Prominent names in the video game industry who founded small development teams without leaving aside their own ambitions: the path of Bret Robbins, creative director of the original Dead Space as well as some episodes of Call of Duty, could be summarized this way. years has played with the idea of giving life to an intellectual property like Immortals of Aveum.
The goal was to combine the visceral mechanics of the most famous first-person shooters and a new and fascinating fantasy setting, accompanied by a narrative segment of some depth, to catapult us into a world dominated by magic but torn by a conflict that has been occurring. for centuries and risks dooming the planet.
So what is Ascendente Studios' debut title like? We tell you in Aveum Immortals Review.
History: It's almost magical, Jak.
On a narrative level, Immortals of Aveum immediately poses the imperative of telling a story. history perhaps not very original in its implications but captivating and exciting from the beginning, in which topics such as social disparity, poverty and marginalization are addressed, finding above all the space to create from scratch a narrative universe that places magic in the center of everything. .
In the first minutes of the campaign we meet Jak and Luna, as well as their young friends: a group of foundlings who live together in the slums of Lucium, surviving thanks to their wits and petty thefts, at least until something goes wrong: the two "older brothers" are forced to run out of the palace in search of help, but upon their return They are helpless witnesses to the destruction of the entire neighborhood by a ship from the enemy kingdom of Rasharn.
Overtaken by the soldiers of the enemy army, Jak is saved at the last moment by Luna, who however falls into the void. Is when The enormous power of the triarch awakens in him.: Extremely rare mages capable of controlling all three colors of Aveum magic. Once his enemies are defeated, Jak can only bitterly accept what Luna's dream was, that is, to become a fighting magician at the service of her people.
At the end of a five-year training led by the army commander herself, Kirkan, the boy learns to master his Seal (a special glove capable of conducting mystical energy) and control the different spells, to finally be able to take part in the Sempiwar and thus put an end to it, defeating the powerful Sandrakk once and for all and thus avenging his friends.
As mentioned initially, the plot of Immortals of Aveum is not very original in its implications and there are twists that turn out to be quite false, but in terms of character characterization and script there is no doubt that the developers have done a great job. work, which also includes several lighter and funnier moments, well enhanced by a excellent dubbing in spanish.
Robbins' direction is also confirmed as capable of staging truly spectacular and surprising sequences, such as those we witness in the final part of a campaign whose duration It varies greatly depending on your abilities: we get to the end in about fifteen hours of rushing, given the absolutely non-trivial degree of challenge that is unleashed from a certain point onwards and results in a distinctly heavy-handed approach to Arena-style sequence design. .
Structure: a new world
Immortals of Aveum does not adopt an open world structure, thus separating the different scenarios, of variable dimensions, even a short load. One senses the intention to confer legitimacy on this strange and fascinating world, dominated by magic but condemned to destruction for the same reason, given that over the centuries an enormous hole has opened on the surface of the planet that threatens to swallow it all
Unfortunately, however, the authors did not pay the necessary attention to presenting the setting in this way: in the game there is an evocative center, which is basically the royal palace, quite large and full of rooms and characters to interact with, but without precise instructions you may miss even the few activities which you can access while you visit. Likewise, the difficulty at a certain point is to do a little grinding, but without a well-structured system that supports this need.
Moving first on foot and then through portals, you will be able to explore the places that form the backdrop of the field and which you will always find besieged by hordes of increasingly numerous and dangerous enemies. However, in addition to fighting, you can engage in exploration which is always full of rewards, including chests, environmental puzzles, platforming sections and additional challenges It certainly has compelling numbers.
By collecting resources and items, you will be able to manage Jak's inventory and Magus talents, putting the most powerful devices to use and upgrading them further, perhaps after dismantling the useless ones. With respect to the skill tree, development clearly unfolds in three directions, as there are three colors of Aveum magic, and the possibilities for growth soon reveal themselves to be exciting.
Gameplay: It didn't seem like it, but instead...
If in the first hours the Immortals of Aveum experience seems a little timid and one suspects that the game does not have the qualities of a comprehensive shooter, or does not know how to take full advantage of the three spells mechanism (also like those visual solutions in the that enormous mechanisms are activated and it seems that the authors wanted to quote the movie Doctor Strange), After a while the situation changes dramatically.
The Seal that Jak is equipped with allows him to emit shots of blue light (a kind of precision shot), red (devastating up close, the classic shot) or green (the burst, in some cases complete with the search for the target) . AND we can change from one spell to another by pressing the Triangle button, as is done for the more traditional weapon switch. It's a shame that in the most exciting sequences there is a lack of a button that does not require you to raise your hand from the right joystick.
Frenzy, we said: from the middle of the Aveum Immortals campaign turns into a frenzy of bullets, waves of increasingly insistent enemies, fucking tough mini-bosses and, in general, situations in which you find yourself running from one side of the stage to the other, in an unusual run & gun, because there comes a time when the opponents will really be able to eliminate us with just a few attacks.
Therefore, it becomes essential to restore vital energy through a magical crystal to obtain around, the recharge of Mana for the execution of spectacular special maneuvers, the Furies (spikes that emerge from the ground, endless guided shots, a wave of fire, a devastating punch...) and also the use of some accessories, such as the whip that allows you to attract enemies, but without Bullet Time Bulletstorm.
In the final stages of the game, this approach takes on perhaps even exaggerated connotations, with Arenas from which it is objectively difficult to escape alive., creatures equipped with barriers that require specific shots to be destroyed and, meanwhile, many other minions that will attack you from near and far, and from which you will try in vain to defend yourself by activating the shield (which however limits your movements). and open chests as you go in the hopes of regaining some health.
Regarding the variety of enemiesAs you may have already understood, the Ascendente Studios title defends itself very well and presents many different types of fighters, who must be approached differently, each one with a specific magic. And the same goes for the bosses, who are usually huge and deadly, equipped with patterns that must be memorized to avoid being killed in a matter of moments.
Technical realization: exposed technologies
We talk about ambition for Immortals of Aveum, and it is no coincidence: despite having been born in Unreal Engine 4, the project was transported by Bret Robbins' team to Unreal Engine 5.1 and from this point of view it plays a truly important role, being he first title equipped with these technologies will debut on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S with support for Lumen and Nanite features.
That's not all: developers have implemented FSR 2.0 on Sony and Microsoft consoles to be able to perform native renders at a resolution substantially lower than 4K output, effectively manage these sophisticated effects and at the same time aim to achieve 60 fps. Too good to be true? Exactly.
If from a purely artistic point of view, Ascendente Studios' game manages to give its opinion, projecting us into a quite convincing and peculiar world (which however in its landscapes often reminds us of Killzone: Shadow Fall), endowed with some truly flashes evocative and with protagonists who almost reach photorealism in the intermediate scenes, in terms of performance not everything went well.
The first patch fixed several bugs, it is true, but Immortals of Aveum's frame rate is still quite variable, while managing to manage reasonably well the spectacular and chaotic battles that the campaign is full of. The biggest problem, however, remains the reconstruction technique used, which is very aggressive and tends to show marked irregular lines on the characters.
So yes, Immortals of Aveum manages to put itself into practice as a showcase of cutting-edge technologies, with Nanite, which in theory should intervene precisely in the rendering to scale it depending on the context and thus modulate the load on the GPU, and Lumen for effective and realistic light management. Solutions that undoubtedly work on a visual level, but with a considerable weight that we end up perceiving.
Finally, a few words for the audio sector, which in addition to the aforementioned excellent Spanish dubbing includes a good set of sound effects and a colonna sonora which, however, seems a little resting on the laurels of more or less stereotyped situations, which are accompanied in a functional way but without high notes or songs that you will later remember.
Conclusions
Tested version PlayStation 5 digital delivery Steam, playstation store, Xbox Store Price 79,99 € Holygamerz.com 8.0 Readers (36) 7.8 your voteImmortals of Aveum is a surprising shooter, certainly different from the usual, characterized by a very peculiar and evocative setting, well supported by a perhaps unoriginal narrative section but capable of engaging and moving with its well-drawn characters. A little uncertain at first, the gameplay quickly takes hold, catapulting us into ruthless and frenetic arenas; that from a certain point perhaps become too difficult, suggesting going back and strengthening the character by exploiting the possibilities of a structure that, however, from this point of view is not explored in the slightest. Visually we were looking for entertainment and the latest technologies, but the consoles struggle: we will soon know if it is a matter of mere optimization or limited hardware capabilities.
PRO
- A thoroughbred, tough and surprising shooter
- Great story, great Spanish dubbing.
- Graphically it is a technology spectacle.
AGAINST
- Unstable frame rate, aggressive zooming
- Some Guiltily Overlooked Aspects of the Experience
- At some point it may be too difficult
