▷Immortal Unchained: An Unsuccessful Dark Souls Shooter

Immortal Unchained it's a Sci-fi RPG/shooter developed and published by Toadman Interactive on September 7 for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The title in question, in some ways, is reminiscent of Dark Souls: the problem is that this memory is very, very vague. After trying it on the PlayStation 4, we made up our minds. Will he be able to convince us?

Little outlined differences and useless classes

In Immortal Unchained you will assume the role of a fixed character, a immortal warrior who, after being incarcerated, is awakened and released from his cell to carry out an important and difficult mission: to save the Nine Worlds from a catastrophic event that is around the corner. After an interesting and, I would add, almost captivating intro, the magic vanishes immediately. Before starting our adventure, we must create our character and select one of the six membership classes present, which differ in skills and weapons.

Where can I start? Let's start with the creation of the character: although it is possible to choose the sex, the difference will be minimal and almost imperceptible. We will know we are playing with a woman simply by the fact that she wears a band at the height of the chest, otherwise she could easily be mistaken for a man. Not that I particularly care about playing with a man or woman but I believe that, from the moment this choice is added, it is better to highlight some differences between the two sexes.

I hoped that the situation would improve but not: the physical and aesthetic characteristics that we find, in particular the face, are of low quality, not only for the graphics (for example the hair that looks like a ruined brush) but also for the variety which is practically non-existent. We can choose between few hairstyles, so mediocre that I preferred to leave my character bald and some tribal style makeup to put on my face and body.

Now let's move on to the classes: the purpose of each is to highlight certain skills and allow us to excel when using a particular weapon. Unfortunately, the thing is not that simple at all since the difference between the various classes will be useless: this is because there are various defects also in that particular skill in which, theoretically, we will have to distinguish ourselves.

These problems are found both in classes that highlight firearms (slow loading, low power in assault rifles, low ammunition, etc.), and in weapons chosen for hand-to-hand combat which, many times, they are impossible to carry out because we will be surrounded by enemies armed with rifles and more.

Unreliable target

Continuing on the issue of weapons, the problems do not end. A defect that has irritated me a lot is the aiming mode: it is not free, assisted or linked in some way to the abilities of our character (or, in this case, of his class that we have previously chosen) but follows an automatic targeting system. This system, however, most of the time it doesn't work and we will end up shooting empty, running out of even those last ammunition that we meticulously kept aside.

Another problem lies in strength - or am I poor? - of our enemies. Why am I saying this? Because there will be occasions when we will be able to take them out in a few seconds without problems and occasions when, with two shots, we will be killed without being able to cure ourselves or time to frame the situation.

It's not just about normal enemies, but also the famous boss fights. What's the problem: the enemies or the player? Who knows. Unfortunately, they are also present various bugs: eg enemies that get stuck at a certain point without going out or who do not notice our presence at all despite the various rifle shots that we shoot at them.

Graphics: some satisfaction, but not enough

Although the graphics leave a lot to be desired in the moment of character creation, especially in the details of the face and hairstyles, it still has the opportunity to recover during the course of the title. The characters and places are well done, decent and I think they can represent the only positive aspect of Immortal Unchained simply because they are pleasant to look at.

Even if, in reality, in some occasions the brightness is low and the graphics have nothing that allows it to stand out fully: but come on, let's try to see something positive.

The problems, however, keep coming up and this small satisfaction is annihilated by further defects that we are forced to face during the course of the title: checkpoints too close or too far away, situations in which (due to the distant rescue) we find ourselves without bullets and with little life, unexpected and hidden traps that kill us instantly, enemies that suddenly emerge from every corner and the possibility of increasing life only when we save and upgrade our weapons / skills. Needless to say, these boosts aren't useless, but they certainly don't improve our character's strength.

Finally the fights are practically the same for the entire duration of the title and therefore, in the long run (indeed, I think two hours of play are enough) the player seriously risks getting bored and turning everything off for lack of fun.

Immortal Unchained: the Verdict

In conclusion, we can say without a shadow of a doubt that Immortal Unchained è a failed attempt to create a title similar to Dark Souls, but with sci-fi overtones and a shooter. It's sad to say, especially as the basic idea was extremely good, but the Swedish studio got lost behind elements that made the title nearly impossible to play.