The first-person shooter market has been a crowded one for over two decades now. Popularized by the likes of Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, the FPS genre became the hot new thing in the gaming landscape back in the 1990s, and thanks to games like Half-Life and Medal of Honor, the genre only continued to grow stronger, evolving with each new release. And then in the 2000s, after Halo 2 popularized online console multiplayer and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare popularized the casual military shooter, the industry saw an influx of first-person shooters, and it's stayed that way ever since. But Immortals of Aveum somehow manages to stand out in a sea of other FPS games.
Announced back in December but fully revealed just a few days ago, Immortals of Aveum is an upcoming FPS that drops players into the midst of a brutal fantasy civil war, where they control a chosen one-like character tasked with saving the world from a mysterious magical threat. Though its plot may seem a little generic, Immortals of Aveum's presentation and its focus on magic weaponry immediately sets it apart from other first-person shooters releasing this year.
Immortals of Aveum's Most Unique Quality Is Its Magic-Based Attacks
In the recent Immortals of Aveum reveal trailer, fans get their first proper look at how the game's magic-based attacks are going to work, and it's quite an extensive look at that. It seems as though Immortals of Aveum's magic attacks will function fairly similarly to just about any other weapon in a modern FPS game. In the trailer, the player character is shown to fire a range of damaging spells out of their right hand, with each one requiring a little "reload" animation before it can be used again.
This comparison is even more apt when talking about the specific spells in Immortals of Aveum's trailer. Fans can spot a number of different spells being used throughout Immortals of Aveum's trailer, with each one seemingly having its own unique traits and visual flair. For the most part, it seems as though many of the spells are essentially Immortals of Aveum's magic versions of real-world weaponry. For instance, the first sequence of gameplay in the trailer shows a blue spell that the player fires out of their hand repeatedly, functioning similarly to a machine gun. Just a moment later, the player's hand glows orange, and they launch a series of AoE attacks, functioning much like a grenade launcher.
But while many of Immortals of Aveum's spells seemingly have real-world comparisons, it's their presentation that immediately sets them apart from a military shooter's arsenal. Borrowing some visual cues from Doctor Strange, Immortals of Aveum's magic-based attacks look visually impressive, with plenty of vibrant colors being used, and unique visual flourishes like circular runes appearing after each shot. This goes hand-in-hand with the game's audio design which, while a little drowned out by the trailer's score, sounds suitably punchy and satisfying. Once players actually get to experience Immortals of Aveum, it's highly likely that the game's audio and visual design will be more than enough to feel like they're actually wielding powerful magical spells.
Not all of Immortals of Aveum's spells are just fantastical versions of Call of Duty firearms, however. During the trailer, eagle-eyed fans can spot a handful of more unique spells. There seems to be some kind of magical shield in the game, potentially capable of parrying enemy attacks. There's also a spell that sends shockwaves through the ground, eventually triggering a selection of spikes to emerge from the earth. Immortals of Aveum even has a Bulletstorm-like whip that's used to pull an enemy off a ledge. Hopefully, Immortals of Aveum gives players more of these unique spells as opposed to those that just feel like magical guns.
Immortals of Aveum launches July 20 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.