Fitting Magic Into A Military Action Game Means Making A Good Shooter First

Immortals of Aveum: An Impressive First-Person Shooter Focused on Battlemage Combat

Immortals of Aveum, developed by Ascendant Studios, is one of the most impressive first-person shooters with its visually stunning magical combat. The game is set in a colorful fantasy world with clear military action game inspirations. In this game, you play as Jak, a battlemage with the rare ability to use all three forms of magic, who is fighting in a war for control over his planet. While there are some interesting narrative twists, the fast-paced shooting is a major draw.

The Inspiration behind Immortals of Aveum

Bret Robbins, the founder and game director of Ascendant Studios, spoke about how the initial pitch of the game came together. Robbins explained that he had been working on Call of Duty and was well-versed in what makes a great shooter. When they started prototyping with Immortals, they experimented with different ideas, but the game needed to be a great shooter first and foremost. For six months, the team focused on creating a great combat prototype as the foundation for the game, ensuring that it “feels great,” “it’s cool,” “it’s fast,” and “you feel powerful.”

A Magic-Based Action Game Unlike Any Other

Making a first-person shooter where you fling magical spells isn’t completely unheard of, as we saw with Ghostwire: Tokyo. However, it’s not a common setup, which is a huge part of what attracted Robbins to make Immortals of Aveum.

“I wanted to play a game like this,” Robbins said. “I had just a lot of thoughts around what it would feel like if this was actually a fantasy world instead of a military world. That was an early inspiration– we’re not making ‘Call of Duty: Fantasy,’ we’re making something else.”

A Character-Driven Story with a Full Range of Drama

Immortals of Aveum is a character-driven story that Robbins believes will sell the experience to players. “Jak certainly undergoes quite a bit,” Robbins said. “Starting from an orphan living in the slum to suddenly having all this enormous magical power and getting enlisted into the army and becoming a soldier. And his journey, at times he is a little arrogant and cocky and there’s always pride before the fall, so a lot happens to him along the way.”

Robbins added that he is extremely proud of the writing and that the story is fantastic. He compared the writing to that of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where you’re in a fantastic otherworldly place but with very relatable characters. The game boasts a full dramatic range with both humor and serious parts, and Robbins believes that people will enjoy the story and fall in love with some of the characters.

Release Date

Immortals of Aveum is scheduled to launch for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC on July 20.

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