Immortals of Aveum: We played 2023's best surprise

The Game Awards had quite a few exciting announcements from well-known franchises and developers back in December, so I wouldn't blame you if Immortals of Aveum's short cinematic teaser was forgotten a few minutes after it was unveiled. That's a problem, as the former Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Dead Space and The Walking Dead (and so many other amazing games) developers at Ascendant Studios are making a unique single-player first-person shooter I can confidently say will end up being one of 2023's best games.

I say this after spending a day at Ascendant Studios to talk with the talented team, learn about its philosophies and most importantly play an hour of Immortals of Aveum. Quite a feat considering few first-person shooters manage to truly impress me these days. Most of them just feel and do the same. Not here.

The first thing that caught me by surprise was the great visuals. Being an EA Originals game, I kind of expected a decent-looking fantasy title with characters we've seen many times before because of the indie-label and smaller budget. What I got was a beautiful world filled with enticing details that drew me into the universe and made me want to explore and learn more about it. And this isn't just in terms of pixel count, already near-flawless 60 fps and such, but its design. This isn't one of those exuberant, overly designed places that just ends up feeling "gamey" and artificial. Giant statues, old ruins, temples reclaimed by nature and other mysterious structures all tell a story and make sense while still being suited for combat and exploration.

Because this isn't a walking-simulator. It's definitely not just a reskinned Call of Duty either. Sure, Immortals of Aveum's three magic-types (each with their own skill/upgrade-tree) can easily be compared to the classics, as blue is the long-shot rifle that does more damage if you hit weak points, green is the automatic rifle with homing shots and red takes the role of a shotgun with its massive damage and short range. My fears were thrown straight out the window as soon as I got the controller. Even the starting variants feel amazing and distinguished, and seamlessly swapping between them creates an astounding flow that gets even better by the visual and audible spectacle these encounters lead to. That's without mentioning the Ultimate or Super-like magical abilities called Furies that can obliterate enemies around you, create a black hole that sucks them in, and other cool effects that come in handy in different scenarios and suited for different playstyles. Not enough? You also have a satisfying dash, a magical shield that you can shoot through, a lash to pull enemies to you and orbs that slow them down. Basically, this world is your playground, and everything you do feels sooooooo good.

That's to some extent true outside of combat as well, as some of the abilities come in handy when exploring and solving puzzles. The lash can be used as a grapple-hook by pulling you towards specific objects, things can be slowed down and magic can be cast at crystals with similar colour to open doors to side-areas with optional bosses, new abilities, special gear and/or gold to buy better stuff, plus lore, collectibles and more. All of the ones I found in the first areas were extremely simple to spot and solve, but the promise of more challenging ones later on gives me hope for some more challenging and satisfying puzzles.

I have some concerns though. While the story and world seems fantastic so far, I still can't stand watching a cutscene for several minutes before getting ten seconds of gameplay and then get another cutscene. It just ruins the flow even if it's a small pet peeve. An aspect that will annoy more out there is that the rewards for exploring seem very lackluster. Too many chests in the world just give you gold and resources that can be used to buy or upgrade gear. Somewhat disappointing when the Sigils (simply put the game's different weapons), rings and such I found usually changed things up significantly. It's a bit more understandable in a game like Destiny where missions can be replayed over and over again, but Immortals of Aveum is a single-player, more linear metroidvania game without a random loot pool. On the other hand, each item and spell I found both looked and felt unique, so there's that.

Nitpicks when everything is said and done. The developers had to take the controller away from me after the hour, as the mix of Call of Duty, Destiny and Final Fantasy in an intriguing new universe that I understand Ascendant has hopes of making into a multi-media franchise, got its claws into me. I'm going to sound like a cliché, but the controls are so smooth and intuitive, the variety of enemies already seems great, combat is really fun and engaging and the world is interesting to explore even if its a tad restrictive and simple in these early parts. Needless to say, I can't wait to jump back into Immortals of Aveum and its around 25 hour campaign (many more if you want to find all the side-areas and kill optional bosses) on July 20.