Confusing genre shorthand aside, the spirit of the 2008 singleplayer shooter is alive in this wizard FPS.
Immortals of Aveum feels old-fashioned, but not in the way «boomer shooters» feel old-fashioned. Those games revere the speed and simplicity of ’90s shooters, whose plots are usually some variation of «moon’s haunted,» whereas Immortals brings a distinct Xbox 360 vibe. Clusters of baddies spill out of dropships like Halo 3 grunts, and the path through each linear level is dotted with cutscenes featuring scheming villains and earnest heroes who just want to make a difference, dammit. We appear to be reenacting the transition from corridors and keycards to the Hollywood storytelling ambitions of the 2000s.
I’m not opposed to it: Although today’s fascination with old-school arena shooters suggests a kind of contemporary FPS fan who rejects all post-Quake values, I think most of us are also suckers for the immersive simmy abilities of 2000s shooters like BioShock and The Darkness. Immortals is a fantasy game with spells rather than guns, which gives it a good excuse to stuff your keyboard with magic powers. By the end of the few hours I spent previewing it at EA’s offices recently, I could:
Double jump
Hover
Yoink enemies off cliffs with a grapple spell
Cast stun and slow spells
Raise a shield to mitigate incoming damage
Dodge (a disappointingly short distance)
Equip three types of primary attack spell
Bust out big specials with the number keys, such as an energy wave that terminates with spikes of earth, good for breaking shields
Bust out an even bigger ultimate spell
An S-tier maneuver in any game is the thing where you snag a distant enemy with some variety of harpoon gun, yank them to your face Sub Zero-style, and then blast them with whatever shotgun equivalent you’re working with, and I did that over and over with the grapple spell. The shotgun in this case is a surge of red magic from my palm, which has a satisfying Iron Man repulsor feel. I also enjoyed hip sniping with the long range attack spells, which manifest as blue beams reminiscent of those fired by Quake 2’s railgun. (No shooter gets to totally escape ’90s comparisons.)
My favorite attack of the demo was that ultimate spell: a two-handed purple murder beam that feels just like using my favorite Diablo 3 spell, Disintegrate, in first-person. I was delighted to find that bosses don’t have any special immunity to this fire hose of damage, and used it to erase more than half of one mini-boss’ health in the first few seconds of our fight.
