Immortals of Aveum was first announced at The Game Awards last year, and while the team at Ascendant Studios has been relatively quiet since, we have now had more insight after a deep-dive into the game, and a release date that’s really just around the corner.
A “first-person magic shooter”, Immortals of Aveum looks to be bringing in the big guns (wands?) with a development team of industry veterans that has history working on a range of titles like Call of Duty, Bioshock and Dead Space, just to name a few. While those games are very weapon-forward, Immortals really dials in to your character as the weapon, using your hands to shoot various powers. It looks like a big budget energising time from this EA Original, and our private virtual presentation to take a look at the game has us eager to see more.
Immortals of Aveum might be the first game from this indie studio, but the talent is pretty clear just from looking at the footage released so far. Instantly, the game captures a big budget feel, mirroring the kinds of cinematic flair we’d expect to see from a blockbuster cinema experience.
“…an incredibly fun rhythm of wielding spells with flashy special effects…”
Set in a fantastical world, you’ll play as Jak, someone who has grown up powerless and destitute in the streets but now finds himself an Unforeseen – someone who unexpectedly manifests magical abilities later in life. Looking forward to when that happens to me as well, truly. With a war brewing between two powerful kingdoms, Jak and the elite order of Immortals have to step in to save the day, one spell at a time.
What instantly grabbed me about Immortals of Aveum is just how gosh darn pretty it looks. As we saw in the gameplay demo, it has a very fast paced style of combat, with what looks to be an incredibly fun rhythm of wielding spells with flashy special effects within large set piece environments. It reminded me in a way of how Call of Duty sets up some of its more memorable moments, teasing epic battles with lots of foes to chop down with your various skills.
You’ll be mixing together offensive and defensive spells, with more than 25 to upgrade and improve upon. Combat isn’t just about throwing magic and hoping for the best though; you’ll need to think about spells that can break through enemy shields, or combine chained attacks and counters. We saw spells that grabbed enemies and pulled them in close, along with more explosive attacks. The three different magic types will allow you to mix up your playstyle as you go, with Force (blue) for more long range attacks, Chaos (red) for more close range fights and Life (green) for more rapid-fire.
The world looks to have a lot to explore, with over a dozen biomes each promising a variety in enemy types, side quests, puzzles and bosses. I mentioned earlier that the vibe they’re going for with Immortals of Aveum is quite cinematic, and that is further punctuated by the presence of familiar faces, like Gina Torres from Firefly and 911: Lone Star playing General Kirkan, plus Darren Barnett from the popular Netflix series Never Have I Ever playing Jak.
While magical and flashy with a high stakes war at the forefront, it also seems to have a good sense of humour to proceedings. Ascendant Studios promises a 25 hour single-player campaign, with extra areas worth heading back to uncover once you unlock additional abilities, which will be good for the secret-searches out there. The segments we got to see certainly showed that there are some unique scenarios to look forward to; so far, Immortals of Aveum ticks a lot of boxes.
At the end of the presentation, it’s clear that the development team are excited about Immortals of Aveum, and it looks like their excitement is justified. We’ve heard time and time again about veteran game designers leaving their studios to form new teams, and this looks to be a strong justification of what those talented folk can do, if given the time and budget. All said and done, this shooter-esque magic game with big cinematic ambitions is certainly one to keep an eye on.
Immortals of Aveum is coming pretty soon, releasing on July 20th for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
About the Author
Luke Mitchell
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Luke spends his time making radio, playing video games, binge-watching TV, getting unreasonably invested in wrestling, hosting bear events and hanging out with his beautiful pets.
