Avowed – it looks a lot like Skyrim (Xbox Game Studios)
GameCentral goes hands-on with the new role-player from the makers of Fallout: New Vegas, in a game that shares a lot of similarities with The Elder Scrolls.
Avowed still feels like a bit of a mystery. While Microsoft has started to mention it more frequently, as we approach its February release date, what it’s about, what its focuses are, and what makes it unique are still a little hard to parse. While there was a genuine sense of excitement around its reveal back in 2020, a run of disappointing Xbox releases and uneven early showcases of the game has brought an air of uncertainty to the release.
That’s a shame, as Obsidian Entertainment is one of the most celebrated role-playing developers in the world. Their back catalogue is dense with underappreciated gems of the genre like Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic 2, Fallout: New Vegas, South Park: The Stick Of Truth, Pillars Of Eternity, and most recently, The Outer Worlds. A new major role-playing game from the team is a big reason to celebrate.
Thanks to a recent preview though, some of that mystery has now been lifted. GameCentral got two hours of hands-on time from the opening of the game, and ‘What Avowed is’ has crystalised into something much clearer. How it carves out its own space in one of the most oversubscribed genres in gaming, though? That question still remains.
Avowed is set in the fantasy world of Eora, the same fictional universe as Pillars Of Eternity, although in this case it’s set in the ominously named the Living Lands. You play as an envoy of the Emperor of the Aedyr Empire. The game opens with a history lesson full of names and countries that have far too many vowels, which does little to counter the impression that the setting is a little generic. If you’ve played five minutes of any fantasy role-player before you’ll pick up the gist pretty quickly.
Not only are you an envoy to an emperor, but you’re also ‘Godlike’. This means that one of the gods within the game’s lore imbued you with special powers in the womb. In the broader world of Pillars of Eternity, this is rare but not unheard of. Unfortunately, you don’t know which god it was but their favour gives you access to magic powers as well as fleshy, elemental features all over your body.
In my instance, I created a character with bark growing out of their head and face, but there are also gnarly-looking mushrooms you can customise to engulf your appearance. While you can turn these features off, characters will still react to you as if your face is somewhat distorted by these growths.
As you start your journey, you’ve been sent to the Living Lands to explore rumours of a plague that is beginning to affect the area. As it turns out, this plague, called the Dream Scourge, appears to …read more
Source:: Metro