Call of Duty meets magic and action: Immortals of Aveum is trying to fill the MCU cinema void this summer

Immortals of Aveum shoots so hard to achieve the look of a summer blockbuster that I’m surprised the collector’s edition doesn’t come with a big bucket of buttered popcorn. Or at least one that you can microwave at home.

It’s even coming out in July, a traditionally barren point on the release schedule, but surely a softer slate of competition can only help this flashy new IP on publishing label EA Originals break through.

From its high-stakes story that relies heavily on the kind of escapist fantasy that will never use a real word if it can make one up, to the sharp, teasing tone of its cheeky superhero script, from what I’ve seen on a hand. -Previewed across three story levels, Immortals of Aveum generally succeeds in what it sets out to achieve, with a few caveats.

When games try to be “cinematic”, why do they always refer exclusively to the cinema of Michael Bay and James Cameron? Obviously, many games are inspired by movies, but whenever the label “cinematic” comes up, it usually comes down to big explosions and close-ups of gunshots. Crucially though, what developer Ascendant Studios believes sets its debut game apart is that there are no weapons to shoot, just dazzling spells to cast.

Immortals of Aveum tells the story of an eternal conflict called Everwar, where, for thousands of years, people have fought for control of magic at the heart of the world. You arrive when the balance tilts towards evil, with the overbearing Sandrakk at the helm of the Rasharn faction gaining the upper hand on the Kingdom of Lurium.

It’s up to Jak (no relation to Daxter, sadly), a new recruit to the Order of Immortals and a gifted spellcaster who can wield all three colors of magic, to make the key difference that turns the tide of the Eternal War.

Seemingly conceived as “what if Call of Duty, but dragons”, the three colors of magic are based on familiar weapon archetypes. Red is short range and analogous to shotguns, green is rapid firing like an SMG, while blue has longer range options more similar to sniper rifles or hand cannons.

Because of this, I’m not convinced that magic shooter gameplay is as unique as Ascendant claims, as there isn’t much of a tangible mechanical difference in firing spells as opposed to the weapons they’re reminiscent of.

But with that being said, the magic definitely adds a lot to the action. Visually, Immortals of Aveum is fantastic, with vibrant, broken particles filling the screen with violent confetti as you bounce around, constantly switching between spells to exploit your enemies’ weaknesses.

Enemies aren’t as versatile as Jak, so they usually only use one color of magic. But that also means they are weak to that color, allowing you to take them out more easily by juggling your team efficiently. This tactical layer adds an additional element of complexity to fights, which can contribute to fights becoming rough and hectic.

But it can also make gears hit on the spur of the moment, when it’s hard to tell between different colors and equipped weapons at a glance. This could be an accessibility issue due to my color blindness, or just a lack of familiarity with Aveum’s different spells, but fumbling with the overloaded control scheme in a notebook was frustrating at times.

However, perhaps the most impressive element of Immortals of Avenum is the exceptional scope and scale of the levels. As one of the first games from major publishers to be released with Unreal Engine 5.1, you can really tell that everything is extremely big.

My preview started at the tutorial level and saw Jak take on, essentially, training dummies, but the action soon moved into dense, sprawling jungles with ruined temples crumbling into the undergrowth, and then underground caverns. dimly lit with an ominous glow.

There are also apparently a lot more biomes to explore in Immortals of Aveum, making it a visual treat on many fronts. From the big battlefield scenes in the opening, there’s a great sense of presence. You can feel how the models exist within the environment with perceptible depth, instead of looking like a flat image.

But this also has gaming applications. While many of the encounters take place in standard-looking arenas, as you’d expect from a DOOM-like shooter, the sheer size means Ascendant Studios can include a lot of variety in each area, using different levels of verticality in different corners of the stage. map and enough distance between viewpoints and lines of sight for short, medium and long range spells to have a noticeable impact.

Hopefully the finished game can take full advantage of this spectacular technology, but when performance issues have been at the forefront of so many releases, it’s going to be a real test for this first massive game from a fledgling studio to come out running smoothly.

Another interesting aspect of Immortals of Aveum is the cadence between action and exploration, with subtle environmental puzzles littering the world. These can be simple locked doors that you need to notice and return to later with the appropriate power-up, treasure hunts where you need to destroy colored crystals that match the ones displayed on a locked door, or tricky platforming challenges that ask you to time yourself. your shots or jump onto a moving bridge forward.

I really liked how the puzzles played out, even if some had you brushing against the invisible walls of your fish tank. Because the environment feels so present and expansive, it often feels like you can be on top of places you really can’t, which takes you out of the moment, but it’s very much the kind of thing you can get over. Yeah… I’m not feeling it.

So with incredible special effects, expansive environments, and a high-stakes story, Immortals of Aveum is a big-budget epic with all the makings of a summer blockbuster. But just like at the box office, we’ll have to see if the entire package is still something we remember come awards season.

Let’s see if you can keep landing when Immortals of Aveum launches for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S on July 20, 2023.