"It might look a little dated now, but the gameplay is still superb!"

In a period of intergalactic war, a race of war machines were created called the Bions. The were fighting for the Coalition, the good force in the wars. The Bions soon gained a reputation for being ruthless and brutal. Once the wars were over, the Bions could no longer be contained. Complete Bion dismantlement was ordered. But a few Bions survived and regrouped on a distant planet called Fury. They eventually took over 7 more planets and now, you have to destroy them. Thus is the story of Fury 3.

I used to enjoy this game a lot while I was a kid. It was in fact my favourite game. Now, I have rediscovered it and how does it hold up to other games today?

Story: 6/10

The aforementioned story is explained up to there in the opening cutscene. But that is where the story really ends. There is a little explanation at the beginning of each planet, and that is it. Some signposting of certain facts isn't very strong. For example, in the first mission of the planet Fury, the planet itself is blue. Then in the next, it is all grey and patterned. I was like "How does that work?" Turned out the first mission you were supposed to destroy shield generators, which then grants you access to the planet's surface. This fact came to light after I tried it again recently. This is the game's weak point.

Graphics: 7/10

The graphics in this game are quite excellent. They are smooth, and detailed. But the best graphics are in the small view, which is a bit small to see what is going on. If the view is maximised, the graphics are grainy and the frame rate slows. The weapons are the graphics worst point though. Most look the same, save for colour. In fact, every missile in the game looks exactly the same!!! Some proportions are out of whack as well.

Audio: 8/10

The audio is appropriate, with plenty of noise going on, such as laser blasts, explosions, missile fire, and powerup noise. The music does get on your nerves after a while, but you can turn it off.

Gameplay: 10/10

Now the game comes into its own. The gameplay is absolutely superb. there are 8 planets, with 3 missions on each. You fight in 1st person, with many views. There are a multitude of different fighters, anti air batteries, missile launchers, transports, buildings, ground attack vehicles, plus many more. There are 7 weapons, 2 lasers, 1 spraying weapon, 3 types of missiles, and an AWESOME Super Bomb, destroying all targets in sight, (save for bosses, of course) and restores your health to full.
Your first time through the game will not take too long, if you try the game on easy or normal. But as you get to the higher difficulty levels, things start to get enthralling and extremely tense. You might be close to death, trying to find health with 20 odd fighters on your tail, firing a wall of lasers at you. The boss fights are amazingly insane and require lots of skill. On higher difficulty levels, you will probably run out of missiles and have to take down a boss with weak lasers. The controls are also well thought out, and easy to use.

Overall, this game is a great, fun game still, after 10 years. It will get you stuck at the computer for hours on end, battling to save the universe. Get to work Councilor!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/19/05