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Ion Fury

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Ion Fury
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
SeriesBombshell
EngineBuild
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.

Plot

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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

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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

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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

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Critical reception

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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."[16] 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

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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

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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

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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]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "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. ^ a b "Ion Fury for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on July 4, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  13. ^ a b "Ion Fury for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  14. ^ a b "Ion Fury for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  15. ^ a b "Ion Fury for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  16. ^ a b Ogilvie, Tristan (August 14, 2019). "Ion Fury Review". IGN. CBS Interactive Inc. Archived from the original on May 13, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  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. ^ Lahti, Evan (August 14, 2019). "Ion Fury review". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on August 18, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ Glagowski, Peter (August 14, 2019). "Review: Ion Fury". Destructoid. Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  21. ^ 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.
  22. ^ 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.
  23. ^ 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.
  24. ^ 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.
  25. ^ 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.
  26. ^ 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.
  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. ^ a b 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.
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