Proper off the bat, Immortals of Aveum gave me main Future vibes. It was all there. The magicky sci-fi setting, the mesh between medieval clothes and the polished sheen of futuristic metallic. Actually, the one factor that was lacking was the weapons, and the distinct absence of multiplayer, and perhaps that actually does make all of the distinction.
Developed by Ascendant Studios and printed below the EA Originals mission, Immortals of Aveum has been billed as a futuristic spell-slinging first-person shooter sport, besides with fewer gun pew pews. In a hands-off presentation final week, I received to take a look at an prolonged preview of the sport and received a greater sense of what to anticipate with Ascendant Studios’ large outing. Immortals of Aveum has been in improvement for the previous 5 years, and whereas I wasn’t essentially blown away by what I noticed of the fight and story, the truth that that is going to be a single-player, story-driven journey is definitely fairly thrilling.
Aesthetically, it’s onerous to not evaluate Immortals of Aveum to the likes of Future, Anthem, and Godfall. All multiplayer-focused video games with an emphasis on loot, grinding, and no matter different arbitrary numbers and stats slapped onto a bit of drugs designed to kick your lizard mind into overdrive. You’ll play as Jak, an Unexpected, which is de facto simply one other phrase for Muggle, or somebody born with no magical talents. However after all, on account of plot causes, he ultimately beneficial properties magical talents and turns into a Triarch — an individual with the facility to wield all three colours of magic.
It’s not lengthy earlier than he joins up with the titular Immortals, a gaggle of spellcasters dedicated to ending the Everwar, a long-lasting battle between three main factions over magical management. Aveum has been ravaged by warfare for 1000’s of years, and the world itself is as fractured as it’s stunning. Actually, this sport’s cinematics are fairly darn spectacular, with beautiful glowing leylines sprouting all over the place, all of them main right down to the Shrouded Realm, a complete world that lies beneath the floor.
The world isn’t simply there to look fairly, after all; there are many environmental puzzles to tackle, and tons of optionally available routes to discover. As you’re adventuring, Jak will be taught new talents and spells to assist him sort out extra puzzles and defeat his foes in additional fascinating methods. At its core, although, Immortals of Aveum’s fight system appears to function round a color-based mechanic just like what we noticed within the not too long ago launched Hogwarts Legacy.
There are three spell colours: blue, crimson, and inexperienced. Sooner or later, you’ll begin encountering enemies with color-coded shields, and also you’ll want to interrupt them with an appropriately coloured spell. All of it appears somewhat fundamental, however the fight is made extra fascinating with varied instruments that Jak has at his disposal. He has a whip-like spell that lashes out and pulls enemies in direction of him, together with a private protect that he makes use of to defend himself, that additionally lets him shoot by way of it.
The essential spells are additionally saved pretty easy; whereas Immortals of Aveum definitely isn’t your conventional first-person shooter with weapons, the spells bear sturdy similarities to common pistol fireplace, computerized rifles, and shotgun blasts. From what I noticed within the presentation, Jak’s motion can also be slower and somewhat clunkier than you may anticipate. It is advisable to be somewhat extra deliberate with the way in which you progress your character, and whereas there may be some verticality to stay up for in fight, it’s fairly clear that the sport needs you to rely extra on utilizing your protect to dam somewhat than zip forwards and backwards like a teleporting warlock.
The protect is instrumental in making Immortals of Aveum really feel much less like a conventional cowl shooter, as you’re actually taking your cowl with you and utilizing it in fascinating ways in which haven’t been explored in different video games within the style.
In direction of the top of the presentation, we additionally received a glimpse of a griffin/dragon-like boss struggle, the place Jak needed to be methodical in dodging its fiery breath whereas blasting spells at it. The sequence was quick, however so simple as the fight checked out first blush, it’s onerous to not be taken in by the entire spectacle of it.
Ascendant Studios went on to reiterate that Immortals of Aveum is supposed to be a single-player expertise, and that even when there was going to be any type of co-op or multiplayer content material, they aren’t prepared to speak about that simply but anyhow. The builders had been fast to impress upon us that the purpose is to make the participant really feel highly effective, and with how crunchy the fight appears to be like and feels, I discovered myself unexpectedly excited to get some correct hands-on time with it, particularly since I’d gone into the presentation with nearly no expectations in anyway.
I received’t misinform you and say the characters had been all that compelling or fascinating. Certain, we solely received a quick glimpse of the principle gamers, however on the floor stage, they appeared like your typical online game facet characters. The stoic chief, the joker who makes wisecracks sometimes… you recognize what I imply. I’ll admit that the characters giving off a less-than-stellar first impression does give me pause, particularly for a sport that’s alleged to be all in regards to the story, however given how polished all the things else appears to be like to date, I’d even be prepared to miss that.
A number of care and a spotlight to element has gone into the world-building, and simply the general really feel of the world. From the insanely clear UI and seamless transition between cinematic cutscenes to first-person view, to the stainless enemy designs (at one level, I noticed a really daunting trying enemy that I may solely describe as a “sci-fi Sauron-looking motherfucker”), Immortals of Aveum is without doubt one of the extra visually spectacular video games I’ve seen this yr, and that’s saying one thing, contemplating the graphical leaps and bounds we’ve seen within the trade over the previous decade.
Immortals of Aveum is ready to be launched for PC and consoles on July 20.
