Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Review
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a game that already offers a lot. It’s a very AAA take on a very blockbuster film series, developed by Massive Entertainment and distributed by Ubisoft, hellbent on building a gorgeous world that’s almost impossibly thick with vibrant life. Much to the game’s credit, it rises to the challenge of depicting Pandora’s splendour with care, and a few rather generic parts never manage to overpower all that it does correctly.
During the second RDA invasion of the titular forest moon, the events in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora parallel those of Avatar: The Way of Water. You play as one of the few remaining members of the Sarentu Clan of Na’Vi, who escaped the RDA’s murderous rampage because you were a part of the TAP programme, which was someone’s brilliant idea to soothe and ingratiate the local people by stealing their children and forcing them to be more human. Humans have burrowed themselves in like ticks, with different industrial facilities methodically destroying Pandora and its semi-sentient living network of flora and wildlife. In classic Ubisoft fashion, you join the Resistance against the RDA and must rally other clans and factions to your cause.
Although you may modify your Na’Vi, the options for looks and skin marks are relatively similar regardless of gender. After that, you’ll be taken through a brief introduction in which you’ll be taught the fundamentals. The natural height of Pandora’s indigenous inhabitants was something that took me a time to grasp. It’s akin to playing Halo as Master Chief and looking down at the insignificant human marines in their enormous old helmets.
You are a member of the Sarentu, a tribe that was supposed to be extinct, but whose ancestry as diplomats, storytellers, and peacekeepers makes you an excellent option to traverse the western continent, establishing connections and garnering the support of the many tribes who reside there. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is built on these encounters, and you will become completely immersed in the chats, asides, and side-quests that each tribe offers you. Some are little squabbles or family feuds, yet others, such as an early quest when learning to hunt, are profound, emotional, and moving.
Combat in Avatar Frontiers of Pandora is becoming increasingly challenging and enjoyable. While you’ll start with a single bow, you’ll soon have access to a variety of weapons that provide a versatile framework. You can specialise in conventional Na’vi weaponry, RDA weapons, or a hybrid of the two. The Na’vi weaponry were always the more dynamic option.
Massive Entertainment went to great lengths to create its version of Pandora. The Western Frontier is divided into three zones that the player can explore: the Kinglor Forest, the Upper Plains, and the Clouded Forest. Only the Kinglor Forest is available at first, while the other two locations are unlocked as you proceed through the main tale.
What truly distinguishes it is its responsiveness, which makes thick woods and broad open plains feel like much more than just a backdrop. Plants shrink away from contact, startle unwary explorers, and hurl seeds in parabolic arcs, all in response to the player’s journey through the wilderness. Nightfall re-paints the canvas with variable bioluminescence, which may shine a little brighter with deeper shadows but is still stunning even with the game’s softer grade. The graphic design is never overshadowed by a rich audio, and both audial and visual disturbances effectively express the intrinsic aggression of the RDA’s presence.
Pandora can be explored on foot, on the back of a direhorse, or in the air with the assistance of a flying ikran. Running about extracts some platforming juice from tremendous leaps and slides, but flight is extremely enjoyable, allowing you to explore enormous areas without using the quick travel system. Most significantly, riding an ikran in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora feels natural in a way that helicopters and aircraft do not. The connected creature may be called in practically any open location, even in mid-fall, and will cheerfully find its own landing site if its rider hops off.
The action picks up when your expeditions inside the RDA’s progressively vast bases, but the most of your time here is spent exploring, strolling, admiring, foraging, and simply enjoying yourself. The same can be said about playing as a Na’vi in terms of how genuine the world of Pandora seems. To begin with, you are taller than a human. It may not seem like much, but with the first-person camera towering above folks, the difference is immediately obvious. You may also hold down the jump button to increase the height and distance you can leap. Again, it may appear to be a little detail, but hopping across fallen trees and scaling cliff walls makes you feel like a Na’vi.
In addition to adding thrilling combat and an incredible array of activities, gear, and story moments, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora does a commendable job of faithfully capturing the feeling of wonder and natural beauty found in the original material. The result is a game that feels faithful to Cameron’s series while also providing enough new elements to keep players interested. You could spend hours and hours simply exploring the woodlands since there is so much to discover and nothing seems hurried. An incredible feat, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora has stunning graphics and a masterful balancing act between action and nonviolence.
