There are a lot of first-person shooters on the market, but not many of them focus on a single-player adventure. Immortals of Aveum does just that and changes things up from the norm by using Unreal Engine 5.1 to power the experience. Ascendant Studios was created under the EA Originals banner and has aimed to make a story-driven FPS with a magic-centric attack system in a fantasy-style setting, but in a modern-ish world. The world of Aveum is a bit different as even at the start you have a pair of mischief-makers in Jak and Luna interrupting a play to steal some money and attempt to make the most of their lives instead of being a so-called “bridgerat.”
It’s a story-heavy game for a shooter and one that envelopes you into the lore and into the world right from the beginning. That pays dividends even within the first hour because you meet a group of people who are essentially Jak’s family and are instantly given reasons to care about them as they sit down for a nice dinner and just chat and everyone just has natural, organic chemistry with Luna and Jak topping them. Their chemistry reminds me a lot of Lupin the Third and Fujiko Mine where she’s responsible for getting him both into and out of a lot of trouble and jumping right into this lived-in world works nicely.
The game has a progression tree and offers up 80 talents to master and over 25 spells to use to attack, defend and counter-attack with over the course of the adventure. Having so much versatility in combat means you can play the game in so many different ways and during intense combat, the usage of Unreal Engine 5 shines because you have particle effects flying all over the place alongside a slew of enemies and yet there’s never a hint of slowdown. The battle system is fast, but also robust and easy to learn with quick movement speed making it easier to avoid enemies.
Immortals of Aveum is available now on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S and X, and PC via EA App, Steam and Epic Games Store. Console players will spend $69.99 while PC users can get the base experience for $59.99 and those who opt for upgraded versions will enjoy extra starting content to offer buffs early on. EA Play Pro members can enjoy the full game’s Deluxe edition on the EA App as well – making that a great value overall if you’re curious about the game.
