I remember growing up loving old spell-slinging shooters like Hexen and Heretic. I would play these for hours, even though they weren’t the deepest games from a story standpoint. There was something inherently satisfying about taking the role of a mage and fighting against the denizens of evil with spells and magical items.
Interestingly enough, the vibes I’m getting from Electronic Arts and Ascendant Studios’ upcoming Immortals of Aveum are those same vibes. A first-person magic-slinging shooter, Immortals of Aveum takes players on a journey in the role of Jak, a Battlemage.
In a preview event last week, Ascendant Studios lifted the cloche on the upcoming first-person shooter, giving us a deeper look at the world, its lore, and some gameplay. Ascendant Studios is made up of industry veterans that have decades of experience working on some of the biggest titles in games, including its Game Director and CEO Bret Robbins who has worked on titles from Call of Duty, Dead Space and more (going all the way back to Gex even).
The premise began, according to Robbins, as a simple question. While working on Call of Duty, Robbins was reviewing some work on the game with what he called a “very typical level.” The scene had soldiers fighting in an urban area, a helicopter in the distance, which got Robbins thinking: ‘What if instead of a helicopter, it was a dragon?’
The idea for Immortals of Aveum jumped off from there, with the studio creating a full single-player, first-person magic shooter set in the world of Aveum. Aveum is a world dominated by magic, the landscape of Aveum crisscrossed with floating rivers of magic called Leylines. The world of Aveum has been engulfed in a thousand years war called the Everwar over control of these Leylines, with the forces of Rasharn and Lucium fighting a stalemate over the last few centuries.
The world of Aveum itself bears the scars of the Everwar, which plays into one of the pillars of the design behind the game: save a world on the edge of the abyss. In the hands-off demo shown during the event, the world itself seemed like it was on the brink. The forces of Lucium were fending off a massive assault by Sandrakk, the leader of the Rasharn Forces. Everywhere the camera panned magic was flying, with mages in the distance firing Blue beams of magic and flying troops, while on the ground flashes of green, red and blue dotted the torn-up landscape.
Even just watching the demo the atmosphere was instantly palpable. The sky was split asunder by the roar of a dragon while the Leylines of magical energy cackled with power overhead.
The magic in Aveum is one of three distinct colors: Red, Blue, and Green. Normally, people in the world of Aveum can only harness one of the three colors, but protagonist Jak has the rare ability to harness all three. Speaking with Executive Producer Kevin Boyle, he broke down a bit more what differences there are between the three Magical lines.
“You’ve got Red Magic, which is rooted in Chaos and destruction,” Boyle explained. “You can use [Red Magic] to do significant damage in a wide area at a shorter range. You’ve got Blue Magic, which is more Force-oriented. That is much more accurate and direct and impactful at long range. And then you’ve got Green Magic that is rooted in Life and Death. That actually tends to be more of a spray of magic projectiles, but depending on the Sigil you have equipped, has different degrees of ability to seek the enemies that you’re firing at.”
During the gameplay itself, Jak could swap magic types at will, one moment shooting a Red Magic shotgun blast at an enemy, the next he was sniping something from afar with the more focused beam of Blue Magic. Focusing all of that is the Sigil, which is the armament seen on Jak’s right forearm. This equipment can be upgraded and customized to fit your own personal play style, and more Sigils can be found or bought throughout the 25-hour campaign.
As mentioned before, Jak has the ability to wield all three schools of Magic, making him what’s referred to as a Triarch. However, Jak isn’t the only Triarch in Aveum, as Sandrakk has this power as well. Jak joins forces with an elite squad of units fighting for Lucium known as the Immortals (hence the name of the game, after all - something I didn’t quite put together until embarrassingly my interview with Boyle - I get it now though!)
Robbins during the presentation described the Immortals as almost “superheroes” in the story of Aveum. Each Immortal has their own unique abilities, led by General Kirkan who holds the rank of the Grand Magnus of the Immortals. Each of the Immortals brings something to the table, such as Devyn, who is the youngest Green master in Lucium’s history, or Jak’s Triarch abilities.
Jak’s abilities can be augmented as well through the purchase of Talents, which are unlocked on a tree split between the three schools of Magic. You can improve your abilities through this tree, with eighty talents in the game to choose from. Additionally, there are more than twenty-five spells to learn across the different colors of Magic, which can be weaved together in combat to create elaborate and effective combos.
One such combo consists of using a special skill Jak has, the ability to wield Control spells. One such Control spell shown during our demo was the Lash spell, which sends a Magical Blue whip out towards an enemy, bringing them into range, which you can then smash with a close-range Red skill. You can also use the Lash to grab enemies and pull them off of cliffs, into pits, and more. Furys are massive heavy spells that Jak can learn as well, such as the Shatter spell which casts what Robbins described as a “huge explosion of magical spikes.”
It isn’t all just a linear affair either, as Jak will need to explore his surroundings, solve puzzles, and even at times come back to an area already visited in order to use the new abilities unlocked along the way to uncover some more of the world. At its core, though, is the bombastic story campaign, telling the story of the Immortals themselves and their fight to bring the Everwar to its close. And the gameplay certainly matches the high cinematic quality the team is going for here.
In motion, the gameplay of Immortals of Aveum looks fast and fluid, with Jak weaving between spell types and dispatching enemies with ease. Powered by Unreal Engine 5, Immortals of Aveum also uses the latest Lumen and Nanite technology to power the visuals of the shooter, and it gives some incredible results. Particle effects, lighting and more all looked fantastic with every shot fired, while the crumbling towers, as well as the later lush forests of Lucium all popped with realism lost in other game engines.
However, one concern I had while watching the gameplay was how accessible this would be for players who deal with low visibility or even colorblindness. With a Magical system dependent on color, including a need to choose the right color magic to defeat certain enemies, I was concerned that some gamers might be left in the cold. I did ask Kevin about this, and while he couldn’t tell me anything concrete about what the studio was doing, it is something that they are working on.
“I can tell you that accessibility is something that we are working on and looking into. And certainly, as a game where our magic system is rooted in color, there are considerations there as well. The game at its core is a pretty fast-paced game, so it might not be entirely accessible to everyone in a way that something turn-based would be. But it’s definitely something that we’re trying to include as wide of an audience as possible.”
I’m personally looking forward to seeing more of Immortals of Aveum, especially getting my hands on it personally. I grew up playing magic-based shooters like HeXen and Heretic, as well as many of the shooters Robbins had a hand in building throughout the years. I’m really interested to see how the story plays out, learn more about the world of Aveum, and explore more of the Immortals themselves. Thankfully, the wait is almost over, with Immortals of Aveum releasing on Xbox Series S|X, PlayStation 5, and PC on July 20th.
