Fury Unleashed is a game I am bad at. I’m just terrible at it. I spent 3 hours getting repeatedly pummelled by the first boss. I had to switch to Easy Mode for the sake of this review. But here’s the thing: after I finished the game, I went back and played through it on Hard (the default difficulty). Fury Unleashed is exciting to play, and a single run is quick to get through, so I didn’t care how much I died. This is a roguelite that rewards what you do, no matter how good you are at doing it. I died a lot, but I just wanted to try again every time.

If the name Fury Unleashed sounds familiar, that’s because the game was released on Early Access in 2017. The gameplay reminds me a lot of 2013’s Rogue Legacy, but with guns. The game consists of side-scrolling your way through procedurally generated levels on a 2D plane, defeating enemies and collecting power ups and loot. When you die, you can upgrade your character’s abilities before your next run. But there’s a boatload of guns.

Shooting your gun is easy, responsive, and mapped to the right analogue stick for quick access. You also have a melee weapon, grenades, and a limited use super ability, but your guns are your primary weapon. Enemies will shoot back, but some will swipe at you or explode on death, so guns are the best way to deal with them. The way bullets temporarily stun baddies works well with the game’s exaggerated comic book art style. A helpful auto-aim function means strategy is more important than precision. And with the game’s randomised loot system, there’s always new, better guns to play with. Some guns are slow but powerful. Some are weak but quick. Some are weird sci-fi implements that shoot straight across the room. You don’t get to keep your guns when you die, so each run is different in both layout and playstyle. 

The game’s plot doesn’t get in the way of the gameplay too much, but is surprisingly nuanced. You play as Fury, the hero of a fictional comic book series called Fury Unleashed. Each level in the game plays as Fury reliving one of their past adventures in order to discover what happened to John Kowalsky, the creator of the comics. I don’t think it quite sticks the landing, but Fury Unleashed has a lot to say about the kinds of mental health struggles and creative fatigue that can set in when running a high-profile comic. This meta layer – all the menus are set on Kowalsky’s desk – is consistent and engaging, and helps frame the game’s wackiness. Of the four levels in the game, one is set in a haunted jungle, another in a Neo-Nazi robot fortress, and it all makes perfect sense. 

One small feature I liked was how Fury wears all the randomised armour pieces you find throughout each level. But otherwise, I found character customisation to be lacking. There’s two default character models, each with a half-dozen or so hairstyles and accessories to choose from, and that’s it. There’s four available skin tones, three light, one dark. Other characters can be unlocked throughout the game, but these can’t be customised at all. It’s a disappointment, but it’s often hard to see Fury when there’s bullets and viscera covering every inch of a room, so it’s not a big disappointment.