Ubisoft has been hyping up Avatar: The Game in the hopes of convincing gamers that this isn’t your typical movie game tie-in. And while Avatar isn't a horrible game; it just seems to be lacking any originality outside of the environments inspired by Cameron’s movie. The first thing gamers will take issue with is the game’s story telling. Since it appears that the developer assumes you’ve seen the movie, you don’t get any background on these characters. Most games, even the bad ones, spend a little time developing the character’s story. Not in this case. You want to know more about the characters, go see the movie. On top of that, you have to choose almost immediately whether or not become a traitor to the human race. Don’t expect any plot twists in a game that presents the twist right away.
You take on the role of Ryder who’s just arrived on Pandora and thanks to his unique genetic code provides him the ability to control the body of a human grown Na'vi. The Na'vi are humanoids which are native to Pandora. While playing you’ll feel like you are the only capable soldier. This is because everyone relies on you to do everything. There isn’t a logical reason for half the things you have to do. The gameplay quickly becomes that of your typical movie tie-in title. Go find this. Go finish that. It’s all busy work used to fill time in a title whose only resemblance to the movie is character names and locations.
Graphically Avatar: the Game looks good. The scenery can, at times, look a little geometric and angular. But the jungle environments of Pandora look exotic and well rendered for the most part. Character models did lose some of their luster with during larger battles, but for the most part look good. Obviously gamers would gladly trade some of the polish put into the environments of Pandora in exchange for a better story.
Again, to be fair, this game isn’t bad. It’s just common place in today’s market. If you like your third-person games set in exotic jungle locales with simple gameplay mechanics, then this is right up your alley. If you want to continue playing or go back to previously conquered areas, you’ll have that option once you unlock the teleporters. Once unlocked, you’ll be able to return to that location or earlier areas where other unlocked teleporters stand. However, the question is will you really want to?
Give some credit to Ubisoft who did try to add some replay beyond returning to previous areas by putting a big focus on team-based multiplayer. Na'vi vs. human battles are far more convincing with other players than against the horrible AI. Multiplayer modes come in a few variations with capture-the-flag and team deathmatch mixtures that offer some replay. Don’t expect the addictiveness of Halo 3 or Modern Warfare 2. But for those fans of the movie or just happen to pick this one up, the multiplayer does add some replay value.
Graphics | Audio | Gameplay | Replay | Genre | Final |
