The first Avatar film, "Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora," was released in 2009, launching a film series that, in addition to the second installment, "The Way of Water," from 2022, includes three more films planned by 2031. Alongside this, the news that Ubisoft was venturing into the world of the Na'vi, allowing us to step into their blue skin, caused quite a stir. With "Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora," we can now explore this planet ourselves and gain experience with the environment and the Na'vi people. But will the game be as successful as the films?
Out of cryogenic sleep
"Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora" opens with events that run parallel to those of the first game: We initially find ourselves in the shoes of a young Na'vi orphan, abducted by the Resources Development Administration (RDA) and trained to fight alongside humanity. While the commanding Sergeant John Mercer seeks to suppress our culture and sever our ties to our roots, our teacher is gentle and tries to protect us. Several years later, Jake Sully, the hero of the first game, launches his attack on humanity, sparking the war for Pandora. Mercer demands that all the orphans from the training camp be killed, but our savior protects us within her avatar, placing us into cryogenic sleep from which we awaken 15 years later.
We find ourselves in a fractured and contested world. The RDA continues its efforts to exploit the planet's resources, while we must reconnect with our culture and find our place within it all. We join the resistance and explore Pandora's diverse levels and regions, from verdant valleys and wild jungles to floating rocks. Our goal is to unite the various tribes and maintain control over our homeland.
Overall, the story is well-executed. It fits seamlessly between the first two films and leaves few gaps or plot holes. We gain a deeper connection to the Na'vi and the various tribes, including all their unique characteristics. The Na'vi culture and their connection to the planet are also vividly portrayed and fit well with the gameplay. Anyone who hasn't had enough of the films so far will likely find their fix in "Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora."
Become one with Eywa
Speaking of gameplay: we begin our adventure with the basics: jumping, shooting with weapons and bows, melee combat, and using human technology. Everything else we have to learn over time, unlocking or improving our abilities. We can enhance our standard skills with experience points to improve our combat prowess or obtain more resources, which we use to craft food and new equipment. For this, we use bark, animal hides, or other natural materials, which vary in quality depending on how they are harvested, thus offering greater power.
Furthermore, one can strengthen one's bond with Eywa at sacred plants and unlock new ancestral skills that grant us new abilities and can significantly change the game.
Besides gathering resources and crafting new equipment, we're faced with numerous missions that seemingly every Na'vi and rebel has up their sleeve. Whether we have to investigate locations for clues, defeat enemies, or find a new nesting site for animals, we always have something to do, and most of the missions even offer a bit of variety. Unfortunately, there are so many that it becomes completely overwhelming and overloaded, quickly causing you to lose interest in the game. You just end up rushing from point A to point B, completing tasks, and receiving new ones without feeling any real progress.
In addition, there's a seemingly endless number of collectibles scattered across the entire map. Overall, it's simply too much and too unstructured. Furthermore, every quest is embellished with countless cutscenes, leading us to quickly skip the dialogue, often leaving us without information about what exactly we're supposed to do and why. It's a vicious cycle. While the attention to detail is undeniable, "Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora" ultimately tries to do too much. Sometimes less is more.
More death than life
Besides all the gathering and crafting, combat is the third major gameplay component. On the one hand, we face wild beasts that we must slay for resources; on the other hand, we fight against the RDA, who want to exploit Pandora's resources for their own purposes. There are numerous factories and drilling sites that serve as bases. Here, we must complete certain objectives to force the RDA to retreat.
It sounds relatively simple in theory, but proves quite problematic in practice. Our weapons are almost always far too weak; enemies spot us even though it's impossible for them to see us, and then take us out with just a few shots. This leads to us dying constantly and having to start all over again. At least that's how it is in single-player mode, even on easy difficulty. It seems as though Ubisoft is deliberately aiming for a co-op experience. The balancing is simply terrible and desperately needs to be reworked.
The beauty of nature
Despite its gameplay issues, "Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora" truly shines in terms of graphics. The natural world looks fantastic and feels incredibly alive. Especially at night, when bioluminescence kicks in and the animals and plants begin to glow, you can lose yourself in the forests and feel completely at ease. The rivers, flora, and fauna also look stunning and realistic. Combined with a well-balanced soundtrack, this creates a captivating atmosphere, just like in the films. This is exactly what a licensed game should be.
But the environment isn't just for looking at; besides all the fruit growing everywhere, we can move quickly around by crossing trees, giant plants, and cliffs. If that's too slow for us, we can bond with direhorses or our Ikram and ride or fly around the area. Theoretically, we can also fight from the animals' backs, but that works rather poorly.
The "problem" with Pandora is that they've created an incredibly elaborate jungle from scratch, which often looks very similar across different biomes. Getting lost is practically a given here, which can get a little annoying after a while. Beauty isn't everything, but a certain practicality shouldn't be missing, otherwise you'll realize that most of the time you've just been wandering around aimlessly.
Overall, the game offers an appealing atmosphere, which benefits particularly from the vibrant game world. However, one comparison is unavoidable: why do we feel, after just a few minutes, as if we're playing a version of "Far Cry: Avatar Edition"? Essentially, the gameplay has been ported almost verbatim, simply wrapped in Pandora's veneer, and that's it. Perhaps a bit more imagination would have been helpful here.
Conclusion
I must also say that I am surprised by the reviews, which are good (not to say mediocre), but not very good.
After some initial minor difficulties, the game turned out to be the best "Far Cry" in years. The game world is phenomenal, and as the character grows stronger, the brutal battles on the ground and in the air are pure action bliss!
At a certain point, it's incredibly fun.
You should at least have seen the first Avatar movie, but that should already be obvious.
You couldn't describe the game any worse. I've already spent a good 70 hours playing it and it's NOT getting boring! And the solo mode is definitely not too difficult! It's best not to jump into an RDA base where all the enemies can see you and trigger the alarm. If you're a little sneaky and stay tactical, such a huge base is easy! Yes, the world is very large, but so was Horizon Zero Dawn, and that game was amazing too! It's best to see for yourself or watch some videos/streams beforehand! But I can absolutely recommend this game! Ubisoft has done a fantastic job!
I'm curious. I'll only get it when it gets cheaper.
But couldn't it also be that the person who wrote that is simply a bad gamer? 😉