Frontiers of Pandora Review – That’s Gaming

Avatar, known for its film series, is a franchise that requires a certain affection. The first film brought innovation and a compelling story, while The Way of Water, while entertaining, took a different angle. Now there is a new game in the universe, wondering if it can have the same impact as the groundbreaking original.

You may be wondering if the game has a connection to the film and how this would work. Reassuringly, I can report that this is not the case. The game begins eight years before the movie, where we meet Na’vi students who have been expelled from their clan and are convinced by the RDA of their alleged exile. Not allowing themselves to be deceived, the Na’vi try to escape and this has far-reaching consequences. After a time jump, we find ourselves after the movie events, where RDA has been pushed back. The game then begins at the beginning, with RDA once again trying to conquer Pandora, and it is your job to stop them.

Frontiers of Pandora translates the Avatar film series into a video game, a more ambitious project than 2009’s previously received Avatar: The Game. The 2023 revision is a greater success, thanks in part to the expertise of Massive Entertainment, known for Tom Clancy’s The Division. Ubisoft’s open-world structure fits Avatar perfectly, with elements such as item creation and reputation-building appropriate to Na’vi culture.

In the game, you fly on an Ikran over Pandora, and while some gameplay elements seem formulaic, Massive carefully adapts them, to the ethos of the Na’vi race. For example, picking a fruit activates a minigame to show respect for the sanctity of the planet. Pandora itself is a masterpiece in the open-world genre, with detailed flora gracing the landscape. Missions do not provide exact markers, but encourage players to explore and understand the world and its ecosystem.

Frontiers of Pandora comes off best as a wilderness survival game. The serendipitous moments where you live like a Na’vi, such as catching energy-restoring fish during a flight on an Ikran, are memorable. Unfortunately, the experience is somewhat disrupted by a confusing energy management system that requires players to constantly consume meals.

Despite the strengths in the Na’vi-centered design, the game feels disappointing in other aspects, particularly in the forced first-person shooting à la Far Cry. The game, in my opinion, sometimes doesn’t really know which way it wants to go. It is also Ubisoft’s familiar recipe, which we know from Far Cry. but the game is so not. While the Na’vi design is inventive, the action moments feel like a strange addition from another game, which detracts from the overall cohesiveness of the Avatar universe. All in all, the game plays really fat and looks genius. Avatar Frontiers of Pandora is a game for fans of the genre, but also for people who like a good game. The world is immense and has plenty to explore. For fans, but also for people who like to roam in an immense world, this game is a great success.