Iron Storm (computer game)

Iron Storm is a First-person shooter video game published by Wanadoo Edition in 2002. Set in an alternative history in which World War I never ended, it takes place during the 1960s and focuses on an Allied soldier's missions to help end the war between an American/Western European alliance and a Russo-Mongolian Empire.

Plot

The game is set in an alternate 1964, in which the Great War never ended. Baron Ugenberg seized Mongolia in an uprising during the Russian Revolution in 1917, and later invaded Russia itself to crush the Bolsheviks. His plan was to establish his Russo-Mongolian Empire, stretching from Vladivostok to the Atlantic Ocean.

Western Europe and the United States formed the United States of Western Europe alliance to counter Ugenberg's plan. Instead of the Great War ending in 1918, it was extended beyond half a century.

The Western Europe-United States (or, the Alliance) quickly saw that they would not be able to finance the war by conventional means, so they decided to put the armies on the market, creating a market for war. This way, the success of the war depended on the war itself.

The player takes on the role as Lieutenant James Anderson, only 19 when he joined the Alliance, and now a legend among the soldiers in the field. To help James in the war, Cecile Newcastle is there to guide James in and out when he is behind the enemy lines. Colonel Mitchell is the commander of the operation, and it also appears that he has friends who are both rich and powerful in this war.

Characters & History

Russo-Mongolian Empire

The Russo-Mongolian Empire has its roots in the Russian October Revolution. After the Bolsheviks murdered the Tsar and his family, the Baron took command of the White Russians and crushed the Bolsheviks with help from Kazakhstan. Within years, the baron and his army stabilised Russia and Mongolia and presumably conquered China, Korea, Japan and parts of the Middle East.
* Baron Nikoai Aleksandrovitch Ugenberg - The Emperor
* General Kritcher - Military Commander of the Anton Denikin Line
* Hurtz & Dimitri - Military Commanders
* Unamed Chief Scientist - Head of the Wolfenberg Plant
* Inquisition Torturers - The Secret Police force

United States of Western Europe

The United States of Western Europe or the United States-Western Europe Coalition was formed somtime after the end of the October Revolution to combat the Russo-Mongolian Empire. Presumably, in the 1940s, the Government was forced to put their military forces on the Stock market to finance the Russo-Mongolian War.
* Captain Cecile Newcastle - Military Captain
* Lieutenant James Anderson - The protagonist

See also:
* NATO
* United States of Europe

Historical similarities

Iron Storm's story is not completely fictional. Baron Ugenberg is a loosely based on Baron Roman Ungern von Sternberg, who ruled Mongolia during a short time in the 1920s, except he was defeated in reality, while he conquered half the world in Iron Storm.

Gameplay

Contrary to most war-FPS games, which are set in World War II, Iron Storm displays a mix between old World War 1-siege tactics, such as trenches and mustard gas, World War II weapons such as the machine gun, mortars and missile launchers as well as modern technology influenced by the Vietnam War, such as helicopters, headphones and laser, along with mines, unmanned robot-turrets and tanks.

Response to the game

PC version

Iron Storm was first released in 2002 for the PC, but was not well received due to bugs and instabilities within the game, relatively dated graphics, and the lack of special effects. Beyond this, many gamers had problems with the sound which often turned into a scratching noise that made the game unplayable with the sound turned on.

While patches for the game were released, they did little to improve many of the game's issues and the sound problem was never fixed.

Playstation 2 version

Iron Storm was re-released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2 console, under the name World War Zero: Iron Storm. While few things were added to the actual gameplay, the graphics were updated and many bugs from the PC version were removed. Beyond this, some new weapons were added, including the flamethrower and the minigun.

Iron Storm (computer game): Encyclopedia BETA

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