2023 is the year of many things, including magical combat. Ascendant Studios throws its lot in with Immortals of Aveum, a first-person shooter where spells are your means of destroying the opposition. Releasing on August 22nd for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC after five years in development, it promises a meaty campaign to go with its deep combat and loot grind. Here are 15 things you should know before jumping in.
Story and Setting
Set in Aveum, the story focuses on the conflict over magic between Lucium and Rasharn. They’ve been at war for millennia, causing it to be dubbed the Everwar. As part of the Order of the Immortals, players must venture forth to fight against Rasharn and the tyrannical Sandrakk to save the world, as it were. Of course, there are hints that things aren’t quite as simple, especially with Aveum having a “troubled past” and mysteries surrounding The Wound that runs centrally across the world.
Cast
Players control Zak (voiced by Darren Barnet), who turns out to be a Triarch Magus and can wield all three types of magic at will. He joins the Immortals led by General Kirkan (played by Gina Torres), who also serves as his mentor, and works alongside allies Zendara (Lily Cowles) and Devyn (Antonio Aakeel). Other important figures include Thaddeus, a former Immortal who suddenly went into self-exile; Rook, the Aelori’s leader who rules Underdwell; Kenzie, a sky nomad who dislikes the Everwar; and The Hand of Sandrakk, who serves as the Grand Magus for Rasharn’s armies.
Developed on Unreal Engine 5.1
With Unreal Engine 5.1 as its engine, Immortals of Aveum leverages technologies like Lumen and Nanite for some stunning visuals. While the former provides light bounces off of characters and levels, the latter can adjust the level of detail per object depending on how close or far you are away from it. Along with “massive” art assets, it also features one-to-one visual fidelity with its cutscenes, with only a few changes in effects like depth of field and motion blur. Transitioning from cinematics to gameplay is also seamless.
Ray Tracing
Ray tracing is also an important component. Speaking to The Verge, Ascendant Studios went as far as to say, “Lumen requires GPUs capable of ray tracing, which both the PS5 and Xbox Series X have. Not all PC GPUs support ray tracing – that has become the new line of demarcation.” The AMD 5700 XT on PC is the bare minimum for software-based ray tracing, at least for now. Upscaling tech like AMD FSR 2 is supported “to maintain HD and UHD quality visuals without compromising framerate.”
Exploration
Exploration in Immortals of Aveum is multi-faceted. While running and jumping through stages, you also use Augments. These help in various ways, whether moving objects and solving puzzles, allowing you to hover or restore certain parts of an area. As Ascendant Studios CEO Bret Robbins explained in April, “Jack gains new abilities throughout the game, which allows him to unlock new areas. As you gain new abilities, you can return to previous areas and use those abilities to unlock new areas, as well.” He also promised “several different types of puzzles” throughout.
12 Biomes and 3 Hubs
Thus far, we’ve seen battlefields, ruins, and much more in terms of locations, and while the full extent of the world is unknown, Ascendant Studios has confirmed 12 unique biomes. There are also three Hubs where you can meet with different NPCs, take on missions or venture to the Forge for buying and upgrading loot.
Combat
Combat in Immortals of Aveum is interesting because, for all its FPS trappings, there are elements of action RPGs and action-adventure titles, with Jak possessing significant mobility thanks to Blink and Hover. Spells are equipped through Sigils, with a different one available depending on the Sigil. You get three, one for each color, and they boost the effectiveness of each spell.
You can’t aim down sights when firing, but you can grapple through environments and bring up a shield to mitigate damage. Some enemies are also color-coded, making them more susceptible to damage from specific colors of magic. Jak also has Control spells, like Lash to pull enemies towards him, Disrupt for interrupting and stunning them, and Limpet, which slows foes.
Different Magic Colors
The three colors of magic are Red, Blue and Green, each serving different gameplay functions. Red magic is for close-range damage and crowd control; Blue magic is for long-range and more accurate shots; and Green magic fires homing projectiles that are ideal when moving around. There are over 25 spells, from Breachfire and its shotgun-like spread of Red magic shots to Arclight which emits a beam of Blue magic that fries everything in its path and Stormshards for unleashing multiple seeking projectiles of Green magic (but works best in short bursts).
Furies and Dominions
You also have Furies, stronger spells for each color which require Mana to unleash. They each possess unique properties – Bash, the Red magic Fury, is a flying strike that deals extensive damage and can stagger enemies. On the other hand, Torrent will fire homing Green magic shots that deal high damage and Shatter, which deals area-of-effect damage with Blue magic. Dominions are your Ultimates, like Immolate, which unleashes massive amounts of damage using all three colors of magic.
Talents
There are 80 Talents to unlock, which provide a range of functions for your build, from increased damage and regeneration to reduced cooldowns. You can either unlock Talents which benefit a single color of magic or opt for abilities that use different colors. If you ever unlock a Talent and aren’t satisfied with the results, or want to try something else, you can respec at the Forge for free.
Loot
Surprisingly, Immortals of Aveum has a pretty robust amount of loot to find. There are Totems, used for your Control spells while providing stat boosts for specific colors, and Rings that provide passive benefits, or increase damage, speed, and so on. Bracers are the main “armor”, boosting your Shield and Blink but also increasing your damage output at the cost of defense.
PC Requirements
As you probably expected, this is a heavy game. It requires DirectX 12.1 and 110 GB of storage space, and an SSD comes highly recommended. At the very minimum, you need an Intel Core i7-9700 or AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, 16 GB RAM, and a GeForce GTX 2080 Super or AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT with 8 GB VRAM to run the game at 1080p/60 FPS at Low to Medium settings.
For playing 1440p/60 FPS on Medium to High settings, you need a Core i7-12700 or Ryzen 7 5700X, 16 GB RAM, and an RTX 3080 Ti (12 GB) or Radeon RX 6800XT (16 GB). These could change as the developer optimizes the game, and we’re yet to learn more about the requirements for 4K and ray tracing on PC.
4K/60 FPS on Xbox Series X
Though console resolution is somewhat up in the air, the Xbox store listing indicates that Immortals of Aveum will support 4K Ultra HD on Xbox Series X. Consoles are confirmed to run at 60 FPS, but no Quality or Performance Mode choices here. You have the 60 FPS option, and that’s it. How stable it will be at launch remains to be seen.
20-25 Hours Long
Immortals of Aveum will take 20 to 25 hours if running straight through, which is pretty long compared to your average single-player FPS campaign. Those who take the time to explore will find “optional paths and hidden content”, and as noted earlier, Jak can return to previous locations with his new abilities and reveal new areas. The rewards for deviating from the critical path have yet to be detailed, but there’s more than enough for players who want to take their time.
Potential Post-Launch Multiplayer
With all the different spells, loot and even Hubs, you’d be forgiven for thinking there may be a multiplayer mode. There isn’t, at least not now, but Robbins confirmed that the team “spent some time working on that as well.” It’s not ready to talk about it and is “focused fully on the single-player story experience right now”, so it could be added post-launch.
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