Immortals of Aveum Preview
Contrary to the needlepointed slogans adorning the walls of millennials, there actually isn’t enough magic in the world. Ascendant Studios’ upcoming Immortals of Aveum is going to change that. This spell-based, first-person action RPG is fast, furious, and exploding with powerful magic. I attended a hands-off gameplay reveal and came away really impressed and excited about the game.
In development for five years, but conceived many years prior, the team describes Immortals of Aveum as “Call of Duty with magic.” Creative director Bret Robbins has assembled a crew with serious action game cred. He and his team have previously worked on classics like Halo, BioShock, Dead Space, and, of course, Call of Duty. Robbins describes an ah-ha moment where he imagined CoD’s helicopters as dragons. That haunting image was the genesis of Immortals of Aveum.
Could it Be Magic?
Immortals of Aveum imagines a world crisscrossed with leylines, powerful currents of magical energy that have often figured into fantasy fiction. A long conflict called the Everwar pits elite mages against each other for control of the lines and their magical energy. You play as Jak, an unwilling battlemage just discovering his power.
During the game’s 25-hour campaign, Jak will master over 25 spells in three forms of magic: Force(blue), Chaos(red), and Life(green), which correspond to different weapon types. Jak also finds sigils and totems which add additional powers and perks to his magic spells.
A first-person shooter, wielding magic in Immortals of Aveum is fast and furious fun. Jak can switch effortlessly between both offensive and defensive spells, chained attacks, counters, and force-push and pull magic. Moment-to-moment combat has a lot of creative potential. Jak has many tools in his kit to approach encounters and solve puzzles.
Magical World View
The high fantasy world of Aveum is ruled by two opposing kingdoms, Lucium and Rasharn. Jak fights, explores, and puzzle-solves through a wide range of environments and biomes. Although Immortals of Aveum is not an open-world game, the campaign is supplemented by side quests and hidden treasures.
Developed for PC and current-gen consoles, Immortals of Aveum looks fantastic. The world shows obsessive care in design and detail. The spell and magic effects are varied and powerful. Character models and facial animations are state of the art, bolstered by acting from a cast of experienced performers like Firefly’s Gina Torres.
Elevator Pitch, Perfected
Immortals of Aveum’s cinematic storytelling and choreographed battles definitely show the influence of Call of Duty and other first-person action games. But thanks to its thoroughly imagined fantasy setting and magic, it has a clear identity, too. At least in the preview, everything from the user interface to the world design looked triple-A polished and the work of a talented team.
Ascendant Studios says that Immortals of Aveum is designed around three gameplay pillars: Be the Mage, Master Your Magic and Save the World. Too many games are melting pots of mechanics and ideas that fail to work in harmony. In contrast, Immortals focuses on polishing a core set of powerful ideas and unleashing them through a well-written narrative.
Immortals of Aveum releases on July 20. I can’t wait to get some hands-on time with what looks to be one of the year’s most promising action games.
Thank you for keeping it locked on COGconnected.
