit the base game but with all the bells and whistles of the expansion.

Real Talk

Ion Fury: Aftershock is a must-play expansion for fans of the base game. Superior level design, better level variety, faster paced campaign, more firepower, more enemies, the awesome Road Ripper and the Arrange mode make Aftershock a noticeable improvement over Ion Fury. Those are some big enough reasons to grab the expansion at full price.

FINAL RATING: 90/100