Fury3

MICROSOFT’S WINDOWS95 SHOOT-EM-UP

A Review of Fury3

by Derek F. Tarvin

Fury3 is Microsoft’s gaming product marketed to take

advantage of Windows 95 in a fast-paced adrenaline-pumping space

arena. Whether or not it truly takes advantage of their operating

system is still left to be determined and though the game is entertaining,

it’s mainly a clone of another 3D action shooter, Terminal Velocity(TV).

Calling Fury3 a TV clone isn’t as far from the mark as players

might think. The game engine used is the same as Terminal Velocity.

The Terminal Reality engine was used for both games and is overly

apparent in Microsoft’s product. The gameplay as well as terrain

and target types are quite similar to TV. Gamers shouldn’t give

up on Fury3 just yet, though. If the player hasn’t exhausted too

much time in TV, then Fury3 has enough enhancements to provide

many hours of entertaining gameplay.

The graphics and sound are almost identical to TV

in early stages, but Fury3 has an enormous number of different

enemies and ground targets. Though no SVGA option is offered(like

TV), the 300×200 256-colored graphics are well done in the various

terrain, enemy spacecraft and ground objects. With eight worlds

that include everything from barren asteroids to underwater seascapes

to ancient Egyptian deserts, the terrain, enemies, and background

music in each world are quite distinctive. Knowing that different

ships, each with distinctive weapons, will face you in the next

world is incentive to press on. The player can fly close to the

floor level or pop above the cloud cover to enjoy the stars and

avoid a swarm of bad guys.

Up close and personal, the graphics are noticeably

pixelated, but with so many air and ground enemies amongst a plethora

of building structures for targets, the detail is adequate. All

the images for the goodies like ’shield boost’ or ‘viper missiles’

are nicely detailed and easy to interpret. Even the ships show

design that is relative to the planet’s atmosphere. For example,

the enemy craft in underwater regions appear like mechanical sharks

or mantas! These enhancements over TV with original graphics from

level to level are par for 3D texture-maps but should still evoke

gaming interest.

The sound effects aren’t ground breaking, but are

reminiscent of the typical lasers and missile weapons in this

gaming genre. The background techno-like music drives the passion

to blast more of the enemy ‘Bions’ as they attempt their futile

defense maneuvers. The music even changes from deep underwater

tones to the harmonics of ancient Egypt, depending on which planet

environment the player is in. The graphics and sound also have

numerous settings to adjust appropriately for the lesser-vamped

systems to run smoothly. Unless the player’s system is well-equipped

for Windows 95 performance (P-90, fast video card, and 12MB RAM),

you will need to explore these options to avoid bad frame rates

and irritating stutters in gameplay.

The interface is the typical first-person perspective

with six degrees of freedom. The viewpoint can be from inside

the craft with or without your cockpit showing or an out-of-spacecraft

view. The easiest control was obtained via a multi-button joystick

and some minor keyboard commands. From an in-cockpit vantage point

your instrument panel provides all the information you need to

navigate through each level. Your chosen weapon, current objective,

throttle speed, shields, and active radar fill your slim cockpit

panel. The radar gives directional information and hostile locators

that let you know where the enemy lurks and whether they are above

or below you. Once the player gets used to the radar, joystick

buttons, and choosing weapons via the numbers on the keyboard,

jumping right in for a quick blast session is two clicks away.

One of Fury3’s greatest strong points is the ability

to jump in and out of a game with ease and not have to be a technical

specialist or three-star fighter pilot to do so. The game installs

without a glitch and runs flawlessly. Two thumbs up for the lack

of crashes with Fury3 running in a new operating system (Win95).

Be sure to calibrate your joystick and become familiar with each

button’s function on the joystick. All the essential control measures

can be implemented through a four-button joystick, except selecting

weapons, and these were easy to master right away.

Though blasting everything in sight is important,

the key is in stockpiling as many turbos and additional armaments

as possible while keeping an eye out for your shield level. Take

the direct route and keep the compass pointing due North while

holding turbo speed or search the landscape for hidden supply

bunkers or tunnels. Yes, a nice feature in Fury3 is not only the

above-ground confrontations but flying into underground tunnels.

These tunnels have their own defenses ranging from moving doors,

to rotating cylinders, and finally, each level’s "boss."

As in TV, killing the bosses requires some skill and technique,

but after you’ve killed one, they all fall from the same basic

strategy. This aspect of the game is a bit anti-climatic. Players

should note to search thoroughly for the way out after destroying

the "boss." The directional compass which usually points

to your next objective won’t be of much help here. Fear not though,

dropping your speed to explore a tunnel or using your turbo to

withdraw from one too many enemies in your midst are the best

player strategies. The defense forces of the ‘Bions’ have a fairly

aggressive nature but they don’t have turbo capacity or the level

of weapons at their disposal that you can utilize. The gameplay

is quick, easy to start with little preparation and research,

while still providing a quick fix to blast away without discretion.

These tunnels have their own defenses ranging from

moving doors, to rotating cylinders, and finally the level ‘Bosses’.

As in TV, killing the bosses requires some skill and technique,

but after you’ve killed one, they all fall from the same basic

strategy. This aspect of the game is a bit anti-climatic. Players

should note to search thoroughly for the way out after destroying

the ‘Boss’. The directional compass which usually points to your

next objective won’t be of much help here. Fear not though, dropping

your speed to explore a tunnel or using your turbo to withdraw

from one too many enemies in your midst are the best player strategies.

The defense forces of the ‘Bions’ have a fairly aggressive nature

but they don’t have turbo capacity or the level of weapons at

their disposal that the player can utilize. The gameplay is quick,

easy to start with little preparation and research, while still

providing a quick fix to blast away without discretion.

Overall, Fury3 is a great space-oriented 3D shooter

which, with a fairly ‘beefy’ machine, is sure to provide hours

of blasting entertainment. Since this product is far from being

original, it might not be worthy of Fury to the third power. Fury

squared might be slightly more appropriate while still showing

it’s a new level of gaming in the Windows 95 environment. If you

don’t have the preferred system requirements, the weaker systems

are probably better off with TV which will run in DOS under less

stringent restrictions. Be sure to test drive this product with

Microsoft’s 5MB downloadable demo of level one. Keep in mind the

other worlds have a number of new environments and enemy spacecraft.

If you like the demo and it runs smoothly on your system, this

game will certainly entertain. Fury3 is a great example of the

trouble-free gaming that consumers can only hope Windows 95 will

have more of in the near future.

Gamer’s Zone Scorecard

Product:	Fury3
Company:	Microsoft One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052 (706)882-8080 www.microsoft.com/mshome/furyoffer/ DEMO: ftp.microsoft.com/deskapps/games/public/fury3/Fury3x.zip

Cost:

$49.95

IBM PC Compatible, 486/66, Windows 3.1 or 95, 2X CD-ROM,


4MB RAM, 24MB HD space, SVGA video card(full 256-colors),


Windows compatible soundcard.