Summary
Providing players with a surprisingly entertaining mix of fantasy tropes and fast-paced action,Immortals of Aveum’s is an unexpected and exciting break from first-person shooter norms. While it’s easy to spot the many ways in whichAscendant Studios head Bret Robbins’ years spent working on franchises likeCall of Dutyinfluenced the fantasy shooter,Immortals of Aveumstill offers plenty of welcome twists on the familiar FPS formula that keep it feeling fresh. Just as the unorthodox EA Originals release has taken some of the best elements of the FPS genre and retooled them to fit the game’s magical setting, standard shooters could benefit by taking a few pages fromImmortals of Aveum’s playbook.
The idea of amagic-based shooteris nothing new in and of itself, and fantasy FPS games have been around practically since the genre began. While Raven Software’s 1995 classicHexen: Beyond Hereticremains one of the most well-known titles in the admittedly small subgenre, in recent years games like developer Indefatigable’s well-received magical shooterAmid Evilhave helped introduce the fantasy FPS format to new audiences. WhereImmortals of Aveumsucceeds in moving the genre forward, and where it can teach some lessons to standard shooters, is in its upgradable and customizable weapons and the variety of ways it lets players dispatch their enemies.
RELATED:Immortals of Aveum PC System Requirements are Pretty Demanding
Immortals of Aveum’s Customizable Weapons Provide a Good Lesson for Standard Shooters
While long-time fans of FPS games are accustomed to being able to upgrade and customize theirweapons inCall of Duty: Modern Warfareand other primarily multiplayer-focused shooters, it’s less common for players to be able to personalize their loadout for single-player campaigns.Immortals of Aveumbucks this trend by letting gamers customize their weapons throughout its campaign, letting players focus on the ones that best suit their personal playstyle. This helps make each weapon feel unique and lets gamers create a loadout that plays to their individual strengths.
Each ofImmortals of Aveum’s sigilscorresponds to a familiar weapon type from the FPS genre. Blue and green sigils serve as stand-ins for long-range rifles and SMGs respectively, while red sigils function similarly to shotguns. Despite slotting nicely into the standard weapon archetypes, different sigils have different strengths and weaknesses that can be upgraded throughout the game. Players who enjoy eliminating enemies from a safe distance might prefer blue sigils with low ammo capacity but deadly accuracy, while those more interested in close-quarters combat could choose to max out a red sigil that trades increased stopping power for a drastically wider firing arc.
Sigils Are Only One Part of Immortals of Aveum’s Fast-Paced Combat
Another lesson that standard shooters can take fromImmortals of Aveumis giving players more options for eliminating enemies than just ceaselessly holding down the fire button. While the game’s magic-blasting sigils will always deliver the killing blow, players can use various items to enhance and augment their abilities in combat. From pulling foes in close with a magical chain before delivering the killing blow in a manner reminiscent ofBulletstorm’s energy leashto using arcane artifacts to disrupt enemy shields, players have multiple ways to manage encounters even before the shooting starts.
Adding enhanced abilities like these obviously wouldn’t work for every FPS game, and could even serve to break the sense of immersion in realism-focused franchises, but giving players more options for dealing with opponents is something more shooters should embrace. Althoughgames likeDoom Eternalhave taken a similar approach to combat asImmortals of Aveum, giving players more to do in a firefight than just blast away nonstop, they remain the exception in the FPS genre.
With weapons that produce screen-filling blasts of magical energy with every use, the colorful combat ofImmortals of Aveummay not land with every player. But, even when you strip away the spectacular set dressing around its first-person combat, the Ascendant Studios’ title still offers up some solid gameplay mechanics that standard shooters could benefit greatly from adopting.
Immortals of Aveumis available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S
