Immortals of Aveum might look and sound like a frenetic action-shooter, but its "hub and spoke" exploration system offers a blend of open world and linearity.
The game, set to launch on July 20 for Xbox Series X, PS5, and PC platforms, is "not necessarily an open world," explained Ascendant Studios' senior art director Dave Bogan in our hands-off Immortals of Aveum preview. "Although as artists we try to make it to make it feel like there's a lot of freedom and that there's a lot to explore, the game style can be kind of defined as something called hub and spoke."
This approach combines linear and exploration-based gameplay by encouraging world exploration of specific regions, but also providing offshoots of linear questlines stemming from each one. This is one of many ways that CEO Bret Robbins sets Immortals apart from classic FPS titles, and he's adamant that it's "not fantasy Call of Duty".
"There are areas in the game where you're free to wander around quite a large area, and there are NPC characters that you can talk to, and that further deepens the story and the lore of the world. Those areas we call the hub areas, and then there's these linear spokes," Bogan went on, likening it to the format of Santa Monica Studios' action-adventure God of War. "So in God of War, you leave the lake, and then you go on a path, and then you're on kind of a linear gameplay path until you reach the end, and then you're back in the hub," he said. "You get a little bit of both [gameplay styles], which is a nice thing, too."
Fast travelling between hubs, or Portalling, is an integral mechanic in Immortals of Aveum. According to associate art director, Julia Lichtblau, "You have the ability to Portal back to some of these hub spaces after you've completed a story mission." This allows you to "find secrets, unlock puzzles, and collect loot" that you might have missed earlier.
You'll even be able to revisit certain NPCs, and although they won't be sending you on side quests as in some of the best RPGs, "Their dialogue will change based on where you are in the story," Lichtblau said, something that "adds an extra level of depth and realism, I think, to our world."
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