Ion Maiden is Now Ion Fury, Launches August 15

Published: July 11, 2019 4:40 PM /

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ion fury key art

Ion Maiden is now Ion Fury, and it’s coming to PC on August 15.

The name change is because of the band Iron Maiden’s recent trademark lawsuit against 3D Realms. It claimed the game title would cause confusion among consumers, even though iron maiden is also a torture device and not an original title of the band's. The lawsuit made several other claims, even that the main character Shelley “Bombshell” Harrison is based on the band’s musician Steve Harris.

Regardless of the ridiculousness of the lawsuit, the new name Ion Fury came to avoid a long-drawn-out legal battle. Says Mike Nielsen, CEO of 3D Realms: “A lot of thought went into this [renaming], but most importantly it would be a disservice to our loyal fanbase and the fantastic developers, to drag out a long lawsuit. The amazing gameplay, interactivity and pure fun, is what makes Ion Fury a great game. Not the title.”

Ion Fury is made in the Build engine, the same engine that powered Duke Nukem 3D, Blood, and other 90s-era shooters. It is designed with similar sensibilities in design and aesthetics to those and other titles from that era. The Build engine will, of course, be updated for contemporary concerns, such as widescreen support, so the game will have current features in mind along with its old-school gameplay.

In Ion Fury, you play as Shelley, or “Bombshell,” as she fights against the cyborg army of Dr. Jadus Heskel. Environs include a futuristic D.C. metro and a private home of Dr. Heskel. A few missions set in these areas can be played in the early-access version, now available on Steam. It is currently $19.99 USD but will rise to $24.99 USD on July 18.

There will be a big box version of the game that you can order at Ion Fury's website. It includes a Bowling-Bomb shaped USB drive, based on one of Shelley’s weapons and with the game loaded on it, in addition to goodies like the soundtrack and a making-of booklet. A separate big box edition made available last year, called the Founder’s Edition, has been sold out.

Versions for Switch, PS4, and Xbox One are planned to release in the future.

Check out the new trailer below, then give the preview campaign a look if you're interested.

https://youtu.be/zjnhRz_GP3c

Excited for Ion Fury? Like the new name? Plan on ordering a big box edition – or do you already have the Founder’s Edition pre-ordered? Let us know in the comments below!

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I am a lifelong, enthusiastic gamer, freelance writer and editor, blogger, and Thief FM aficionado. I think that exploration-heavy, open-ended first-person… More about Trevor