![]() Animations had a lot of jank to it which was odd given how Ubisoft has always been one of the better studios for me when it comes to motion. It felt less than smooth and a bit detached from the rest of the game. I had to fight the surrounding helicopters (which is just shooting them with heavily tuned aim assist while flying around), land on the floating platform, and blow it up. There are floating human outposts that need to be taken down. The cracks started to show when I was given a prompt for aerial combat. Again, accompanied by a great musical score that had me smiling in delight as I flew through the mountains. A real missed opportunity.įlying an Ikran was a thrill at the beginning. It’s already pre-determined by the game and you don’t have to work for it that much. ![]() Getting to pick an Ikran is not as random or dynamic as it is in the films. ![]() A very small nitpick is that this segment, while amazing as it is, was drawn out a little bit longer than I would’ve liked it to be. The sense of scale, wonder, fear, and curiosity was at an all-time high here as I tried to figure out how to optimally climb harrowing heights while being treated with an audio-visual masterclass that took me back to when I first saw everything in the films. Nothing proves this point further than what is my favorite part of the demo: climbing up the Hallelujah Mountains to get my own Ikran. While I’m not saying that this is the definitive way to present an Avatar game, I do see why Ubisoft opted for a much more personal viewpoint. Surprisingly, I noticed that first-person enabled me to be so much more connected with everything that’s going on from the scenery to the brief story bits I got to see. The forced first-person perspective has been a controversial choice for some who would rather play in third-person. Since the films have done a great job of showing what it’s like through a cinematic lens, the real advantage of Frontiers of Pandora is getting (quite literally) up close and personal with all of it. In a lot of ways, Frontiers of Pandora succeeds in creating a wonderful sandbox that feels distinct and authentic to the Na’vi experience. How do the developers make something that stays true to the magic of Cameron’s vision while also creating an identity of its own in an entirely different medium? Ubisoft’s attempt at an original story told through a video game has several interesting implications. The wonder, tragedy, and depth of the world drew me in despite a significant lack of expansion for the IP in more than a decade. It’s a film that I have adored ever since. James Cameron broke every possible cinematic record when he released 2009’s Avatar. Frontiers of Pandora allows me to experience it all from an entirely new perspective to varying degrees of success. Pandora has always been a universe that has stuck to me long after the films’ credits have rolled. While the usual open-world structure is still definitely there, there were a couple of tweaks that attempted to shake up the formula. Throughout my gameplay session, I couldn’t help but feel like this was Ubisoft trying its best not to be “Ubisoft” in its design approach. We were given a first-hand look at a sizeable chunk of the game with its open-world systems, combat, and a couple of main and side missions. During our time in gamescom asia 2023, Ubisoft invited us out to try Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora in their Singapore offices.
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