Do you have dreams of beating up scores of people on a quest for revenge? If yes, know that you’d probably fail. If no, know that your dreams don’t have to be dreams! Enter the ‘Path of Fury: Episode I – Tetsuo’s Tower’, developed by Leonard Menchiari (‘Trek to Yomi’, ‘Neo Dusk’) and published by ABONICA GAME WORKS. Players take on the role of an unnamed combatant as they scale Tetsuo’s Tower in search of vengeance. This is purely an on-rails combat game—developed for the Meta Quest 2, 3S, and 3—and that means you’ll need to get your movements right as you pummel foes across a variety of stages all the while blocking hits and keeping your realself hydrated because Path of Fury is an astronomically good workout tool.
I’ve had a chance to share some details on the game’s first two levels, including what combat is like and the scum we’re going to beat up. It might be a short preview, but nonetheless, put on the fingerless gloves and punch on!
Fists Heal All
When players first start Path of Fury, they’ll be placed right in front of Tetsuo’s fortress—a place of many floors, scum, and villainy. You’ll start right at the door and get a very short tutorial of what you need to do: punch the dirtbag in front of you in the correct sequence indicated by coloured orbs that surround their face and torso. Punch ’em in order and punch ’em right to deal maximum damage (based on angle and power)! If you miss or if it’s their turn, block corresponding attacks that come your way and eithe retaliate in the short window you have to get back to kicking their butts or simply block all oncoming attacks and wait for your turn.
Naturally, as an on-rails game, you’re scored—why would you wait? Path of Fury is all about memorising enemy attack patterns and sequential targets of your own to keep up the pace and continue through the stage. As you wipe out the foes in front of you, you’ll be teleported towards the next set of baddies (or they’ll come rushing to you!) just waiting for a good walloping. Sometimes you’ll take on one target, sometimes it’ll be three, forcing you to manage targets and the shrinking punching orbs on their bodies to keep them from attacking you.
Upon getting to the end of a stage, it’ll be a boss fight you need to take on! Our first two stages of the game have us up against some rather large targets. They’ll swiftly strike, too, which means you’ll need to memorise things to keep your health from being whittled away with the quickness. But otherwise, it’s the same deal—strike the targets true, keep counterattacking upon blocking, and clear out the baddy’s health bar and toss a few extra “farewell smacks” before you send their bodies flying into boxes and tables.
Path of Fury doesn’t discriminate between height differences—some enemies will be your height level, others will be larger than life (of course, based on your Quest’s settings). Either way, it won’t matter how you bash their PlayStation One-era style of human faculties, but you may need to reposition yourself every now and again as despite being a standing-only title, Path of Fury will likely exceed the boundaries you’ve set for your console a bunch. Watch your surroundings! This game is one heck of a good workout as you’ll be whiffing and punching the air in front of you with prejudice. As it is bulking season in the midwestern states right now, I’ve had to set the Quest down a few times to rehydrate and let the sweat pour off the headset. Yes, I wipe the bloody thing down often.
Speaking of PSx visuals—Path of Fury utilises what I can only describe as a low-poly world aesthetic that uses darkness and bright, solid lights for visual and cinematic effect. In the first two levels, we’re greeted to the lowlifes of Tetsuo’s tower, rave parties and seedy-looking alleys are the first things we get to experience and, of course, the lesser life that stands in your way between you and Tetsuo. It’s hard to describe the story in any particular way, this being a short preview et al, so instead I’ll explain the delivery: Path of Fury uses little music to its effect, instead preferring silence and delegating music to the greater world. But bosses have some wicked sick techno beats that entail their butt-whooping, keeping the energy high and the blocks true.
Keep your eyes peeled for our full review sometime down the line! For anyone looking for a fun, challenging workout for their Quest devices—oh boy, do I have things to tell you!
