Ion Fury

Last updated

Ion Fury
Ion Fury logo.jpg
Developer(s)
  • Voidpoint
  • General Arcade (console)
Publisher(s) 3D Realms
Director(s) Richard Gobeille
Designer(s)
  • Max Ylitalo
  • Leonardo Pellegrini
  • Jarmo Kylmäaho
  • Vitaliy Bondarenko
Programmer(s)
  • Richard Gobeille
  • Evan Ramos
  • Jonathan Strander
  • Alex Dawson
Artist(s)
  • Aleksander Kowalczyk
  • Arturo Pahua
  • Fox Martins
Composer(s)
  • Jarkko Rotstén
Series Bombshell
Engine Build
Platform(s) Windows, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
ReleaseWindows, Linux
  • WW: August 15, 2019 [1]
Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
  • WW: May 14, 2020 [2]
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s) Single-player

Ion Fury (originally titled Ion Maiden [1] ) is a 2019 cyberpunk first-person shooter video game developed by Voidpoint and published by 3D Realms. It is a prequel to the 2016 video game Bombshell . Ion Fury runs on a modified version of Ken Silverman's Build engine and is the first original commercial game to utilize the engine in 20 years, the previous being World War II GI . An expansion, Ion Fury: Aftershock, was released in October 2023.

Contents

Plot

In Ion Fury, the player assumes the role of Shelly "Bombshell" Harrison, a bomb disposal expert aligned to the Global Defense Force. Dr. Jadus Heskel, a transhumanist cult leader, unleashes an army of cybernetically-enhanced soldiers on the futuristic dystopian city of Neo D.C., which Shelly is tasked with fighting through. [3]

Development

Ion Fury is built on EDuke32 , a fork of the Build engine which supports modern operating systems while also implementing a broader range of features. [4] The source code of Ion Fury is part of the EDuke32 source port. [5]

Name change

In May 2019, it was announced that the band Iron Maiden would be suing 3D Realms for $2 million for "[the] misappropriation and use of a virtually identical imitation of the Iron Maiden trademark". [6] 3D Realms quickly responded on Twitter, stating that these are "frivolous claims anyone who has played Ion Maiden would find more over the top than Shelly's 'Loverboy', her signature 18-round triple-barreled revolver". [7]

The lawsuit claims that Ion Maiden "has the same look and feel" to the Android/iOS game Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast previously released on July 5, 2016. It also lists several alleged similarities, including the name "Ion Maiden", the font used for the game title, the main character Shelly 'Bombshell' Harrison and Steve Harris, the skull symbol, and the Eddie character. [8] However, several of the allegedly similar elements cited in the lawsuit were present in a previous 3D Realms game, Bombshell , released on January 29, 2016, including the main character name and the skull symbol. [9] According to Scott Miller, founder of 3D Realms, "The name Ion Maiden comes from the basic weapon used by the same female hero in her first game, Bombshell." [10] [ better source needed ]

On July 11, 2019, 3D Realms announced that the title of Ion Maiden was changed to Ion Fury. [1] Also announced was that voice actor Jon St. John, best known for the character Duke Nukem, was confirmed to be voicing the game's main villain. [11]

Reception

Critical reception

All versions of Ion Fury received "generally favorable reviews" on Metacritic. [12] [13] [14] [15]

IGN gave the game a score of 7.5/10, saying it "authentic throwback to Duke Nukem 3D that certainly hails to the king but can't quite dethrone him." [21] PCGamesN's Chris Capel called it "probably the best Build engine game ever" and "challenging, funny, cleverly designed, and shockingly attractive." [27] GameRevolution's Alex Santa Maria called it "an updated take on Duke Nukem 3D that goes above and beyond nostalgic pandering to become one of the better first-person shooters in recent memory." [28] Game Informer's Javy Gwaltney called it "everything that I've wanted from a modernized take on the arcadey shooters of the 90s. The pitch-perfect movement, the enemy variety, creative weaponry, and fantastic level design all add up to a superb shooter campaign." [29]

Awards

Ion Fury won "Player's Choice Indie of the Year 2019" at IndieDB. [30] [31] The soundtrack won the "Outstanding Achievement for old school composing techniques" award at Game Audio Awards 2020. [32]

Controversy

On August 16, 2019, less than a day after the official release, Discord chat logs from members of Voidpoint were shared, displaying purportedly transphobic remarks by the developers. Following multiple requests for a comment on the situation by gaming news sites and retro gaming-focused YouTube personalities, Voidpoint and 3D Realms apologized and pledged to institute a zero-tolerance policy on "disparaging language". They also pledged to remove two lines of in-game text. Additionally, $10,000 of Ion Fury's initial sales were donated to the Trevor Project.

The developer response yielded mixed reactions, including a considerable increase in negative reviews on the game's Steam page, many of which accused the developers of censorship. On August 26, 2019, the developers reversed their stance and stated that they would only remove one of the messages, containing a slur, but no other content. [33] [34] Polygon cited the increase in negative reviews as basis for the reversal. [33] Voidpoint and 3D Realms issued a joint statement that they would not remove further content from Ion Fury or any future games, stating their opposition to the censorship of creative works of any kind. [35]

Expansion and sequel

An expansion pack for the game was announced at the Realms Deep 2020 event with a 2021 release date. [36] [37] It was revealed in 2021 as Ion Fury: Aftershock for a release that same year. [38] The developers announced that the expansion would feature thirteen new levels, a new weapon and inventory items, and several new enemy and ammo types. Arrange Mode introduces "an amped-up remix of the entire original campaign with mirrored levels and modified enemy and item placement". The expansion was released on October 2, 2023 for PC. [39]

A sequel titled Phantom Fury, built on Unreal Engine, was released on April 23, 2024. [40]

Related Research Articles

<i>Sin</i> (video game) 1998 video game

Sin is a first-person shooter video game developed by Ritual Entertainment and published by Activision in 1998. It uses a modified version of the Quake II engine. Sin is set in the dystopian future of 2037, where John Blade, a commander in a security force named HardCorps in the megacity of Freeport, is tasked to rid the city of a recreational drug that may be tied to the rival biotechnology megacorporation, SinTek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3D Realms</span> Video game publisher

3D Realms Entertainment ApS is a video game publisher based in Aalborg, Denmark. Scott Miller founded the company in his parents' home in Garland, Texas, in 1987 as Apogee Software Productions to release his game Kingdom of Kroz. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the company popularized a distribution model where each game consists of three episodes, with the first given away free as shareware and the other two available for purchase. Duke Nukem was a major franchise created by Apogee to use this model, and Apogee published Commander Keen and Wolfenstein 3D the same way.

Saber Interactive Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Founded by Andrey Iones, Matthew Karch, and Anton Krupkin in 2001, it is controlled by Karch's investment company Beacon Interactive, created in 2024. The company employs over 1,350 people.

<i>Prey</i> (2006 video game) 2006 video game

Prey is a first-person shooter video game developed by Human Head Studios, under contract for 3D Realms, and published by 2K Games, while the Xbox 360 version was ported by Venom Games. The game was initially released in North America and Europe on July 11, 2006. Prey uses a heavily modified version of id Tech 4 to use portals and variable gravity to create the environments the player explores.

<i>Super Mario 3D World</i> 2013 video game

Super Mario 3D World is a 2013 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii U. It is the sixth original 3D platform game in the Super Mario series and the sequel to Super Mario 3D Land, a 2011 title for the Nintendo 3DS. The game was also re-released for the Nintendo Switch in Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury on February 21, 2021.

Bombshell is a multidirectional shooter developed by Interceptor Entertainment and published by 3D Realms. The game was released on January 29, 2016, for Microsoft Windows. The game runs on Unreal Engine 3.

<i>Observer</i> (video game) 2017 video game

Observer is a psychological horror video game developed by Bloober Team and published by Aspyr. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in August 2017, followed by versions for Linux, macOS and Nintendo Switch. An upgraded and expanded version called Observer: System Redux was released in November 2020 for Windows, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, for Amazon Luna in March 2021, and for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in July 2021. Observer follows Daniel Lazarski, a detective known as an Observer, who can hack people's minds as a method of interrogation.

Mordhau is a multiplayer medieval hack and slash fighting game developed by the independent Slovenian studio Triternion, with a prominent aspect of skill-based competitive play and customization. It features a combat system emphasizing hand-to-hand combat, loosely based on historical techniques such as feints, redirection, and alternative use of weapons. Other features include ranged weapons, siege engines and mounted combat. The game was released on 29 April 2019 for Windows via Steam. Versions for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S were released on 12 July 2023.

<i>Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus</i> 2017 video game

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a 2017 action-adventure and first-person shooter game developed by MachineGames and published by Bethesda Softworks. The seventh main entry in the Wolfenstein series and the sequel to 2014's Wolfenstein: The New Order, the game is set in an alternate history that takes place in 1961, following the Nazi victory in the Second World War. The story follows war veteran William "B.J." Blazkowicz and his efforts to fight against the Nazi regime in the United States. Gameplay mechanics are largely similar to those of The New Order, though the team introduced improvements such as allowing players to dual-wield any combination of weapons in the game. A binary choice in the prologue alters the game's entire storyline; some characters and small plot points are replaced throughout the timelines.

<i>Matterfall</i> 2017 video game

Matterfall is a 2017 side-scrolling shooter video game developed by Housemarque and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The game was released for the PlayStation 4 in August 2017. It received mixed reviews from critics.

Sarah Schachner is an American composer and musician who has worked on the scores of films, television series and video games.

<i>Generation Zero</i> (video game) 2019 video game

Generation Zero is a first-person shooter video game developed and self-published by Avalanche Studios, under the brand Systemic Reaction. The game was announced in June 2018 and released on PlayStation 4, PC and Xbox One on March 26, 2019.

John Marston (<i>Red Dead</i>) Fictional character in the Red Dead video game series

John Marston is a character in the Red Dead video game series by Rockstar Games. He is the main playable protagonist of the 2010 video game Red Dead Redemption, wherein he must deal with the decline of the Wild West while being forced to hunt down the last surviving members of his old gang in exchange for the safe return of his family by the federal government. John is also the protagonist of Undead Nightmare, a non-canonical, zombie apocalypse-themed expansion pack, and the secondary playable character of the 2018 prequel, Red Dead Redemption 2. The latter game depicts John's life in the gang prior to its demise, and later his attempts to start an honest life with his family.

<i>Wrath: Aeon of Ruin</i> 2024 video game

Wrath: Aeon of Ruin is a 2024 first-person shooter developed by KillPixel Games and Slipgate Ironworks and published by 3D Realms and Fulqrum Publishing. It is built on a modified version of the Quake engine, making it the first major game release on that engine in nearly 20 years. The first episode was released on Steam Early Access on November 22, 2019, and was fully released on February 27, 2024.

<i>Planet Zoo</i> 2019 video game

Planet Zoo is a 2019 construction and management simulation game by Frontier Developments for Windows. The game is a spiritual successor to Zoo Tycoon and Zoo Tycoon 2, with gameplay similar to the studio's theme park game, Planet Coaster. Ports for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S were released in 2024.

<i>Earthfall</i> (video game) 2018 first-person shooter video game

Earthfall is a four-player cooperative first-person shooter video game developed by American studio Holospark and published by Gearbox Publishing. It was released on July 13, 2018, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game was released on Nintendo Switch on October 29, 2019, in the west and on March 19, 2020, in Japan. In the game, players are part of a guerilla force fighting hordes of deadly alien invaders. The game has been called a clone of Left 4 Dead by critics. It received mixed to negative reviews, citing an overall lack of quality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Effect and Cause</span> Level from 2016 video game Titanfall 2

"Effect and Cause" is the fifth level in the 2016 video game Titanfall 2. It features a unique gameplay mechanic which allows the player to shift back and forth in time between the level's dilapidated present-day state and its functioning past state. It was created by the senior designer of Titanfall 2, Jake Keating, who was inspired to implement the time travel mechanic in part after watching the History Channel series Life After People. Keating originally intended to use the concept for the first Titanfall, but the designers did not have the time to implement it.

<i>Undertale Soundtrack</i> Music from the video game Undertale

Undertale Soundtrack is a soundtrack album by Toby Fox, released in 2015 for the video game Undertale.

<i>The Eternal Castle Remastered</i> 2019 video game

The Eternal Castle Remastered is an adventure, platform game, cinematic platform game developed by Leonard Menchiari and released in 2019. It was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. Set in a far future, the game follows a colonist whose ship crashes on Earth during an attempt to flee the planet. The game is a faux remaster of a non-existent 1987 game, The Eternal Castle.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Ion Maiden is now Ion Fury - release date, new big box!". Steam Community . July 11, 2019. Archived from the original on July 13, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  2. ↑ Schreiber, Fredrik (April 28, 2020). "Ion Fury: Console Launch Date Announced". 3D Realms . Archived from the original on May 11, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  3. ↑ Gwaltney, Javy (February 28, 2018). "3D Realms Reveals New Bombastic Retro Shooter Ion Maiden". Game Informer . Archived from the original on March 1, 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
  4. ↑ Tarason, Dominic (February 28, 2018). "Ion Maiden may just be the second coming of Duke 3D". Rock Paper Shotgun . Archived from the original on March 1, 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
  5. ↑ Gobeielle, Richard (June 9, 2018). "Rename KXDWN macro and GAMEFLAG_KXDWN to IONMAIDEN and GAMEFLAG_IONMAIDEN (4735886d)". GitLab . Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  6. ↑ Plunkett, Luke (May 30, 2019). "Iron Maiden Is Suing The Video Game Ion Maiden". Kotaku . Archived from the original on May 30, 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  7. ↑ Colothan, Scott (May 30, 2019). "Iron Maiden sue makers of Ion Maiden video game for £1.58million". Planet Rock . Archived from the original on June 16, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  8. ↑ Kaminsky, Michelle (May 28, 2019). "Iron Maiden v. 3d Realms". Scribd . Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  9. ↑ Schreiber, Frederik (March 22, 2018). "NSFW: A visual history of Shelly "Bombshell" Harrison". Steam . Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  10. ↑ "ION MAIDEN Fans". Facebook . May 30, 2019. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  11. ↑ @Bombshell_Game (July 2, 2019). "Jon St. John confirmed for voicing villain in Ion Fury game" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 16, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2019– via Twitter.
  12. 1 2 "Ion Fury for PC Reviews". Metacritic . Archived from the original on July 4, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  13. 1 2 "Ion Fury for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic . Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  14. 1 2 "Ion Fury for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic . Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  15. 1 2 "Ion Fury for Switch Reviews". Metacritic . Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  16. ↑ Glagowski, Peter (August 14, 2019). "Review: Ion Fury". Destructoid . Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  17. ↑ Lane, Rick (August 14, 2019). "Ion Fury review - a brilliant blast of nostalgia, and a decent first-person shooter too". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on December 27, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  18. ↑ Gwaltney, Javy (August 14, 2019). "Ion Fury Review - More Than A Blast From The Past". Game Informer . Archived from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  19. ↑ Maria, Alex Santa (August 14, 2019). "Ion Fury Review | Hail to the Queen, baby". GameRevolution . Archived from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  20. ↑ Faulkner, Jason (May 21, 2020). "Ion Fury Switch Review | Another FPS port with compromise". GameRevolution . Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  21. 1 2 Ogilvie, Tristan (August 14, 2019). "Ion Fury Review". IGN. CBS Interactive Inc. Archived from the original on May 13, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  22. ↑ Reseigh-Lincoln, Dom (May 15, 2020). "Review: Ion Fury - Hail To The Queen, The Old-School FPS Is Reborn". Nintendo Life . Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  23. ↑ Lahti, Evan (August 14, 2019). "Ion Fury review". PC Gamer . Archived from the original on August 18, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  24. ↑ Capel, Chris (August 14, 2019). "Ion Fury review – probably the best Build engine game ever". PCGamesN . Archived from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  25. ↑ Banas, Graham (May 29, 2020). "Review: Ion Fury – The Shooter Throwback You Didn't Know You Wanted". Push Square . Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  26. ↑ Khan, Asif (August 15, 2019). "Ion Fury review: Nuking 'em like Duke". Shacknews . Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  27. ↑ Capel, Chris (August 14, 2019). "Ion Fury review – probably the best Build engine game ever". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  28. ↑ Santa Maria, Alex (August 14, 2019). "Ion Fury Review - Hail to the Queen, baby". GameRevolution. Mandatory. Archived from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  29. ↑ Gwaltney, Javy (August 14, 2019). "Ion Fury: More Than A Blast From The Past". Game Informer . Archived from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  30. ↑ Nieva, Jason (December 31, 2019). "Ion Fury Is The IndieDB 2019 Indie Game Of The Year". Player.One. Archived from the original on February 26, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  31. ↑ "Players Choice - Indie of the Year 2019 feature". Indie DB. December 28, 2019. Archived from the original on May 18, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  32. ↑ "Game Audio Awards – The Winners 2020". Game Audio Awards. Archived from the original on August 14, 2021. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  33. 1 2 Hernandez, Patricia (August 26, 2019). "Steam review bomb stops game from cutting homophobic content". Polygon . Archived from the original on August 26, 2019. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  34. ↑ Yin-Poole, Wesley (August 27, 2019). "Ion Fury dev U-turns on promise to pull in-game homophobic slur". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on August 28, 2019. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  35. ↑ Gobeille, Richard (August 26, 2019). "Ion Fury Game Content Will Not Be Censored". Steam. Valve. Archived from the original on August 27, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  36. ↑ Krishnan, Jay (September 7, 2020). "Expansion packs announced for Ion Fury and Amid Evil during Realms Deep 2020". Gameffine. Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
  37. ↑ Tack, Daniel (September 7, 2020). "Ion Fury Expansion Coming In 2021". Game Informer . Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
  38. ↑ Stewart, Marcus (March 24, 2021). "Ion Fury: Aftershock Adds An Explosive New Chapter To The Original Game This Summer". Game Informer . Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  39. ↑ "Ion Fury: Aftershock". Steam. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  40. ↑ "Steam - Phantom Fury". SteamPowered . Retrieved May 21, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.