Immortal Avim There’s one of those new fantasy franchise names. It’s the kind of name that smacks of generic fantasy word soup — because it is — and it’s the kind of name that will live and die by the game’s success. If the game is successful, it will be second nature, like saying ‘final fantasy‘ or ‘pillar of eternity‘. Without it, it would still be a stupid tongue twister. After the initial hands-off demo, I think it has a good chance of making the word Aveum sound like, well, normal. It’s a powerful addition to a game like this.
To understand Immortals of Aveum (pronounced Ay-vee-um, by the way), you first have to understand where the game came from. In a press preview full of the game, EA put a lot of emphasis on the pedigree of its team and its creative directors and studio heads — one of whom is Brett Robins.
Robbins has always worked in the industry, but arguably his biggest triumph was his role as creative head on the original blind spot. After that, he went to work call of Dutyand that’s where the vision for Immortals of Aveum (which one rep said was “30 years in the making”) began to take shape.
Listening to Robbins, there was a fairly simple thunderbolt moment. Looking back at the Call of Duty level, he started daydreaming: What if it was a dragon instead of a helicopter? What if instead of cannons exploding around you, it was fireballs thrown by mages in the distance?This is the vision that led Robins to leave COD and go independent The Ascending Studio
So, here’s the pitch: Immortals of Aveum is a first-person, story-driven, single-player, magical shooter. With RPG elements. This leaves a lot to the processing.
There’s a Doctor Strange vibe to summoning something like a large shield with a sigil on it. The structure of the levels in Call of Duty is a spectacle, but in a very different universe. The magical energy bursting through the pulsating hands is definitely reminiscent of BioShock. Ripples in DOOM were seen in aggressive movement and attack-focused combat. There’s even an understated Metroid Prime vibe, when the action recedes and gives way to little magical puzzles to progress or unlock optional areas and rewards. The role-playing DNA is not only in the storyline, but also in the development and upgrading of characters.
The titular Immortals are basically the special forces of this wizarding world. A full detailed knowledge has been constructed, but the elevator pitch is very simple. There is a big villain who looks like Sauron, and they plan to conquer the whole world by controlling all magic. Most other nations have fallen, but you are now the last line of defense for your people and the world.
All of these are obviously secondary. It looks glamorous. Naturally, the most obvious comparison is to shooters. There are three core “types” of base weapons, and they’re conveniently color-coded. Blue magic provides a single long-range piercing shot, almost like a sniper. Green is fast-firing but less damaging, more like a submachine gun. Red Magic works like a shotgun. In addition to their different functions, some enemies have color-coded shields–so you’ll want to smash red shields with red magic, and so on.
These core weapons are effectively infinite, but you can then use higher-level spells called “Furies,” which use mana bars. Blinking allows you to teleport a short distance, for example, like the ability in Dishonored. Lash delivers whip-like magic that lets you pull enemies closer to you, making it an ideal one-on-two combo with red magic.
Over time, you’ll unlock other Furies, while gear and “sigil” upgrades will let you enhance your abilities and customize your playstyle and character build. Some skill unlocks also have a greater effect. While Immortals of Aveum promises a “20 to 25 hour” linear campaign, players will be able to use new abilities to return to areas from past levels, which will let you unlock new bypasses and be rewarded with said abilities, Metroidvania style. While this is a linear COD-style shooter, the developers promise plenty of optional content.
Probably the most interesting and important of your skills is your shield. Ascendant Studios was clear from the start; despite its Call of Duty heritage, it didn’t want to make a “cover shooter.” You don’t rush to cover and hide before jumping out for the shot. You’re a battle mage, a magic gunslinger, and as such, you’re fast and fast. This is where the Doom comparison comes in.
Your one true defensive option is your shield, which lets Doctor Strange learn how you can summon it with your left hand while continuing to attack with your right. You can shoot through your shield, but raising your shield will slow you down. The result is a defensive choice that feels offensive at the same time. In some gameplay segments, you get a feel for what it’s like–sprinting across the battlefield, blinking here, whipping enemies there, casting spells that impede their movement, raising your shield for quick protection before moving again. It looks very content.
It also looks more than superficially different from the shooter. Some gamers (and no doubt some media) will describe it as “COD with magic”, and while that’s definitely accurate, it’s also an oversimplification. Not only that, but it’s exciting. It would also be cool to have a new franchise with a worldview driven entirely by magic. We’ve just launched Forspoken, but in terms of narrative and gameplay, this looks like a much more interesting game than ever.
The chaotic, explosive nature of an instant game is fascinating–one can naturally see how it would fit into a multiplayer game. That’s not being considered just yet — though the team is refreshingly frank about it. This is the future. For now, it’s a single-player adventure game – and has replay value, thanks to side content and the ability to create vastly different loads of magic through gear and perks.
It is undeniable that the most influential is Call of Duty. But is it that bad? I love these battle scenes, so it’s exciting to see that expressed in a magical fantasy setting. Seeing the clip where the protagonist wanders around in the mouth of a dragon soaring above a vast and chaotic magical battlefield, I nodded. This of course works. Sure, it looks great.
Of course, how that feels remains to be seen. It’s completely hands-off — and, as the saying goes, with a game like this, the proof is in the pudding. But the lineage is there, the vision is there, and after this presentation, well, my interest is certainly there.
We’ll find out how this all fits together when Aveum Immortals launches on July 20th.
