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Fury Review for PC

Fury Review for PC

The open-ended nature of the gameplay quickly deteriorates into repetitive PvP matches…

Fury has the right idea, but the wrong execution. It’s an amalgam of genres that incorporates shooting, strategy, deathmatches, player-vs-player, teamwork, and RPG elements. But throwing too many ingredients into a blender can result in mush, and Fury has basically reinforced that analogy with its everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to gameplay.

Fury screenshot

Too much variety can be a detriment. I like having the freedom of choices, but I find it works only if the parameters have been set properly. A game has to set a balance between freedom and restriction. Fury seems far too open-ended. I can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. It can conceivably go on forever, but that’s a big part of the storyline as your character is a reincarnation magnet. I can see why the developers want to keep people playing online, since this is a MMORPG, but it’s easy to see how “forever” can get redundant quickly.

As a reincarnated warrior, the premise is set for eternal life. That means you’re damned to repeat the same gameplay elements for an eternity. As one of the Chosen, you must use your abilities to collect a force known as the Essence. It will help save your world from destruction. Essence is used like experience points. Weapons, skills, attributes, and armor can all be purchased with Essence residue. You don’t necessarily level-up in Fury. You have almost complete control over your character’s development. There are so many different attributes that you can mix and match. In fact, regardless of what class you choose, you can access any and all upgrades. You can also change your archetype later in the game.

Fury screenshot

A well designed tutorial will help you get started. At the outset you’ll choose your character and class. There are eight classes, but you’re not forced to live with your original choice. You can change the archetype anytime, but there are some drawbacks involved in doing so. It takes a lot of time and leaves you vulnerable. Since you can access all weapons, skills, and attributes anyway, you might as well stay with the same class so that you don’t lose anything. To get to the classes, you have to follow one of the disciplines of magic: Life, death, decay, or growth. All of these paths have two alternatives: Spiritual and physical.

Equipping your character with gear, or moves, can cost you in the range of three to 10 Essence points. The game sets a cap on the amount of gear points that you can spend to keep things fair for beginners. The spoils of victory will be awarded to players after each battle. It’s done in random fashion which makes things interesting since you never know what you’re going to get. Keep in mind that Essence is acquired through battles with other players. These battles take place in arenas. It would be really frustrating for new players to acquire any Essence if older players were allowed a higher cap. This is a good idea that will entice new players into the game, knowing they won’t be led like lambs to the slaughter.

Fury screenshot

Those that are more familiar with traditional turn-based combat should really enjoy the ability to execute moves in real time. There is virtually no waiting time for a strike to be issued. You can even dish out the punishment while you’re on the move. The four main elementals include fire, water, wind, and nature. Combined with weapons, or with each other, these combined attacks can really do some damage. You can store your favorite combos in your incarnation slot. It’s a handy feature if you’re not into experimenting. I’m sure there are millions of different combinations, but I find that just breeds more anxiety. I don’t have the time or inclination to try out a few million combinations. The combat is quick, and often you won’t have time to do little more than put your favorite moves to the test.

Fury screenshot

Truth be told, there aren’t a lot of different moves, at least at this stage of the game. You have your requisite ranges and melee moves, in addition to buffs, rebuffs, healing, magic, and unique character moves. Aside from some interesting finishing moves animation, there isn’t a lot of variety to the combat animation. There is a lot of hacking, slashing, throwing, and rolling. Aside from a lot of button pushing when launching an attack, you’ll have to move your character around quite a bit to avoid getting hit. There’s really no strategy to the gameplay once you’re in the heat of battle. You will have to hope that you’ve taken care of everything beforehand in terms of equipment, attributes, and elemental combinations. If your opponent sneaks up behind you when you first teleport to the arena, it could all but be over for you.

The interface is streamlined for easy access. It looks good, and it works well. It’s a great example of form and function. The environments are limited to only a handful of maps. They aren’t very well detailed, with the exception of the static backdrops that you can’t interact with. Technically there are some minor flaws but nothing I can’t live with. No major freeze-ups or blue screens. The characters respond well to commands, but they don’t look all that great. The game will automatically default you to the appropriate rendering engine determined by your PCs processing capabilities. If you’re computer is state-of-the-art, you’ll access the Unreal 3 engine. The difference between the two engines appears negligible, although you can expect better looking characters.

The Fury gives me a conflicting sense of agoraphobia and claustrophobia. It’s likely that it may be more refined in the future, but right now it feels as though it’s still a work in progress.

Features:

  • PvP combat focused – Every development decision focuses on providing players the ultimate in Player vs. Player experience.
  • Combat with the visceral thrill of an FPS game and the strategy and depth of an RPG.
  • A robust matchmaking system that ensures players always fight opponents of equal skill and experience.
  • Classless advancement system for ultimate flexibility – No more gimping your character or being constrained to a specific set of abilities. In Fury you don’t choose a class – you define your own!
  • A game that provides instant action to catch your attention, and the meaningful depth to hold it.
  • Realm vs. Realm system with literally dozens of other Realms to fight against!
  • Over 400 abilities, each with 10 unlockable ranks providing near endless possibilities for character advancement and achievement.
  • No boring PvE grind – go straight into thrilling PvP combat against human-controlled opponents.
  • Compelling Backstory with over 100 “memories” to unlock; these memories tell you about your character’s incredible history.
  • Enormous item and equipment system, up to 1000 inventory slots – no boring, restrictive, inventory management here.
  • An MMO that you can actually achieve things in during your lunchtime.
  • Next-generation game built on Unreal Engine 3.
  • Challenge system for fighting with friends, groupmates or clans, for practice or bragging rights.

    RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 3.3 Graphics
    Static backgrounds look good but aren’t interactive. Character models are average. 4.4 Control
    Interface is easy to understand and access. Lot of button mashing. Responsive controls. 3.4 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
    Some unpolished soundtrack cues, but the sound effects are realistic. 2.8 Play Value
    At this point, the game is much too repetitive with its PvP focus. 3.1 Overall Rating – Fair
    Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

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