Iron Fall

Nintendo of Europe is giving plenty of promotion to IronFall: Invasion ahead of its arrival in the region this week, with much being made of the title being a three year project from a three-man studio - VD-Dev. It'll be a rare beast on the 3DS eShop, too, with third-person shooting, 60FPS performance (with 3D off) and online multiplayer all promised.

It'll be interesting to see how it turns out, but today has brought some more information on how it'll be available. For starters, there'll be a free version that comes with "the first level of IRONFALL Invasion: Campaign plus the local and online multiplayer features of IRONFALL Invasion: Multiplayer, including one multiplayer arena and a limited number of characters and weapons when compared to the purchasable mode." This brings to mind Nintendo's own Steel Diver: Sub Wars, which gave similar tasters to new players.

For those that opt to buy there'll be three purchasing options, however. The Campaign and Multiplayer modes will be purchasable separately, costing £8.99 / €9.99 per mode, or they can be picked up for £17.98 / €19.98 together. Those that buy one mode will receive the 'HR' pistol (for multiplayer) as an extra, while buying both modes together comes with the pistol and a music Jukebox that can be used in the game.

As for the content on offer in each mode, a Nintendo press release gives the following details:

  • IRONFALL Invasion: Campaign features 11 action-packed single-player levels, as well as 78 additional challenges that are unlocked as you progress through your overall mission to liberate Earth.
  • IRONFALL Invasion: Multiplayer allows for up to six players to face-off in local and online multiplayer scenarios, with 6 different arenas, classic modes from "3 vs. 3" to "free-for-all", and even the ability to bet in-game credits, which are tied to a player's XP and rank, on your chances of winning a match. On top of this, a Survivor mode gives you the chance to train solo and hone your skills against CPU-controlled opponents within a variety of time-based scenarios.

It should be noted that the C-Stick will be supported on the New Nintendo 3DS as well as the Circle Pad Pro on original models - it's possible to play without either, apparently.

North American gamers won't be getting IronFall: Invasion this week, incidentally, with the developer tweeting that the title may come to NA in late February.

It's certainly interesting to see this approach from an Indie game, and it shows ambition. Whether this title successfully takes over as the go-to shooter on 3DS or struggles to secure many sales is anyone's guess, but it's certainly had plenty of support from Nintendo itself.

Are you excited about this one? Let us know.