Originally released on consoles, Fury Unleashed somehow slipped under the radar upon its release to Android. This blows me away as it’s not every day that you get a console-quality game on an Android device. Fury Unleashed is brought to us by Kraków-based indie studio Awesome Games. Thanks to the team for supplying me with a review code. What follows is my opinion of the game and no one has seen it before its release.
In a mix of Retro meets modern, Fury Unleashed combines all of the best elements of old-school gunslinging shoot ’em ups like Metal slug with modern platformers like Dead Cells. A good old-fashioned bullet hell with a beautiful aesthetic, and killer audio to match. Fluid controls and a whole host of other great elements kept me coming back.
Fury Unleashed is a stunning game, it’s drawn in a comic book art style. The environments are intricate and detailed making use of multiple layers and effects like parallax scrolling, the lighting even changes from frame to frame depending on the setting. Each area is procedurally generated and set across the pages of a comic book. Players can travel back and forth between each frame of the comic avoiding a mix of foes and obstacles each appearing randomly on each play-through.
The story is centered around Fury the rough and tough action hero who is ever ready to save the world from the evils that lurk in the shadows. His creator, the artist of the Fury Unleashed comics, has begun to doubt his choices, abilities and creations. Guiding you through this conundrum is a character named Mr. Doodle who acts as the go-between for the player and the artist: voicing his concerns and elaborating on his mindset and doubts. The game tells its story in a unique way that I’d rather not spoil. So play it to find out more.
On your quest, you’ll interact with a whole host of quirky characters, some of whom will give you challenges to complete within a given timeframe. Other times these characters may give you rewards, weapons, or armor. They may still barter with you – trading health points for buffs or abilities. This is similar to the blessings system in Hades and makes each run feel wildly different. Unlike Hades, your weapons can be changed throughout the run allowing you to find what works best and ensure maximum bloodshed. My best loadout so far was an axe, a rocket launcher, twin machine guns and jump boots. This allowed me to platform at a breakneck pace and lay down devastating desolation to any foes unlucky enough to encounter me. Legend has it their cries can still be heard in some distant corners of the digi-sphere.
The game encourages bloodlust, if a player chains together multiple kill combos within a tight timeframe then they are rewarded with greater ink drops, health regeneration or damage buff. This scales accordingly. The gameplay and controls are tight, making for smooth badass platforming. Unfortunately at the time of writing, there isn’t any built-in controller support for the android version. It is possible to use screen mapping apps like octopus or some equivalent if a controller is a must for you.
If Fury’s appearance is not hardcore enough for you. Then fret not because it’s possible to customize your character and his gear. Change his hair and his face to suitably represent your ideas of a monster-slaying man of action. Physical customization aside the game also allows you to tweak your stats after each death with a fairly detailed skill tree. Here you can choose to level up abilities or the likelihood of a health drop should you so require. If you level up a skill that you feel isn’t relevant you can also cash it in to receive some of your skill points back.
The game features multiple difficulties, initially, only two are available. Essentially: easy and hard. However, after selecting difficulty you’re asked to select the level of gore that you feel is appropriate. This is a feature that I can appreciate as it allows the little ‘uns to have fun without getting all bloodied up. Both of the above settings are changeable on the fly and your experience won’t be affected by making changes. Diving further into settings there are also a variety of graphical options such as; image quality (Custom, low, medium and high) as well as a frame rate setting which allows you to set the target frame rate, anywhere from 30 fps up to 120 fps AND BEYOND. You also have the option to remap controls, tweak audio and visual elements and toggle aim assist (which is on by default in easy mode). There isn’t an option to increase the controls UI transparency, it would be a nice option but it doesn’t seriously hamper gameplay in any way.
But that’s not all folks, when you’ve played through one comic book you’ll be treated with several more, each one featuring a unique visual style, different enemies and new bosses. This goes hand in hand with an excellent soundtrack composed by Adam Skorupa and Krzysztof Wierzynkiewicz. Two names that appear in the audio credits of titles like Bulletstorm, Shadow Warrior 2 and The Witcher!
Multiplayer is something that can be hit and miss in gaming, it largely depends on how it’s handled by the developers and the strength of your internet connection. I am very happy to report that the multiplayer was near flawless. A friend and I happily played for several hours only once noticing a SMIDGE of slowdown which was as a result of my network. One area that might see a little improvement is the initial pairing. It’s basic and if you aren’t both ready to go one of you might end up playing with a stranger. Fortunately, a positive of the simplicity is that it was easily rectified once I realized my fault. A tip for the folks at home, it’s easier if you have a google play username to identify yourself when you’re hosting.
Fury Unleashed is one of the best android based games that I’ve played in recent years. The storyline and artwork are a breath of fresh air. The details and methods used to tell the story are a blend of old meets new and a welcome change. There are also a whole host of weapons to choose from and characters to engage with. The procedurally generated stages and aforementioned equipment make each run feel fresh and unique. The multiplayer was smooth and easy enough to navigate, it made for a great afternoon with a friend. In a wave of nostalgia Fury Unleashed reminded me of nights playing metal slug with my friends at an arcade, back when arcades still reigned supreme. Built-in controller support and the option to make the controls more transparent would be welcome but it’s definitely not essential to a good time. This is definitely a game worthy of your time.
