The Game Awards 2022 was filled with a variety of new game reveals, but the faces behind those games were, in most cases, familiar. A standout exception to that trend though was Ascendant Studios' Immortals of Aveum, a first-person magical shooter published by EA Originals. The cinematic reveal trailer showcased a glimpse of the game's high-fantasy action, and Immortals of Aveum appears to be following Obsidian's Avowed in bringing greater variety to the first-person fantasy RPG genre that is currently dominated by Bethesda's Elder Scrolls series.
Immortals of Aveum is currently slated for a 2023 release date, no further specificity was provided, which is likely optimistic considering the game's advertised scale and the lack of gameplay showcased in the trailer. The game is being developed in Unreal Engine 5 by the creative director of Dead Space and several Call Of Duty campaigns which indicates that even if the game is not released in 2023, it is likely to be a major player in the AAA games space when it does release.
Ascendant Studios And Immortals Of Aveum's Influences
Founded by Dead Space creative director and Sledgehammer veteran Bret Robbins, Ascendant Studios began life in 2018 and has since accumulated a team of developers who have worked on everything from Metal Gear Solid V to The Wolf Among Us. The company's stated mission emphasizes the importance of ownership of its intellectual property, often publishers will obtain IP rights as part of doing business which can limit creative control and the need for a sustainable work-life balance among its employees.
Immortals of Aveum represents the studio's first outing but Ascendant does have institutional support in the form of its EA Originals publishing contract. EA Originals is a publishing division within EA that focuses on releasing unconventional projects that may not fit the image of mass market appeal. Games released under the division include Unravel, It Takes Two, and A Way Out among others. In some ways, Immortals of Aveum looks somewhat out of place among the games published by EA Originals. With its clear inspirations from the Elder Scrolls magic system, first-person shooter mechanics, and its creator being a former senior developer on the Call of Duty franchise, the game seems far from niche in its appeal.
Examining just how closely Immortals of Aveum is going to be mechanically to Elder Scrolls or the upcoming RPG Avowed remains somewhat difficult to discern. Immortals of Aveum's development team and the trailer seem to suggest less of an emphasis on narrative and role-playing and instead a deeper focus on its high-octane, magical combat system. In that sense, the game seems like it may take inspiration from the Bioshock games which innovated on traditional shooting mechanics by granting players fantastical abilities they could switch between to supplement their standard arsenal of guns.
From the standpoint of the Elder Scrolls, the magic system in Immortals of Aveum is very likely to draw on the success of Bethesda's work. While Skyrim's magic system is somewhat stiff and dated by modern standards, the variety of magical options afforded to players and the combinations of abilities that players could utilize remains incredibly fun and the game will almost certainly draw from it.
Immortals of Aveum seems to center around a shooting system that does not rely on a gun or gun-like object at all, instead using a magical gauntlet called a sigil. Players will be able to use sigils to focus their magic in different ways and customize their spell casting. The trailer shows the protagonist wielding a single sigil on his left and supporting the spell with the other which suggests that dual-wielding, a popular play style in the Elder Scrolls, may not be an option.
The world of Immortals of Aveum appears to share similarities to Avowed, which follows a protagonist in the war-torn land of Eora. Pillars of Eternity fans will recognize that name as the two games take place in the same universe. Avowed's trailer primarily showcases a first-person spell sword user, what other combat options may be available remains unannounced. The action focus of the trailer is similar to Immortals of Aveum, although Obsidian's history of narrative-heavy RPG development does suggest the game will not be lacking in the story department.
Without a history of previously released games, it is difficult to know exactly how narrative-driven Immortals of Aveum will be. Given that the game does not advertise itself as an RPG, in contrast to Avowed, it will likely fall somewhere between Bioshock and the Call of Duty campaigns in terms of narrative emphasis.
Analyzing Immortals Of Aveum's Trailer
The trailer mentions the player as being the hero of a battle known as Yltheum Fields, though some voices heard seem less than pleased with the protagonist's history of killing. While the trailer mostly focuses on what the sigils the player wields will look like, by the end, there is some showcasing of battle. Enemies wielding great axes rush through the player's field of view as a massive red beam shoots down from the sky hitting a part of the vast stone cityscape below.
The world of Aveum seems to draw on classic Medieval and Gothic architecture with the city in view being mostly composed of single-story structures built of stone brick. There are two adorned white statues that tower over everything else in view which may serve as protectors or religious symbols within the city. The world conforms mostly to a traditional high fantasy setting though the scale of the battle's explosions and magical weaponry can seem almost sci-fi at times.
While the game has only just been announced, the prospect of an original IP from a studio attempting to bring AAA production values without compromising creative control and worker health is deeply exciting. The power of Unreal Engine 5 is sure to be on full display within the game and when gameplay is finally showcased closer to release, it will be interesting to see just how similar Immortals of Aveum and Avowed truly are given they will likely release within a year of each other.
Immortals of Aveum is currently in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
