So we might as well start with good or in this case the quite gorgeous. GRAPHICS: The graphics present in Avatar are a bit more sporadic in that certain areas of the game manage to look stunning while others don’t hold up so well. Never in the campaign did I feel the need to cringe at the delivery of dialogue or the attempt at a foreign accent. The voice acting in the game manages to remain consistent and never out of place. The soundtrack remains ambient for the most part but kicks it up a notch during battle and set pieces most notably towards the end of the campaigns where the orchestral pieces become more enjoyable. The sound effects do their job and don’t feel out of place. SOUND: As with much of Avatar’s design the audio present is adequate but never out of this world. It is a shame that the only time it becomes even slightly interesting is when it questions the morality of the player early on in the game. It won’t leave you with a bitter taste in your mouth nor will it blow you away. The story on the whole is a little disappointing considering the source but it serves its purpose in giving reason to the activities taking place within the world of Pandora. As it turns out, whoever controls this precious rock essentially gains control over the planet of Pandora. The rest of the story serves as motivation for the player to advance through the game as both factions struggle over the rare mineral that is only found on the planet of Pandora, Unobtainium (I see much thought went into that name). Make no mistake though, this is about as interesting as it gets in terms of storyline and will most likely be the last time you care about any of the plot “developments” that occur over the course of this game. Inevitably you end up choosing whether to execute the Avatar traitor or your fellow RDA soldiers. As it turns out Avatar isn’t just one game but two! On one hand you have an action adventure game and on the other hand you have a third person shooter but more on that later.
This leads to you having to make a decision (of course, like we didn’t see that coming) that pretty much decides what type of experience you will be getting. Of course this doesn’t sit right with the RDA and you are eventually tasked with eliminating the “mole”. Naturally things don’t go smoothly at all as you are sent out to help your fellow Avatars and are informed by them that the RDA have no intention of helping the Na’vi but instead wish to get rid of them to serve their own purposes. Soon enough you’re informed you are one of the few to possess a genetic match (imagine that, what luck!) that qualifies you to take part in the Avatar program, where by your consciousness will be implanted within a Na’vi Avatar to make “co-operating” with the Na’vi themselves run more smoothly. Upon getting there you are given a few menial tasks to get you accustomed to the mechanics of the game, such as defending an RDA base.
So after you have decided whether you would like to play a male or female by choosing one of the random generic models available, you are sent on a 5 year space ride to the planet Pandora to serve as Signal Specialist for the RDA military outfit. Although you are never officially told what the characters first name is, somewhere along in the games main narrative the name “Able” is given to you.
STORY: The story for James Cameron’s Avatar takes place two years before the movie and revolves around RDA Signals specialist “Able” Rider. Does it tread usual movie tie-in ground or does it surprisingly impress? What are you waiting for?! Hit the jump and find out what we think of James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game. With a movie this big there is always the inevitable release of a game and we all know how those usually turn out, don’t we?! Despite that though, we thought we would see for ourselves if the game could live up to the high standards of the movie. If you haven’t heard of James Cameron’s Avatar by now then chances are you’ve been living under a rock somewhere as at the time of writing the movie is already at cinema’s blowing people away with its outstanding visuals.
Publisher: Ubisoft, Lightstorm Entertainment, 20th Century Fox GamesĪvailable on: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC (reviewed on Xbox 360)