We’ve seen a lot of new studios popping up across the industry over the past few years. Ascendant Studios, founded in 2018, is an independent studio out of California filled with veterans from former studios including the likes of Electronic Arts and Telltale Games. Since 2018 they’ve grown to over 100 full-time developers while working on their new, original IP, Immortals of Aveum.
Immortals of Aveum is described as a “groundbreaking new single-player, first-person magic shooter.” It is being published by Electronic Arts as an EA Original and will release for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series consoles on July 20th.
The World of Aveum
Immortals is set in Aveum, a world shaped by millennia of conflict and bloodshed over the control of magic, known as the Everwar. Aveum’s five kingdoms have been reduced to only two superpowers: Lucium and Rasharn. Between them lies the Wound, an infinitely deep chasm in the center of the world, its cracks dividing the kingdoms.
You take the role of Jak (played by Darren Barnett), a character described as an “Unforeseen” which means they didn’t discover magic until later in life. Jak is a Triarch Magnus, an extremely rare spellcaster capable of wielding all three colors of magic.
Jak and the Order of the Immortals are from Lucium and battling the oppressive Rasharnian regime. Rasharn is led by the tyrant Sandrakk and currently have Lucium and the Order of the Immortals on the brink of oblivion.
Magic Abounds
There are three different types of magic in the world of Aveum: Red, Green, and Blue.
- Red Magic embodies entropy and violence. Its spells can create, rend, and harness energy in extreme ways, manipulating it to unleash a destructive beam or disrupting it to disorient enemies.
- Blue Magic embodies force and the physical manipulation of matter. Fire precise bolts, spontaneously form shields and defensive walls, or manipulate gravity. Blue magic also powers a Magnus’ ability to grapple, push, or pull objects.
- Green Magic embodies growth, death, and transition. Spells manipulate enemies and objects by altering them or their surroundings. Bind objects in place, misdirect with illusions, or rend an enemy’s ability to cast or heal.
Your basic magic isn’t all you have at your disposal, either. A skilled Magnus has the ability to conjure warding shields, hover across the battlefield, and manipulate the very environment around them, all while maintaining their offensive capabilities and combining these techniques to devastating effect. And when the threat before you becomes nearly insurmountable, you can channel your magic into an ultimate spell to raze your enemies to the ground.
Bret Robbins, Game Director and CEO of Ascendant Studios, issued the following statement regarding Immortals of Aveum:
I’m incredibly excited to finally show the world Immortals of Aveum. It’s been a five year journey for us at Ascendant, and I’m so proud of the team and their commitment to making something great. We set out to create a cinematic, thrilling shooter set in a new fantasy world, with fast and fluid combat and an epic story. I can’t wait for everyone to play it.
Immortals of Aveum is single-player and will not support cross-progression. For more details on to commonly asked questions you can find the FAQ here.
Stay tuned to Seasoned Gaming for more on Immortals in the near future!
[…] We formally did a preview which you can read here. […]