A new twist on the shooter in Immortals of Aveum, making your Xbox Series X even cooler, details on the Playstation Portal.

Immortals of Aveum puts an interesting new spin on the shooter genre

There’s a new genre in town. Well, it feels new.

Immortals of Aveum is a first-person shooter (FPS) but without any guns.

Instead, you’ve got magic.

Published by Electronic Arts, this genre twist comes from Ascendent Studios, which was cofounded by Bret Robbins, a veteran who has worked on Call of Duty and was the creative director for Dead Space.

While there may not be any guns in Aveum, the spells that you throw around have the same feel, and they are varied in the same way. Your blue spells are long-range, your green spells are rapid-fire, and your red spells are for bigger area-effect attacks.

And you can “reload” your spells with the touch of one button and swap out your spell colours with the touch of another. If you need to heal, you crunch a health crystal in your hand.

If you’ve played a FPS, this is all very familiar. And that’s great, because it makes Aveum easy to slip into.

But the package here is different. This is a unique world with a medieval steampunk vibe. You begin the game by moving through a ramshackle community that’s been built underneath a bridge – I’m sure William Gibson was an inspiration – and the contrast between the dark backgrounds and the bright, effervescent spellcasting is amazing.

You play as Jak, who starts out as a cheeky teenager and after the introduction tutorial section has grown into a bold young adult. He’s got a chip on his shoulder and he’s got both something to prove and some vengeance to wreak.

Along the way you are rewarded for exploring the environment, looking into nooks and crannies for currency you can use to upgrade your skills and your gear. You’ll add power and buffs and you’ll find a rhythm to the combat that becomes joyful. The firefights, with colourful bolts flying around, are chaotic but wonderful.

It may be a FPS, but it’s not like other FPS you’ve played.

Immortals of Aveum is available now for PS5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. Rated mature.

Decorate your Xbox Series X console with new wraps from Microsoft

I think the Xbox Series X systems are handsome devices, but with the new console wraps announced this week they are going to look even better.

The covers encase the Series X hardware and hold together with a velcro strip and they give the box a unique look while keeping all the ports and buttons accessible.

There are three wraps available for preorder, two camouflage designs ($60 CAD, coming in November) and one design inspired by Starfield ($65, availalble on October 18), the highly-anticipated space adventure role-playing game from Bethesda.

Put me down for a Starfield wrap, please. It makes the console look like it’s a component of one of the ships that you’ll be piloting in the game, and it pairs nicely with the Starfield-themed controller ($90 CAD) and headset ($155 CAD) that are already available.

While we’re on the topic, here’s a live action promotional spot for Starfield, which launches on September 6.

Playstation Portal portable gaming device is coming this fall

Sony has revealed the Playstation Portal, a handheld gaming gadget on which you can play games from a PS5 console.

Previously teased as Project Q, the Portal will cost $199 USD when it releases sometime before the end of the year.

The 8-inch screen delivers 1080p resolution at 60 fps and it’s designed to stream games across a Wi-Fi network from a PS5 console. This is not something you’re taking on the bus, but something you’ll use at home when someone else is using the television set. You can use it on the other side of the country if you want, but you need to have strong Wi-Fi, and your PS5 needs to not be used by someone else.

Built into the Portal is a new proprietary wireless audio technology called Playstation Link, and Sony also announced the Pulse Elite (headset; $150 USD) and Pulse Explore (earbuds; $200 USD) devices that will automatically connect to the Portal.

The advantage of the Link technology is, Sony’s says, “low latency, lossless audio”.

Both the Elite and the Explore will come with a USB adapter that can plug into and connect to a PS5 or a computer and they can also simultaneously connect to a Bluetooth devices like a mobile phone so you can take a call while playing.

The Elite headset comes with a charging stand and the Explore earbuds come with a charging case.