Review of Avatar: Pandora’s Frontiers – the beauty of nature

The Avatar film series has been rightfully criticized for many things, but one thing cannot be denied: it introduced us to a planet with nature so intoxicatingly beautiful that some people left the cinema suffering from depression due to how gray ours is in comparison. “everyday” reality. to that. This key feature of the film manages to make perfect use of the latest game processing, because thanks to the technology of the Snowdrop engine, the nature in this video game looks almost identical to the original film. The central theme of harmony with nature highlights a slightly stronger leaning towards the stealth and survival genres than we’re used to from Ubisoft games.

• Platform: PS5 (review) XSX|S, PC
• Publication date: 07/12/2023
• Manufacturer: Massive Entertainment (Sweden)
• Genre: Survival/Stealth/Action
• Czech localization: No
• Multiplayer: yes, 2 player co-op
• Download data: 90 GB
• Game time: 30+ hours
• Price: CZK 1,729 (Ubistore) or CZK 369 per month for a subscription to Ubisoft+.

From creeping to unstoppable

While the visual splendor of this game is perhaps its most talked about topic (it’s no coincidence that Digital Foundry named it the game with the best graphics of the year), I personally ended up having the most experience with an unexpectedly fun game while playing. gameplay that at first glance may resemble traditional Ubsisoft templates, but if you try to “run” the game accordingly, you’ll get hit hard. For example, for the first hour of playing I ignored the game’s system of allowing you to “scan” and identify different types of vegetation in the jungle (a bit like Metroid Prime), so subsequently couldn’t tell the difference between healing herbs and those that hurt or even speed up movement, which is quite quickly backfired on me. And also ignoring the mechanics, where you need to carefully pick the fruits from the plants so as not to damage them and reduce their effectiveness.

I had an even tougher time when I tried to destroy the first large human bases in the style I’d become accustomed to over the years in the Far Cry or Assassin’s Creed series – my wooden weapons weren’t enough to take out armored soldiers or their mechs in one shot, so attempts at stealth quickly failed, and attempts at direct combat were instantly interrupted, blowing my half-naked Na’vi to pieces. Archery wasn’t very accurate for me at first, and the rifles didn’t perform as well as I expected due to my fighter’s unusual stance (no scope and cheek aiming). I had to learn to follow the enemy’s tracks much more carefully and for longer. When it came to combat, my only hope was speed and hit-and-run tactics, where after every single attack I practically ran back into the jungle to shake off my pursuers and attack again after a while – helped greatly by my excellent control over fast acrobatic movements. Of course, this also depends on the game’s difficulty setting, but the first half of the game was very adrenaline-filled for me due to the high vulnerability and lack of manual saving.

Attempts at direct combat were interrupted by the half-naked Na’vi being shot to pieces.

However, as you progress through the game, you will learn how to better use all your tools and weapons, improve them, and also improve your character’s stats, especially if you also complete many side missions and activities, gradually gaining enough strength and stamina. and train yourself to be able to fight armies of human enemies and their machines on almost equal terms. In the second half of the game I felt like a real Predator (with a capital P because I’m referring to the specific predator from Arnold’s movie) as I swooped down on the enemy base like crawling death and dealt one devastating blow after another, often destroying the enemy base . the whole team before she even realized I was there. The gist of my story is that the experience of playing the entire game for me was noticeably different from seemingly similar Ubisoft games, and I felt more like I was playing a fairly strict survival or stealth game than a “traditional” open world action game . Like Far Cry.

Nirvana for film buffs

You might be surprised that I still haven’t said a word about the game’s plot. This is mainly because the story isn’t particularly great and is very predictable – you’re one of the indigenous Na’vi “Indians”, living in harmony with nature and facing the colonial appetites and ruthless industrialization of human conquerors – so it’s essentially the same just like in the movies. Despite the overall simplicity of the plot, things get more interesting and complex in the third act when you discover the past of a special research project in a dilapidated underground laboratory – which was very reminiscent of the atmosphere of the series “Horizon”. Also, some of the story missions in the last third of the game were very successful and I wondered why these exciting passages were not present at the beginning of the game.

However, if you are a big fan of the film, you will probably look at the game with completely different eyes. As with Hogwarts Legacy earlier in the year, fans will be treated to a sensitive and enchanting look at their beloved world and will finally be able to walk through Pandora in their own skin, experiencing the amazing twilight and subsequent illuminated jungle with neon bioluminescent lights. Iconic sequences from the film will be a real delight, such as when you climb the “flying rocks” and the giant vine bridges between them above the clouds to catch and tame your Ikran in the nest above – accompanied, of course, by the same bombastic orchestral choir that played in film. The game as a whole may be relatively average, but some parts of it are simply amazing.

If you’re a fan of the original film, you’ll see the game differently.

Playing on the PS5, I was pleased with the technical state – Performance mode manages to maintain 60 frames per second most of the time, and if you have a VRR display, the occasional dips aren’t anything major that will ruin your experience. On the contrary, you will be amazed again and again how a game can look so beautiful. This is also helped by the game’s three noticeably different biomes, from dense tropical jungles to vast plains with stunning views and rugged mountain landscapes at the end. Plus, when you realize that once you get your Ikran you can take off at any time and still play the entire game in co-op with another online player, you really have to be amazed at the technical and artistic execution of this game.