Immortals of Aveum seeks to deliver a fantasy magical single-player FPS experience

Over the years, first-person shooters have been pigeonholed into a specific setting. They're usually about military warfare, whether it be set in World War II or the modern day. Ascendant Studios, a new studio comprised of veteran creators from across the gaming industry and founded by former Dead Space creative director Bret Robbins, hopes to change things up slightly by introducing players to a new FPS, one set in the realm of magic. On Thursday, publisher EA revealed more information about Immortals of Aveum, the latest title in the company's EA Originals line of indie games.

First unveiled at The Game Awards 2022, Immortals of Aveum tells the story of Jak, a battlemage. Jak is an Unforeseen, which is another name for someone who manifests magical abilities later in life after a great trauma. As part of the elite Order of Immortals, Jak must help explore the world of Aveum's past, especially as two of its biggest kingdoms threaten to tear it apart in the continuing conflict known as the Everwar.

Aveum itself is one of the main draws of this title. It's a fantasy world filled with vibrant, colorful leylines of magical power that run across its surface. The planet's other big feature is the Wound, a bottomless crater that spans a good portion of the planet. As part of the game's central mystery, the Wound appears to be growing and engulfing more of Aveum by the day.

Jak begins his story as a new recruit, one eager to prove himself as worthy of being part of the Immortals. His allies include General Kirkan, the Grand Magnus of the Immortals; Devyn, the youngest master of green magic in Lucium's history; and Zendara, master of red magic. They must fight off the forces of the hostile kingdom of Rasharn, led by the helmeted warlord Sandrakk.

Surviving in Aveum means mastering the world's three different forms of magic. Blue magic is a long-ranged blast that can take out distant targets. Red magic is a close-ranged burst of fire, comparable to a shotgun. Green magic is automatic fire that homes in on nearby targets. Jak controls the different magics through his arm attachment and can develop his power by learning 25 spells and 80 talents over the course of the campaign. Sigils will be another key to developing offense, as players can select which ones best suit their playstyle. After settling on sigils, power can be amplified further by discovering gear items like rings, bracers, and totems.

Specific skills shown during this preview session include the Shield, which can block incoming enemy fire at the expense of a temporary speed loss. The Lash can pull distant enemies in much closer and leave them vulnerable to a blast of red magic. The Blink spell uses green magic to teleport away from incoming fire. More powerful spells are known as Furies and can be used with a full mana meter. One example is Shatter, which sends an explosion of magical spikes at enemies for heavy damage. New enemy types can develop resistances to certain magics, so players will need to master their full arsenal in order to survive. The game's skill tree will branch in three different directions, allowing players to upgrade their red, blue, and green magics and learn new talents.

Over the course of this press briefing, Robbins estimated that the Immortals of Aveum campaign would run about 25 hours. The team is excited for people to explore different corners of this world, a setting built with Unreal Engine 5.1. Immortals of Aveum hopes to work its magic this summer season. It's currently set to release on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on Thursday, July 20. The PC version will sell for $59.99 USD, while the console versions are priced at $69.99 USD. In the meantime, readers are welcome to travel back in time and revisit our 2021 interview with Bret Robbins about the formation of Ascendant Studios.

This preview is based on a remote presentation from Ascendant Studios.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?