Immortal Unchained, the sci-fi-Souls shooter action RPG by Toadman Interactive, kicked off itsClosed Alphatoday that will run through March 12th. And, as Toadman was gracious enough to gift us a press release code, we’ve been playing it all week and wanted to share our thoughts with you. If you and your friends haven’t heard of the game yet, odds are that you will after today because it’s shaping up to be one of the best RPGs of the year! It will be released on PS4, Xbox One and PC later in 2018. Let’s lock n' load and hop right into it!
Immortal Unchained Closed Alpha Impressions
The first thing I’d like to say aboutImmortal Unchainedis that even though it is very much Souls inspired, and there many mechanics that are the same, the combat at its core is, interestingly enough, different. In Immortal Unchained you are firing your gun 90% of the time and meleeing about 10%. This is a huge departure from Souls and one that really helps define what Immortal Unchained is because once you get the hang of the controls, you find that you fight very distinctively and the combat leans more to the “shooter” side of things, which just a hint of Souls sprinkled in.
Like Souls, the way that you fight is very much dictated by theWeaponyou are using, however in Immortal Unchained you have a wider range of variance. For example using aSubmachine Gunmeans you have extremely poor range, and must be in close proximity where you can unload with a furious barrage of bullets that are unlikely to miss. Conversely, using aSniper Riflemeans you want to stay as far away from the enemy as you can while remaining in range of the target, firing slow methodical shots. Enemies have various attacks and positioning, making the choice of weapon very important when facing certain ones, and you will need to switch weapons regularly or face some situations at a disadvantage.
An intriguting element to the combat is that you can target various parts of the body, much like you could in The Surge, allowing you to disable the enemy you are fighting. You can shoot off their weapons so they cannot fire it at you, or you can blow out their kneecap, forcing them to the ground momentarily while you are free to rain death upon them. You don’t use this system all that often, but it does have its moments where it really shines.
Weapons have a ton of stats that dictate how well they perform in battle. For example Critical Hit bonus, Armor Penetration, Range, Recoil, Reload Time as well as a uniquePower Attack. Power Attacks consumeEnergy, much the waySkillsconsumedFocus Pointsin Dark Souls 3, and they all do something different. For example, thePrison Guard PistolhasFlash Freeze, which chills enemies in place and deals some damage. While theMarksman Riflefires aPrecision Shot, dealing increased damage to the target. They vary widely from weapon to weapon and add an extra element of strategy to the game.
For those of you worried that you cannot balance aSouls-Likegame for ranged combat, here are a few things that help to equalize the playing field, making it so you cannot just blast your way through everything:
General Gameplay
The general mechanics of the game and the way things work outside of combat are very very Souls-Like. You haveObelisksthat not only act as checkpoints, but allow you to level your character, change your loadout andupgradeyour weapons, much the way you could in Dark Souls (minus the upgrades). Players can spendBitsthey have acquired to improve theirStats, increasing their character level for each point they spend. There are 8 different Attributes, including one calledInsight.
Immortal Unchained features a mostly linear map with secrets strewn about the place in the forms of loot andForlorn Idolsthat reveal lore and story of the game. There are a decent amount of shortcuts, many of which require keys that you must find as you explore, that allow you to progress or backtrack easily. A few of the chests in the Alpha required keys as well, a good number I should say as well, making it likely that you will return to places you have visited before, much the way you would in a Darksiders type game.
There areNPCsin the game and they speak to you much the way NPCs in Souls games do, without a big production and in cryptic and vague manner that makes you wonder what the fuck is going on. No word yet on whether they will have quests or not, but I’ll see if I can get this question answered soon.
Like Souls, enemies respawn when you die, drop loot from their own loot pools (including weapons), and have their own AI. If you are killed you will drop your Bits and you will need to return to retrieve it before you are killed again or you will lose it. Players have a certain number of heals and buffs they can use per rest at the Obelisk, which means that you have to make it to the Boss with a few or you’ll have a rough go of it.
General Observations
The character you play (who vaguely resembles Bayek from Assassins Creed Origins) is the only one I have seen anywhere in promotion about the game or on the website, and I think it’s probably fairly safe to speculate that you won’t be able to change the visual appearance of the character himself. Toadman not being a huge studio, and the focus heavily on gameplay also leads me to think this. There was no character creation nor class selection during the Alpha, so just exactly what customization there is, even if you cannot change your visual appearance is still unclear, however. They have mentioned in theirFAQthough that it is extensive.
Combatand gameplay feel very good for an Alpha Build. There are a few minor glitches that need to be worked out, primarily with Boss AI and attacks, but for the most part Immortal Unchained plays really really nicely. The more you play the more you feel yourself being pulled in, because the mechanics are familiar but the world, story and gameplay are fresh and unique. It sort of has that Bloodborne thing going for it, and that’s something I think players will really really enjoy.
If the game doesn’t have a respec option it looks to have a solid amount of replayability, as players will most likely be locked out of certain guns during their playthrough, due to the way they distribute their Attributes. And since the manner in which you fight is different from weapon to weapon you should have some drastically different combat experiences if you play with a new set on a second or third playthrough.
I think the biggest complaint that players will have is that the world, unlike the gameplay and combat, feels a bit dull and lifeless. If that’s the setting they were going for, then disregard this statement. However, much like The Surge, the environments are not memorable or glamorous and I felt myself worrying that most of the game would look the much the same way. This is obviously still an Alpha and we are playing just a small sampling of the game, but I still can’t help but worry about this particular aspect, especially as it is something that would be extremely difficult to fix if it were the case.
If you like what you see and want to get your hands on the Alpha, but weren’t selected by Toadman Interactive, please create a Fextralife account and post inthis threadand we will provide you with aSteamcode. They are available on a first come first serve basis and we will hand them out until we run out! If you don’t make an account we will have no way to send you the code, so be sure you do!
Stay tuned for Immortal Unchained coverage as we dive deeper into this intriguing and promising new title, and you can read more about the Closed Alphahere.
