In any given year, there are a ton of game reveals and announcements that will get players excited for a variety of reasons. During The Game Awards 2022, Ascendant Studios teased their debut project, Immortals of Aveum, a single-player first-person magic shooter set in an original fantasy universe engulfed in magic, rife with conflict, and on the verge of oblivion.
Although the tease didn’t show much, the premise shared hinted at something potentially exciting, especially with its focus on a single-player experience and the use of Unreal Engine 5. Now, we finally have more information courtesy of an early preview with Ascendant Studios and the EA Originals team, and things are looking mighty impressive.
What We Know About Immortals of Aveum
In Immortals of Aveum, players take on the role of Jak, a Battlemage that has risen from humble origins whose unique nature as a Treyarch enables him to wield all three colours of magic that exist in the game. Recruited by the Immortals, his adventure will span over 25 hours long in the battle against the villain Sandrakk and in the Everwar, the conflict to control magic once and for all.
Ultimately, the studio wants players to not only be the Battlemage, mastering magic and unleashing the full arsenal of spells, but also to save a world on the edge of the abyss. The gameplay shows this off particularly well, with players being able to tap on red, green, and blue magic to engage in battle and protect themselves.
Spell Slinging Goodness
Blue magic is for long-range, accurate shots, red is almost like a shotgun made for close range and high damage, whereas green magic functions like a machinegun, firing off volleys of projectiles that hone in on their targets. A shield can also be used, allowing players to shoot through it at the expense of movement speed.
“My time on Call of Duty was instrumental in how I wanted the combat to feel. The challenge, of course, is that we don’t have traditional guns, we have magic and spells, and we spent a lot of time working on making them feel good, visceral, and impactful,” said Bret Robins, CEO and Game Director at Ascendant Studios.
In addition, control spells like Lash can pull enemies close in or drop them off edges to finish them off quickly. Jak is also capable of more powerful spells called Furies, which drain his limited mana in exchange for powerful effects like a huge explosion of magical spikes. As players progress through Immortals of Aveum, they will either find or purchase new Sigils for Jak to upgrade and further customise the loadout to suit a particular playstyle. A deep progression system with gear and Talents will further differentiate one Jak from another.
“You actually have quite a bit of variety within the red, green and blue spells. For example, in Blue Magic, there’s the Javelin Sigil that allows you to power up a big shot that does a lot more damage, but at a slower rate of fire. So within the sigils, there’s variety, and then, a big part of the game is the gear system, the talent system, the fact that you’re able to customise your playstyle. There are many reasons to experiment with different builds, replay the game and try different tactics.”
This will be very important, with enemies in Immortals of Aveum coming in all flavours. Knowing the right counter will make battles easier to handle, all contributing to fast-paced magical slinging encounters that feel like Doom with magic. Puzzles are also present in the game, together with lots of optional paths and hidden content, so players can always revisit older locales to discover new things.
Magically Fine
All of these are delivered in stunning graphical fidelity, no doubt made possible with the use of Unreal Engine 5. The world looks spectacular, and the magical spells zip past on-screen with vibrant impact, and the facial capture appears on point too. It is all shaping up to be quite a show if Immortals of Aveum can keep this up throughout the entire playthrough.
“We really want to tell a story of this brand new universe. And when a player steps into our game, they feel grounded, they do see some things that they recognise, a lot of the plant life just is reminiscent of Earth, but then we throw in a lot of unique architecture, some of which is these big, solid stone military walls,” shared Julie Lichtblau, Associate Art Director.
“But then you’re also seeing vestiges of older civilizations that suggest that this world has been around through many cataclysms and many Everwars. And there’s just a lot more to uncover about it. And you get to see all these different civilizations and start to kind of unlock those mysteries as you move through our game.”
The characters, at least at this point, also look to be well-developed in terms of their motivations and the stakes involved. How they will be fleshed out in Immortals of Aveum is still to be seen, but there is a good foundation to jump off from what was shown.
“We have such an amazing cast of characters. They’re all just fully fleshed out with their own unique backstory, their own sort of dialogue, like how they teach, they talk, their history, where they come from; you can engage in just really fun, witty back-and-forth banter with a whole host of characters. I still enjoy going and finding different people in different areas of the game, and just hearing where they came from. And it’s just very, very exciting and very fun. enjoyable,” added Lichtblau.
As a debut title of a studio that is admittedly staffed with talented developers, it is still going to be up to the players to decide if Immortals of Aveum will make it or break it. But for the team, seeing their hard work become reality has been a long journey, and the hope is that it will have a happy ending.
“It’s been an amazing journey. Starting the studio five years ago, having this crazy idea for this game. This has absolutely been the biggest challenge of my career. I can’t believe that we’re here. We have this amazing team. We have a game that I’m so proud of. Now, Immortals of Aveum is about to be released. We are putting the finishing touches on it. It’s looking amazing. I couldn’t be more proud of what we’re doing. And pretty soon it’s going to be out there in the world. I can’t wait,” said Robins.
Having been a Creative Director on Dead Space and several Call of Duty campaigns, Robins knows exactly how to engage players and bring them into a world teeming with possibilities. Together with the rest of the team, their hard work will finally see the light of day when Immortals of Aveum launches on 20 July on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Jake is a full-time trophy hunter and achievement gatherer on consoles, and part-time Steam Sale victim. He has a thing for Batman and awesome statues, and running out of space for both. Send help.
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