Immortals of Aveum Review – Battlemage Simulator

Immortals of Aveum is an ambitious experience. Befitting an EA Originals project, it is brimming with creative ideas and novelty. While some of that ambition is realized, it doesn't fully hide some undercooked elements in both gameplay and narrative. Our Immortals of Aveum review continues below.

Immortals of Aveum Review – Streetrat to Spellslinger

In Immortals of Aveum, you play as Jak, a young orphan surviving in the slums of the city of Seren.

Shortly after tragedy strikes home, he is conscripted into an elite order of mages. The titular Immortals fight in the Everwar, a massive magical war waged by the despot Sandraak.

Through his time on the battlefield, Jak will learn more about magic, make allies, and determine the fate of his world.

If you can imagine someone taking The Lord of the Rings trilogy and condensing it into one modern blockbuster action film, you can imagine Immortals of Aveum's pacing and tone.

The storytelling and pacing in Immortals of Aveum is an odd blend of complex and breezy. Almost every line of dialogue is exposition or worldbuilding detail. The kind of dense worldbuilding that would be right at home in a modern RPG.

But the story's pacing is much closer to an action title; a vehicle for setpieces, spectacle, and broad storytelling.

The result is a narrative where a lot happens quickly. Jak's entire predicament changes several times throughout the campaign. Multiple characters change sides at least once. Alliances form and fall apart. The list goes on.

If you can imagine someone taking The Lord of the Rings trilogy and condensing it into one modern blockbuster action film, you can imagine Immortals of Aveum's pacing and tone.

That modern film comparison extends to the dialogue as well. For every well-written stretch of naturalistic exposition, there are at least three comedic asides or bits of bathetic snark.

As a result, I struggled to emotionally connect with any of the characters. Their banter continuously undercut the tension and lessened the impact of certain story turns.

Which is a shame because the voice cast do their best with their given material.

Darren Barnet brings some charm to snarky protagonist Jak. Gina Torres brings reliable weight as the firm and stoic General Kirkan.

My personal favorite is Lily Cowles as Zendara, whose brusque and direct demeanor got some chuckles when contrasted with the rest of the cast.

Immortals of Aveum Review – First-Person Spellcaster

Thankfully, Immortals of Aveum's core gameplay picks up the slack.

At its core, it is a first-person shooter, one where magic spells replace firearms. Blue magic fires precise, long-distance bolts, green magic spews rapid-fire shards that needle away at the enemy, and red magic unleashes powerful short-range blasts.

In addition, there are Relics. Lash is a magical whip that can pull enemies close or propel yourself around the map.  Disrupt is a quick blast that stuns enemies before they perform certain spells. Finally, Limpets fire green globs which slow targets down.

Overall, Immortals of Aveum's combat is a throwback to early 2000s arena shooters like Quake or classic Halo with its emphasis on movement, resource management, and battlefield control.

Each battle is treated like a puzzle. Certain enemies are vulnerable to certain attacks and tactics. This means half of the challenge is figuring out target priority and method of attack.

The problem is Immortals of Aveum encourages you to be familiar with all three forms of magic with its enemy configurations, which discourages specialization.

Enemies are visually distinct. Their appearances range from knights in armor to crystal golems to giant teleporting snake monsters. All are visually distinct and are easily readable in most environments.

When coupled with the satisfying spellslinging and Relic usage, Immortals of Aveum's combat can be quite exhilarating.

Breaking up these battles is the game's hub area structure. When you're not in a story mission, you can explore previous areas, using your new relics and spells to explore hidden areas packed with powerful upgrades and optional challenges.

While the game does keep things varied with some light platforming challenges and environmental puzzles, there are some modern design elements packed into the experience.

There is a loot system. In fact, it is the same system seen in most AAA looter shooters. Thankfully, gear is given out methodically and intentionally; no glut of random numbers and buffs to be seen.

Lastly, there is a skill tree. In theory, it allows you to spec into whichever form of magic you prefer. Prefer sniping? Go Blue. Want more survivability? Go Green.

The problem is Immortals of Aveum encourages you to be familiar with all three forms of magic with its enemy configurations, which discourages specialization. I never maxed out any tree during my playthrough and never really felt the need to.

Sadly, there is no New Game Plus feature to let you fully experience Jak at full power.

Immortals of Aveum Review – Incomplete Spellbook

As a technical showcase, Immortals of Aveum has its charms. This is Ascendant Studios' very first major release, utilizing Unreal Engine 5 no less, and that raw passion shows.

Battles are chaotic affairs with multiple overlapping particle effects in massive arenas. Assets and objects disappear and transform effortlessly in seconds. On PS5, the game runs smoothly with no texture pop in sight. In terms of technical and visual performance, Immortals of Aveum is impressive.

 It is a refreshingly self-contained new IP that follows through on its unique concept of a first-person magic shooter. If that novelty speaks to you, you will have a fun time.

Alternatively, the art direction is quite generic. Magical high fantasy, mecha sci-fi, serious war drama, and lighthearted rollercoaster ride tend to blend together into so much noise after a while.

Finally, while the core combat starts off strong, it gets stale after a while. This is especially true in the game's second half with enemy encounters feeling more like prolonged chores than challenges.

Not helping matters is some issues with controls and visual clarity. Warnings of incoming enemy attacks are indistinct, barely recognizable red arrows too close to your cursor, making it difficult to discern. This has led to multiple instances of death from a magic grenade or sniper shot.

Compounding this issue further is the lack of visual accessibility options aside from several colorblind modes.

Furthermore, there is input delay when it comes to certain actions. I've had to hit buttons several times during a fight to swap Relics or activate my shield. And in a fast-paced arena shooter, that kind of delay leads to frustration.

As for sound mixing, Immortals of Aveum has some problems. While the game feel is solid, hit sound effects are far too loud. It was an honest assault on my ears while wearing headphones. This can be adjusted in the options menu, and I highly suggest you do so if you are sensitive to sound.

Immortals of Aveum Review | Final Thoughts

In conclusion, Immortals of Aveum is a solid debut title for Ascendant Studios. It is a refreshingly self-contained new IP that follows through on its unique concept of a first-person magic shooter. If that novelty speaks to you, you will have a fun time. But a weightless fantasy story and frustrating design choices hold it back from being something truly great.

Immortals of Aveum was reviewed on PlayStation 5 with a copy provided by the publisher over the course of 18 hours of gameplay - all screenshots were taken during the process of the review.