Feature review: Avatar: The Game

If you choose RDA, you stick to typical grunt tasks for the majority of the storyline: “go there, blow stuff up, fly this helicopter-that’s-totally-not-stolen-from-Unreal, shoot some blue people, shoot some plants, shoot some rocks, shoot anything that moves” kind of stuff. While the story is quite entertaining, the process through which you’re involved in that story is as generic as you get for a third-person shooter. There are a couple of moral blips dotted around, but for the most part: just shoot stuff (and blow it up, if necessary). On the flip-side, you’ve got the Na’vi campaign, which is at least a hundred times more interesting, involves you more as a character, and has more interesting combat and level traversal mechanics. Okay, you don’t get to pilot any  giant mechs, or shoot the shit out of the local plant life for XP (even the harmless ones), but it makes up for this loss by giving you the very necessary ability to melee enemies, which the RDA-guy can’t seem to manage.

The great thing about this game, is that no matter which campaign you choose (it’s advisable to try both though), you’ll be treated to one of the most visually-impressive game worlds I’ve seen in a long time. Many of the film’s most interesting visual elements have made the transition brilliantly. Some have even gained from this, as you’re now able to take your time inspecting the flora and fauna in whatever level of meticulous detail you choose. You can also learn a lot about the world of Pandora in much greater detail thanks to the incredibly well-stocked Pandorapedia that unlocks inserts as you progress and scan your surroundings. If you found yourself in awe of the world that was created in the film, you’ll be lost in the sheer amount of care and attention to detail that Lightstorm has put into this part of the game.

It’s not all good news, however. Many things in Avatar: The Game struck me as, at the very least, a bit odd. And on the worst occasions, some of the ideas are just downright daft. The most obvious point of contention for many will be the dual storylines. Impressively, they manage to remain fairly separate from each other, and you’ll seldom be forced to repeat situations from the other perspective. However, the RDA campaign, as mentioned previously, is generally lacking in the quality that the Na’vi campaign has, although neither quite manages to capture the same magic of the film. I can’t help but think that the game’s storyline would have been so much stronger if the developers had just worked on a single one instead.

The other ugly bits are less of a game-destroyer, but will certainly help ensure that Avatar isn’t the first-picked girl at the ball. Throughout both campaigns, you’re given access to a number of gameplay mechanics typically found in non-linear, sandbox-type games. There’s a pilot who will take you anywhere on the planet, teleportation points scattered around each area, XP to be gained and weapons/armour/skills to be unlocked, and even a globe-spanning minigame called Conquest Mode. Except, Avatar is a linear game. There are central briefing locations, as well as a couple that you’ll revisit, but your progression through the story is as straight as one of those spear-sized Na’vi arrows. These elements of the game are simply wasted, and feel more like an opportunity lost than something cool for the player to mess around with. Unlocking new weapons and such is great for the first few levels, but before long you’ve unlocked the lot, and are stuck with upgrades for the rest of the game. The weapon upgrades behave exactly the same, but will just do more damage, or hold more ammo, and the armour will just keep you alive a little longer. Like most linear titles, the difficulty scales with your progress, meaning enemies are tougher and take longer to bring down, but since your guns are getting stronger, it all becomes a little bit repetitive about halfway in. The vehicles at least manage to break up the monotony a bit, and are pretty fun (although the Banshee controls, in particular, are horrible).

There’s no doubt that Avatar: The Game is good fun. It’s one-half generic shooter, one-half fairly decent adventure game, and both halves are filled with awesome visuals set in a vibrant game world, but this game will be lost among the other titles that are a single, harmonious whole.

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