It’s more of a showcase to display the power of Windows 95.
Graphics 8
Sounds 8
Value 6
Tilt 7
Windows 95 was a definite improvement from the good ole Windows 3.1. GUI comes to play and for gamers it’s like Christmas arrived early as installation of games is considerably easier than typing a trillion commands just to run a game in DOS. The bigger advantage was that Windows 95 is now a 32bit system hence welcoming to the age of 32bit.
On a personal note, Windows 95 was the first ever PC for me. During 1990 – 1994, I refer this period as the ‘dark age of gaming’. I rarely played any PC games as I thought it became too complicated (comparing to the 80s it’s a noticeable difference) however I did spend considerable amount of time playing traditional pen and paper RPGs.
Well, bearing in mind the mass fan-fair of advertising Windows 95 (and how couldn’t anyone forget the ad when Bill Gates used the original Doom for his Windows 95 promotion) I bought my first PC and bundled as a package came Fury 3. The game that promised to utilised all the 32bit power of Windows 95.
The principle of the game is to save eight planets from the occupation of the Bions; which are genetically modified soldiers originally assist the Coalition (us) during the IP Wars (corny I know). Of course power got the better of the Bions therefore declared war against The Coalition after the IP Wars hence strategically took over eight planets. You, being a member of the Terran Council of Peace, it’s your mission to stop the Bions – by eliminating them by any means (I guess approaching the situation diplomatically is out of the question).
On the surface, Fury 3 is surely a chaotic game. It’s definitely fast, furious and downright aggressive. All viewed comparable to a FPS however you will be attacked from six different angles; another words, it’s an arcade flight simulation with the feel of a FPS. You also will be constantly bombarded with Bion crafts of all sorts and if that’s not enough, land forces will lobby their arsenal as well. Each stage will be a certain number of objectives to complete and once fulfilled, fly into a jump zone to your next destination.
Then rinse and repeat until the game ends.
This style of game play will be exciting at first as you will be zooming throughout the vast landscapes however very soon it will get tiresome. Thank goodness though that your fighter plane can take some considerable damage before exploding and there are ample of power ups and ammo caches if you decide to go exploring. You’ll also have the option to auto-level your plane (however there will be a good chance that you’ll fly up-side down) and does support joystick, keyboard/mouse combo. Besides the mass advertisement on the box stating Fury 3 is best played using the Microsoft Sidewinder joystick (the marketing never ends) I used the keyboard/mouse option without any remorse.
To those who knows the game Terminal Velocity will notice very similarities between these two games. The graphical engine is quite impressive for its time however I really cannot see many improvements between Terminal Velocity and Fury 3. As advertised, the game promises 32bit power however in the graphics department, not much. Of course if you view the game beyond 640 x 480 resolution, it will start becoming a pixilated mess. Take note that the game is after all made in 1995. That said, the explosions are quite nice (and there will be plenty) and the Bion crafts themselves are reasonably detailed. The landscapes are the highlights as you will notice that the lands themselves are vast and varied between the planets with jam-packed of buildings, domes, cranes, trees etc and of course the Bions.
I feel the true 32bit arrives from the sounds. Games back then didn’t really ulitised stereo sounds as midi files are definitely the talk of the town (as they are small in file size and do actually sound wonderful). Typical PC storage wasn’t exactly immense (I remember mine was 2GB and that was huge) however the compression data for the musical scores for Fury 3 deserves a mention. The scores themselves can be played back on a conventional CD player using the Fury 3 CD and the beats themselves are quite suitable for the planets you about to explore. Very up beating and will definitely get you going for that extra personal boost to constantly blast those Bions out of the skies. Other sounds are worth mentioning as well as you can hear the ‘whoosh’ of the Bion crafts zooming pass you from left to right (or vice versa), explosions all around you and the never-ending gun fire.
As usual, depending on the style of game play will dictate the length of the game (and of course how often you hit the reload screen). For an average go-getta it can take within the ten hours range. For me it took and basing on the medium settings approximately eleven hours as I literally explored every nook-and-cranny (including locating all the underground tunnels) that my radar can pick up. This includes destroying every piece of landmark (besides plants and seaweeds as they have negative impact on your overall score). The only replay value you’ll get from this game is playing it on a higher difficulty.
Fury 3 was definitely a showcase to display the power of Windows 95. Windows 95 (like any other operating systems that Microsoft developed) wasn’t initially a big seller. Considering PC games are making its mark due to the successful sales of Doom, Myst et al and the consoles market still producing 16bit platform games (and the odd RPG or strategy titles) in addition to the many, many FPS clones, Fury 3 was definitely an uplifting approach. Gone are the DOS command prompts of installing games as Fury 3 incorporates self-installation as it was a welcoming approach to PC gaming. It’s like viewing Vista with DX10 is for Fury 3 and its simplistic navigation and installation. The game itself is sure a blast to play as there will be firefights from all angles though it can really exhaust you but I guess that’s why they call it Fury 3. As the manual states ‘Can you say Fury to the Power of Three?’