Announced to the great surprise during the Game Awards, Immortals of Aveum revealed itself a little more on Thursday. It reconnects with shooting games and narrative magic where the heroes have no weapons.
At a time when development times are getting longer and longer, when announced games often only see the light of day years later, communication aroundImmortals of Aveum already marks its difference. Unveiled for the very first time at the Game Awards last December, the new game from Electronic Arts will already be available on consoles and PC on July 20.
But do not believe that the game is sloppy. Rather, it took its time to see the light of day and the Ascendant studio refined everything in the greatest discretion following years of work.
“We have been working on Immortals of Aveum”admits Bret Robbins, founder and director of the studio, former spawn of Crystal Dynamics (Legacy of Kain, Gex) and Visceral Games. In particular, he surrounded himself with industry veterans who cut their teeth on Call of Duty, Bioshock, Halo or Borderlands.
Paradoxically, these multiplayer shooter experts have decided to design a title that is played solo and where the hero is unarmed. But not without defence. Because in Immortals of Aveum, Jak, the main character, and his acolytes are warrior-mages who therefore use magic to overcome their enemies. Guns are for the bad guys.
The return of a forgotten style of play
The game does not hide its inspiration in writing on the side of Dead Space (without the horrific aspect) or Call of Duty (without artillery) for large combat scenes.
“I remember a fight scene on a street with helicopters flying overhead, massive ground battles, total chaos. I thought, ‘what if we did the same thing with dragons?'” recalls he.
Ascendant Studios’ debut game makes a promising and beautiful return (it was designed with the new state-of-the-art Unreal Engine 5), for a genre that is becoming increasingly rare: the shooter Narrative Magic, a magic shooter with a real story.
The story takes place in a fantastic and magical universe, the world of Aveum. The mages of the Order of Immortals hold their powers from three colors of magic (red, blue and green) which allow them to chain attacks and defend themselves once morest a strange threat. The hero begins his epic as a being devoid of all talent and power, before turning into a war mage capable of mastering the flow of magic and becoming a true leader.
An ambitious cinematic fresco
Electronic Arts unveiled the first gameplay images in Immortals of Aveum in a trailer and allowed Tech&Co to consult some game sequences in parallel. The opportunity to see mages floating in the air, above vast play areas that will be explored – but not in the open world – and where the fights are nervous, fast and fluid.
Warrior mages that we see aim at creatures with the end of their arms, as if they had weapons, with different rates and ranges of magic fire depending on the color. The whole thing gives a strong cinematographic impression, with visual markers like this giant and mysterious fault at the crossroads of kingdoms, “desired by the team”, underlines Bret Robbins who insists on the “narrative” aspect of his story.
And to reinforce it all, Ascendant Studios called on actors already seen in series: Jak has the features of Darren Barnet (my first times on Netflix). He is accompanied by Gina Torres (Suits, Matrix Reloaded) or Steven Brand (Saw Xseries Teen Wolf).
EA seems to want to make this Immortals of Aveum an ambitious solo game with epic breath, going once morest the grain of more usual shooters (Call of Duty, Halo, Battlefield). The futuristic apocalyptic visual vibe is quite appealing, as is the idea of using magic to defeat vast opposing armies. A little bit of freshness that has something to arouse curiosity.
IMMORTALS OF AVEUM – Game available July 20, 2023 on PS5, Xbox X⎜S and PC.
