Ion Maiden becomes Ion Fury and readies for launch next month
When in doubt, use explosives.
The lawyer-dodging title change may be a little on the boring side, but Ion Fury (formerly Ion Maiden) is looking anything but. As well as confining their new title, Voidpoint and 3D Realms have confirmed that their old-school shooter, built on the time-worn foundations of Duke Nukem 3D, will launch on August 15th. Having previously played the early access pseudo-demo, I'm very excited for this one, as it's essentially the successor that Duke Nukem 3D never got. They've even got the voice of Duke, Jon St. John, to voice the villain. Below, a gib-splattered new trailer.
With this title change, I'm hoping that the legal dispute between Iron Maiden (the increasingly creaky old metalheads) and Ion Maiden (the better-aged '90s throwback) is resolved. With that out the way, we can get back to talking about how the game is looking rather brillo, and the new trailer gives us a peek at a bunch of new environments and enemy types. It's masterful use of familiar old tech. Unsurprising, as Voidpoint's devs include some veteran Duke Nukem 3D modders and mappers. I'm also rather taken with the music, which is extremely '90s in a very pleasant way.
Right now the early access version of the game contains just one multi-map 'zone' from the final game, plus a large mansion-set level. Voidpoint say that's just the tip of the iceberg, and the game has "doubled in planned scope" since its announcement. 3D Realms's Frederik Schreiber has claimed (via Twitter) that what we've seen so far is less than 10% of the final game. Given how much fun I've had exploring those handful of levels and scouring them for secrets (there's a very good Hellraiser reference in there), I'm excited to see where the full game takes us.
Ion Fury is available in early access now for £15.49/€19.99/$19.99 on Steam and GOG, with plans to increase that to its final $25 price tag on July 18th. Right now, that only gets you access to a handful of preview maps. While I'm loathe to encourage pre-ordering, unless every other level in this game turns out to be bafflingly rubbish, this seems a safe bet.