Immortals of Aveum
Developer(s)Ascendant Studios
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Director(s)Bret Robbins
Designer(s)
  • Jason Warnke
  • Shawn Lucas
Programmer(s)Paul Haban
Artist(s)Dave Bogan
Writer(s)
  • Michael Kirkbride
  • Bret Robbins
Composer(s)
  • Jamie K
  • Tom Hawk
EngineUnreal Engine 5
Platform(s)
ReleaseAugust 22, 2023[1]
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

Immortals of Aveum is a 2023 first-person shooter game developed by Ascendant Studios and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on August 22, 2023.[2] It received generally mixed reviews from critics and sold poorly, which led to Ascendant Studios laying off almost half their staff.[3][4]

Gameplay

Immortals of Aveum is played from a first-person perspective. The game features around 25 spells, ranging from offensive and defensive magic divided between red, blue, and green types. Additionally, the game features a talent tree with over 80 nodes.[5][6] At normal difficulty, the game can be completed in 12–16 hours, while full completion at the highest difficulty requires roughly 25 hours of playtime.[7]

Plot

Following a successful pickpocketing, thieves Jak and Luna return to their hideout in the city of Seren, only to find their friend Caleb has been severely injured. During Jak and Luna's attempt to steal medicine, Sandrakk launches an attack on Lucium, the last of the Five Kingdoms of Aveum to resist invasion by the kingdom of Rasharn. Following Luna's death in battle, the Grand Magnus of the Immortals, Kirkan, recruits Jak to defend Lucium in the ongoing Everwar because of his abilities as a Unforeseen Triarch Magnus capable of wielding all three colors of magic: red, blue, and green.

As Kirkan mentors Jak to draw magic from the Shrouded Realm, she explains that Sandrakk has already forced the armies of Oremen, K'ley, and Kalthus into the "Wound," a pit at the center of Aveum. Following five years of fighting on the front lines, Jak is selected to join the Immortals of Aveum under Devyn and Zendara, but he is disillusioned by Kirkan revealing that magic drawn from Aveum's ley lines expands the Wound.

Sandrakk succeeds at using a binding stone to control the five Fonts, which the Pentacade created to anchor the Shrouded Realm's magic. To avoid Sandrakk's power enlarging the Wound, the Immortals seek Kirkan's exiled predecessor, Grand Magnus Thaddeus, for a potential weakness of the binding stone. Traveling to the sky islands of Oremen, Devyn and Jak meet Kenzie, who leads them to Thaddeus' journals that reveal his current location in Kalthus' Mount Dresnyr. Jak befriends Rook, leader of the Aelori, who brings him to Thaddeus' hideout. However, before Thaddeus can fully explain the binding stone, he is attacked by The Hand, Sandrakk's lieutenant, who is revealed to be Luna.

Kenzie guides the Immortals to the Shrineforge, where Aveum's Aristeyan precursors produced the binding stones. Despite being tasked with destroying the binding stone, Jak asks for Sandrakk's ability to control the Aristeyan artifact. When the Immortals' surveillance finds Jak telepathically communicating with Luna, Devyn threatens to expel him. However, Sandrakk teleports from Kalthus' Font into the Immortals' Palathon Vault, where the binding stone is being stored. In the ensuing fight, Devyn is killed and Jak is knocked unconscious. He awakens one month later in Seren with Luna explaining that Sandrakk has blocked access to the ley lines. Once Jak realizes his connection to the binding stone allows him to still access magic, he restores the Immortals' abilities. After defeating Sandrakk's new lieutenant, Morbane, Jak and Luna find the Wound expanding from the magic used to restrict Aveum's abilities.

Upon boarding the enemy ship, Jak finds Sandrakk and Kirkan collaborating on a plan to travel to the Shrouded Realm and kill the Pentacade. When the Pentacade retaliates, Sandrakk uses the binding stone to teleport to Kalthus and pull the Pentacade into Aveum to weaken its powers, while Jak is teleported to Mount Dresnyr. Jak learns that when the Aelori were slaughtered by humans, it upset the balance of magic. After Jak convinces Zendara that the Aelori can repair the Wound, she stakes her right to lead the Immortals as Queen of Kalthus, as Kirkan surrendered Lucium to Rasharn.

After Luna and Jak defeat Sandrakk, Jak recalls Sandrakk mentioning that Immortals can sacrifice themselves to produce healing magic similar to the Aelori and chooses to detonate himself near the Pentacade. The ending reveals that Zendara has negotiated peace with the Aelori and that the Pentacade revived Jak for defeating Sandrakk. Jak wonders why he still bears the mark if the binding stone was destroyed. Luna goes off to the Shrouded Realms and finds the binding stone still intact, and hears Devyn behind her asking for help because he's lost.[8]

Development/Release

Ascendant Studios was founded in 2018 by a group of veteran Dead Space and Call of Duty game developers. Immortals of Aveum was the studio's first major game release.[9]

Immortals of Aveum was first announced at The Game Awards 2022 by Ascendant Studios under Electronic Arts' EA Originals publishing program.[10] The development team expressed a focus on balancing the game's fun and challenge, developing a strong story, and creating memorable characters.[11][12] The game uses the Unreal Engine 5 engine and was directed by former Dead Space creative director Bret Robbins.

Delayed from an initial release date of July 20, 2023, Immortals of Aveum released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on August 22, 2023.[2]

Reception

Immortals of Aveum received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, while the Xbox Series X/S version received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[13] Reviewers praised the game's graphics, gameplay and worldbuilding, but criticized the story, characters and writing.

Sales

Immortals of Aveum peaked at a concurrent Steam player count of 751, which was attributed to its technical issues and poor optimization for older hardware rendering the game unplayable for many users.[14]

In mid-September 2023, Ascendant Studios' CEO Bret Robbins announced layoffs of roughly 40 developers, which represented 45% of the studio's staff at the time, due to the game's poor sales on release and in several weeks after. As it was delayed to late August release instead of its scheduled July release, Immortals of Aveum competed with more anticipated and marketed Armored Core VI and Starfield which both performed much better financially.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "A message from Bret and out team". June 20, 2023.
  2. 1 2 Good, Owen S. (June 20, 2023). "Immortals of Aveum, the 'Call of Duty With Magic' Shooter, is Delayed a Month". Polygon. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  3. ↑ Chalk, Andy (September 14, 2023). "Immortals of Aveum Studio Lays Off Nearly Half Its Staff Less Than a Month After Releasing the Game". PC Gamer. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Immortals of Aveum studio layoffs were down to poor sales in a crowded market, CEO says". VGC. November 20, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Immortals of Aveum: Everything We Know - Gaming.net". www.gaming.net. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  6. ↑ Hilliard, Kyle. "Immortals of Aveum Preview - An Impressive Magic Shooter With Call Of Duty Credentials". Game Informer. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  7. ↑ Sawyer, Will (August 22, 2023). "How Long is Immortals of Aveum?". GamesRader+. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  8. ↑ Jurkovich, Tristan (August 27, 2023). "The 8 Best Characters In Immortals of Aveum, Ranked". Screen Rant. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  9. ↑ Shanley, Patrick (February 28, 2019). "Former 'Call of Duty,' 'Dead Space' Creative Director Forms New Independent Studio". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  10. ↑ Lewis, Claire (December 8, 2022). "Immortals Of Aveum Announced At The 2022 Game Awards". GameSpot. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  11. ↑ Dead Space's Creative Director On Creating Immortals Of Aveum - MinnMax Interview, retrieved April 11, 2023
  12. ↑ "Immortals of Aveum Announced at The Game Awards 2022". dbltap.com. December 10, 2022. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Immortals of Aveum". www.metacritic.com. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  14. ↑ Obedkov, Evgeny (August 23, 2023). "Immortals of Aveum peaks at only 751 concurrent players on Steam, joining cohort of poorly optimized AAA releases". Game World Observer. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  15. ↑ Zwiezen, Zach (September 14, 2023). "Studio Behind EA's Magical FPS Game Lays Off Half Its Staff After Low Sales". Kotaku. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
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