Immerse yourself in the exciting alien world of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.
The phenomenon of the movie Avatar by James Cameron in 2008 took the world by surprise when it was suddenly catapulted into one of the most successful movies at the box office of all time. What was even more surprising was that the famed director confirmed that there were four other movies in production in that universe. Becoming, by now into a beloved franchise by many, it was only natural for it to storm the video game realm in the form of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.
Published by Ubisoft, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is not the first foray of the alien blue race into pixelated worlds, but it is certainly the most faithful to it. After a lengthy cutscene, you are introduced to your character, a native Na’vi snatched from their tribe and trained by the military to become a soldier. The character creation guides you through several face and voice options, and you are set free on the planet of Avatar.
The opening moments of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora do their best to leave you awestruck. The way the foliage reacts is so incredibly lifelike. Weather patterns feel realistic, from clear skies to torrential rain occurring naturally as you explore; everywhere is an achievement in and of itself. Once you are released into the jungle, the parallels from the movie scene where Jake Sully starts running for the first time in the astonishing biomes of Pandora are undeniable.
As you learn the ropes across the deadly wilds of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, there is an inescapable sense of mystery at every turn. You belong to the long-gone clan Sarentu, and it is up to you to reconvene with each of the contemporary clans to remind them of your existence and hopefully help you reconnect with what being a Na’vi means. What you realize, marching along the story beats, is that not every tribe is cheerful to see a thought to be an extinct fellow clan member.
An impressive amount of wildlife enriches the atmosphere, and you can analyze it with a mechanic called your Na’vi senses. The amount of lore written into each tropical plant you find is impressive on its own, adding to bits of lore that the most passionate fans will love to read about. Foraging for supplies is an essential part of your journey to reestablish your connection to nature. You can pin specific items you need from the Hunter’s Guide, and your Na’vi senses will guide you toward them.
There is a conscious effort by the development team to immerse yourself in Pandora’s surroundings. Once you get the hang of every gameplay element, the game urges you to be aware of contextual but subtle actions via your controller’s vibrations when pulling out fruits to eat or using your Na’vi senses to walk to a highlighted area instead of relying on a map. These little details improve your immersion and result in a much-improved experience, just as each human’s consciousness uploaded to their Avatar hopes to fully synchronize with the alien world around them.
Humans, also known as Sky People, are the clear antagonists of this story. There are zones in the game that are heavily contaminated due to the human outposts poisoning everything around them. This is clearly shown by the muted, brownish colors and dead plants and animals compared to the lush backdrops of Pandora.
As you clear the area of such polluters, watching the gradual change of nature reclaiming its land is a beautiful sight. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora does an outstanding job at promoting a more eco-friendly lifestyle with its focus on living off the land and honoring any wildlife you take to save the planet from the Sky People in the process.
The open world is full of surprises. Compared to Ubisoft games of more recent years chock-full of icons on the map for you to frantically cover from one area to the next, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora dares to make things a little differently.
You can find a classic cave inside a waterfall and encounter a new type of face paint or blueprint for your character, and you could easily miss it just like that. This more hands-off approach works to the game’s benefit as it makes you wonder what other secrets could be hiding in any unsuspecting corner of the world.
The story tries to be as compelling as it can be with its setup of your character being a foreigner in their world, trying to relearn all of their customs while being shunned by the native Na’vi due to their origin. Humans are introduced as imposing, cutthroat figures who will take any resources they deem worthy and tear apart whoever stands in their way.
This is more evident than ever when trying to take down enemy outposts. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora urges you to extensively prepare yourself before tackling such an ordeal, and the game isn’t kidding when it says so. On any difficulty, it seems like every enemy, from the foot soldiers to the mecha-warriors, has laser-focused accuracy.
In addition to that, being stealthy is possible, but you are given the impression that every enemy has an eagle-eye view of the environment, and even though you try to hide as best as possible, all enemies are alerted of your position in an instant. It is, of course, not impossible to defeat these settlements, but only with useful food buffs, the best possible weapons and armor crafted available, and combat abilities mastered, may you have a chance to succeed.
Judged solely as an FPS, Avatar leaves a few combat elements to be desired, but in tandem with the franchise behind it, makes it a much better game. The guerrilla-style approach to combat in which you need to set traps, move quietly, and carefully choose how to engage each encounter, is intrinsically linked to its inspiration. The Avatars do not have the same firepower as humans do, but with their wits and abilities, it is possible to have a fighting chance.
While the comparisons to the Far Cry series are inevitable coming from the same publisher, developer Massive Entertainment does an excellent job at tweaking just the right details to make you feel like a Na’vi. The towering perspective, the quick and nimble movement, and the blue arms impulsing you as you run are just enough tweaks to remind you that this is a different experience than similar games that came before it.
Finally, sound design deserves to be mentioned and appreciated. Playing with headphones feels like a completely new game. Every chirp from the otherworldly bugs, the wind caressing the leaves, and the subdued soundtrack as you run through the wilds make a worthwhile case for taking Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora for a spin and let yourself be surprised by its painstakingly crafted world.
Working as one of the best recreations of movie IPs of all time, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora reaches the heights and callbacks from some of the most memorable scenes from the series. Long gone are the days of cheap tie-in movies for a cash grab. Ubisoft has proven with this entry that a new form of video game world inspired by blockbuster intellectual property can exist.
