You need to admire Ascendant Studios for confidently diving head first with its debut sport, Immortals of Aveum. The fantasy flavoured, magic-based first-person shooter has the looks of a giant summer season blockbuster, and in some methods it backs that up, however sadly it does not fairly maintain true whenever you look at it extra intently. It is a formidable effort, however one that would’ve benefitted from a smaller scope.
It is a single-player motion journey that brings you to a world during which wars are waged with magic quite than firearms. The horrible irony is that it is the usage of magic within the seemingly limitless Everwar that is inflicting the Wound, an infinite gap within the planet, to step by step develop. As the 2 warring nations of Aveum battle over management of magic, the floppy-haired Jak discovers a latent and uncommon potential to manage all three varieties. He is rapidly pressured to change into a soldier and, 5 years and one haircut later, joins the titular Immortals to cease the conflict and heal the Wound.
It is a first rate premise, and refreshing to play a shooter that eschews weapons for one thing completely different. There are some likeable characters among the many solid, with actors doing a reasonably good job with an inconsistent script. The writing and tone put us in thoughts of Marvel films, with characters quipping and joking whereas discussing doubtlessly world-ending occasions within the conflict room. There are extra severe moments all through nevertheless it feels as if the sport does not fairly get the stability proper.
Whether or not you benefit from the story or not, Immortals is at its most pleasing whenever you’re put in management. The sport has an identical construction to God of Struggle Ragnarok; the principle missions are fairly linear excursions, however outdoors of these, you are free to discover the numerous and sizeable environments. Whereas separated by brief loading screens, every space has a definite look and incorporates a lot so that you can uncover as you progress. All through the story, you will unlock new spells, gear, and talents that open up new paths and offer you extra choices in fight. Revisiting earlier areas as you progress is worth it — you will discover hidden paths, non-compulsory challenges, and loads of loot.
This being a shooter at coronary heart, all of it feeds again into fight. You may swap between the three colors of magic, with every appearing as a unique projectile-based weapon. Put merely, Blue acts like a long-range rifle, Purple is a short-range shotgun, and Inexperienced is a mid-range submachine gun. There’s extra to it than that, after all — completely different enemies will necessitate utilizing completely different colors, for instance to interrupt corresponding shields. Along with common photographs, you will additionally acquire entry to particular, extra highly effective spells, akin to rocks erupting from the bottom or a blast to knock enemies again. As you unlock extra skills on the talent tree, every color additionally turns into extra advanced; some Inexperienced assaults can stack poison, whereas some Purple assaults can apply corrosion, making targets weaker quickly.
Usually this technique works properly, and firing off your assaults feels punchy and satisfying. Nonetheless, because the fight slowly grows in complexity and stronger enemies come into play, all of it form of unravels. It does not take very lengthy for fights to change into very chaotic, the display screen filling up with an obscene quantity of flashy results that make it arduous to see what is going on on. Enemy teams could be fairly massive, they usually’ll encompass you on all sides. At the side of hard-hitting assaults which can be tough to anticipate, your dodge working on a cooldown, and a protect that breaks fairly quick, and it may be very overwhelming, resulting in deaths that’ll have you ever asking what even occurred. At occasions, it is visually too busy for its personal good.
You can also make fights a lot simpler for your self by participating with facet content material; Shroudfanes are non-compulsory fight arenas that usually reward you with boosts to your max well being and mana, and you will discover new gear inside hidden chests in every space. On high of that’s the gear crafting and upgrading system. This allows you to energy up your present weapons and gear, or craft higher stuff, which clearly makes you extra formidable in battle. Nonetheless, it’s miles extra difficult than it must be. You may have many choices obtainable to you and it may possibly truthfully really feel like arduous work determining learn how to maximise your stats.
As soon as you have to grips with that, you’ll be able to at the very least take a step again and respect the presentation. On the entire, Immortals is a handsome sport, with some picturesque environments and one or two memorable set-pieces being the spotlight. Even when the sport is throwing an obnoxious quantity of magical results round, it is capable of keep a gradual 60 frames-per-second — most of the time. It did battle on a uncommon event, however sticks to its goal 95 per cent of the time. We are going to say we performed the sport previous to the arrival of its day one patch, which can embody efficiency enhancements and bug fixes. Whereas we performed the overwhelming majority of the 20-hour marketing campaign bug-free, the sport did lock up completely in a single occasion, forcing us to reboot. Hopefully the patch will type that out.
Conclusion
Immortals of Aveum presents us with an fascinating new fantasy universe during which magic replaces bullets, however in observe it does not fairly hit the mark. Regardless of stable elementary motion, fight can rapidly change into tough to learn, devolving right into a dizzying swirl of vibrant results. Strong presentation and efficiency result in some visually arresting scenes, even when the story is not notably memorable. It is a good first effort from Ascendant Studios, and the potential is totally there, however there is a feeling that the group bit off somewhat greater than it might chew.