Ion Fury launched last year and has become one of the biggest successes in recent memory for 3D Realms. The game gained significant attention for being the first game in over two decades utilizing the Build engine. The Build engine powered such classic shooters as Duke Nukem 3D, Blood, Shadow Warrior and Redneck Rampage.
Ion Fury pushes the engine to new heights, featuring some of the most complex geometry ever put into the game. It’s also one of the biggest games ever made on the engine, featuring sprawling levels that interconnect into several zones. Due to this, the game is unusually demanding, and requires fairly modern hardware to run well.
Ion Fury also continues the Build engine trend of talking protagonists. Though instead of getting yet another male stereotype, we’re given a female. Shelly “Bombshell” Harrisson made her debut in Bombshell, which 3D Realms published in 2016. The game received somewhat mixed reception due to numerous bugs and other issues.
It was originally intended as a Duke Nukem game, but due to a lawsuit by Gearbox Software, 3D Realms were forced to switch characters. Bombshell was originally going to be in Duke Nukem Forever but was scrapped. They retooled her concept and gave her a robot arm. The result was a heroine that felt more like her own thing, though didn’t really feel at home in the game.
Ion Fury Is A True Old-School FPS
Enter Ion Fury. Originally added as a pre-order bonus to Bombshell, the game was going to be a mere spinoff prequel. But the project quickly grew in scope, soon becoming a massive game in its own right. The story was also written entirely independently of the one in Bombshell, giving Ion Fury more of a cyberpunk feel to it, in contrast to Bombshell’s straight up sci-fi tone.
Ion Fury eventually reached early access in late 2018, and was fully released in 2019. The game received universal praise for its gameplay and music, which was composed by demoscene veteran Jarkko Rotsten aka Roz. Alongside the original PC release, console versions were also announced as coming later.
And judging by a recent tweet by 3D Realms, that seems to be very soon. The console ports have just gone gold, which means development is finished and the game is awaiting release. The game will release on Switch, XBox One and PS4.
Soon on a console near you – but not too near, and wash your hands. pic.twitter.com/awcAuwhvLc
— ION FURY IS AVAILABLE NOW! (@Bombshell_Game) April 20, 2020
If you wanna check out Ion Fury before it comes on consoles, you can still get it on Steam. And you can expect a review of the Switch version coming as soon as it’s ready. You should also check out their game Wrath which uses the Quake engine.
