By Chris Picone, 31 March, 2025

One of the hardest things I had to do this week was to stop playing Guns of Fury long enough to write this review. The quickest way I can describe Guns of Fury is that it's like a shiny new high res modern version of Metal Slug, but with 

Aesthetics

Metal Slug's a pretty clear inspiration here, and Gelato Games have nailed it.  Not just the wicked pixel graphics and constant flame effects and explosions but all the shooting and stabbing sounds, death cries, the sound track, it's all top notch and absolutely on point.  The animations are smooth, the special effects are grand, there's a huge range of backgrounds and environments, obstacles, enemies, vehicles; it never feels repetitive or samey.

Gameplay

First up, Guns of Fury really feels like those classic Metal Slug games.  Your rambo-like character charges across the screen, guns blazing, shooting down enemy soldiers while barrels and fuel cans and enemy rockets are blowing up everywhere, destroying all the cars and the windows and doors and ledges in every building and honestly just about everything on the screen blows up, it's awesome.  There's no tank to drive but you do get to drive a small assortment of combat mechs, which is almost as cool.  Of course the enemy bring everything to bear against you, so you'll be facing off against pistols, shotguns, machine gusn, plasma guns, lasers, sniper rifles, rocket and grenade launchers, as well as helicopters, tanks, and it's all very over-the-top and rule-of-cool.  Luckily, you get to play with all the same toys, as well as a range of melee weapons, grenades, and special equipment like stealth suits and body armour. What I really love is that the weapons usually aren't just "clearly better" every time you pick one up.  It might be faster firing or do more damage but may cost more ammo or have shorter range or a strange trajectory so you might prefer other weapons at different times.  The pickups are fairly constant through the game and there are also quite a few shops you can visit so you're constantly finding new toys to play with and adjusting your play style accordingly.  The metroidvania aspect's fairly light on.  Sure, you'll eventually get your ability to crawl, climb, double jump, all the normal stuff, and sure that'll require a little bit of back-tracking, but not overly so, it never felt tedious to me. Also there are tons of save points and a decent number of teleporters. There are plenty of secret areas and items to be found though, and that definitely encouraged me to go exploring.  There are a few traps and other obstacles but Guns of Fury's more about shooting your way through.  Last but not least, Guns of Fury is all about the boss fights, and they're pretty bloody awesome, with each boss bringing very different attack patterns and usually a big jump in difficulty.  The whole game has a very reasonable challenge level, although if you find it too hard you could cheese it by abusing the consumable health drops. 

Verdict

If you're a fan of run and gun games like Metal Slug, you'll love Guns of Fury.  It's action-packed all the way through and there are tons of weapons, secondary weapons, bombs, and enemies to keep the game feeling interesting the whole time.  And the boss fights are awesome. 

Links: 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3099000/Guns_of_Fury/