Ludography
41/100
Players11 ratings
34/100
Critics4 reviews
More scores
Metacriticcritics
43/100
Metacritic usersuser score
37/100
GameFAQsSimple-Easy
1.77/5
Player reviews
59% positive192 reviews
Steam Deck
Unsupported
Runs on
Windows
Price
US$34.99

Where to get it

Bombshell cover

2015 · Slipgate Ironworks · Adventure · Arcade

Bombshell

Follow Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison's, bomb technician turned mercenary for hire, quest for redemption as she fights through surreal alien worlds to rescue the President and save Earth using a growing array of special skills. With her own tech tree upgrades, destructive weaponry and fierce combat abilities, Bombshell and her countless arm configurations make her the perfect soldier to stop the Kyrr, an evil alien race lead by diabolical scientist turned madman Jadus Heskel.

Released
2015
Platforms
PlayStation 4WindowsXbox One
Genres
AdventureArcadeRole-playingShooter
Developers
Slipgate Ironworks
Publishers
3D Realms
Modes
Single-player
Perspective
Third personBird view / Isometric
Themes
ActionScience fiction
Engine
Unreal Engine 3
Country
Denmark
Age ratings
PEGI 12ESRB TUSK 16
Languages
English
Time to beat
6hmain story8hwith extras9hcompletionist

About

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.

Players say

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Story

The game allows the player to control Shelly "Bombshell" Harrison, a colonel in the Global Defense Force. Her career is abruptly brought to an end after an event titled "the Washington Incident", which caused her to lose her arm and her team. Harrison is then offered a new contract by a private military contractor and offered a second chance and a new mechanical arm.

Development

The game was conceived during Gearbox Software's lawsuit against Interceptor regarding the video game Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction, as they did not authorize any new development. Interceptor was working on the game for the PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows; however, due to a lawsuit by Gearbox Software, who owns the right to the Duke Nukem franchise, the game's name was changed to Bombshell and the main character was changed to Shelly Harrison, who was originally meant to play a supporting role in the Duke Nukem game.

com was launched by Interceptor Entertainment that showed a countdown. The game was revealed with the title Bombshell in development for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 on May 14, 2014, along with a trailer, and was scheduled to be released in 2015. Some details about the gameplay and the protagonist Shelly "Bombshell" Harrison were revealed in the announcement. It was also announced that the game utilised the Unreal Engine and it will launch with modding tools.

Reception

Bombshell has a score of 44% on Metacritic. 9 out of 10, saying the game "is a fast-paced, energetic, deliberately absurd action shooter that's mostly competent at everything it tries to do". 0 out of 10, calling it a "buggy, bland game with some of the worst writing you're likely to hear in some time." Hardcore Gamer rated the game a 2 out of 5, saying "What once began as something that had potential to become a so-stupid-it's-awesome classic ended up being merely...

well, it isn't even really that stupid as a whole, just dull." PC Gamer awarded it 30%, saying "An [action role-playing game] with weak combat and too many bugs, Bombshell isn't worth your click-click-clicks." Leo Espada of GoneWithTheWin rated it 6/10 and stated, "Bombshell features a solid core of combat mechanics, visual design, and a genius soundtrack. It is light on the RPG side, with little depth to sink your teeth into".

Legacy

A prequel for Harrison's story, entitled Ion Fury, was developed by Voidpoint and released in 2019 by 3D Realms. It uses an updated version of the original Build engine. Harrison will also appear in the upcoming game Phantom Fury. This game serves as sequel to Ion Fury and it is developed by Slipgate Ironworks (the new name of Interceptor Entertainment). Tempest Rising is a real-time strategy video game developed by Slipgate Ironworks and 2B Games, and published by 3D Realms and Knights Peak, that is set in the same universe as Bombshell, and begins around 100 years before the events of Ion Fury.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Windows29 January 2016Worldwide
PlayStation 4CancelledUnreleased

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Collections2 collections

Years

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.