Patient:

• Ubisoft’s James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game.
• Note: Pt prefers to be called “Avatar”, thankfully. The alternative was UJCATG. Ridiculous.

Pt History:

• X360, PS3, Wii, PSP, NDS, iPhone released in December 2009. Today will specifically be focussing on the X360 version.
• Movie tie in of James Cameron’s 3D epic Avatar (sidenote: could that film have made any more money?)
• Mix of third person shooter (similar symptoms to Gears of War) and hack-and-slash gameplay.
• Ability to play as both a human and Na’vi (possible multiple personality syndrome?)
• Additional feature of 3D gameplay if a 3D-enabled TV is possessed (whilst Doctors are rich, we’re not that rich, so this game was reviewed in 2D)

Initial appearance (Presentation):

• Pt appears to be in immaculate visual condition. Very aesthetically pleasing. Lush rainforests contrasted with stark grey industrial-military vehicles and bases.
• One complaint about the visuals is that the rainforest doesn’t feel alive the same way it did in the movie. However, the budget difference and the system restraints would be to blame for that.
• I was hoping that I would be able to play in 3D using the RealD glasses that I used for the movie, however that was to no avail.
• Pt provided me with little to no backstory and began gameplay immediately. I found very little reason to care about the characters and, thus, felt a decreased motivation to continue playing.
• About 45 minutes into the game, the Pt presented me with the option to either play the game as a Na’vi or as a human. However little story is presented prior to this moment so the decision simply comes as a gameplay choice. I felt that choosing to side with the Na’vi seemed like a random decision instead of one the character thought about, as they’d just spent five years in space to help the RDA (the human army).
• Pt seems to expect me to have watched the movie to understand the backstory. While I doubt anyone in the world hasn’t seen the movie by now, it does seem somewhat presumptuous.
• Pt has occasional graphic quirks, such as an enemy beginning a death animation the second an arrow is released from my Na’vi’s bow, instead of when they are hit. This is nitpicking, but it does take you out of the experience.
• Another part of the gameplay that takes you out of the experience is how it strays from the canon set in the movie, such as when (playing as a Na’vi) you get your first Ikran it pushes you off a cliff and then it picks you up, instead of showing the struggle and battle the movie did for a rider to “link” with their banshee. This could have easily been changed by turning it into a quick time event, but it ends up just feeling like a missed opportunity.

Pt Symptoms (Gameplay):

• Split into two genres: third person shooter as human (3PS) and hack-and-slash as Na’vi (HNS).
• 3PS feels sloppy and inaccurate. No ability to zoom on the guns, so you’ll be firing from the hip at all times.
• HNS is nearly unplayable. I found that I could only play as a Na’vi if I took out each enemy with arrows from afar instead of coming close to melee them. Due to all the human enemies having long range weapons (ie. Guns) you can take a lot of damage before getting close enough to the human to get a hit in. And if you have a few humans attacking you at once, you never stand a chance. It almost feels as if the gameplay is balanced away from the Na’vi instead of it being even.
• There are “Sector Challenges” in each level you play and getting 100% on the sector nets you an achievement (275G if you complete all in the game) however there doesn’t appear to be much motivation to complete them beyond gaining XP. In my playthrough, I tried to finish a few of them at first, but then felt no need and continued with the “story”.
• When compared to a number of other Ubisoft titles (such as the Prince of Persia series, Assassin’s Creed and even Splinter Cell) there doesn’t seem to be the same kind of polish on the gameplay. The controls for vehicles and animal mounts feel loose at best and the camera (especially for the Na’vi gameplay) sometimes hinders the gameplay instead of helping it.

Pt Examination and Investigations (Features): 

• Online and offline multiplayer, but due to the clunky controls there isn’t really much point in checking it out. I can imagine the online lobbies will be very full.
• There is no available DLC for this Pt, the closest thing we get is a 240MS Premium Theme
• The game lasts for about 10 hours on a storyline-only run through, however if you wanted to complete all of the sector challenges you’d get a few more hours out of the game. Not sure why you’d want to bother doing that beyond getting 1000GS for the game, though.
• There’s a “Pandorapedia” included which provides some additional information about the planet and its flora and fauna, however this kind of thing feels tacked on and there as a way of justifying not being more detailed story-wise.

Pt Prognosis (Score and final thoughts): 

• Pros
  • Incredible recreation of an amazing world
  • Stunning visuals
  • First major release with 3D enabled graphics (apparently they look awesome)
• Cons
  • Attrocious camera
  • Clunky and loose shooter mechanics
  • Na’vi portion of the game unplayable to the point of frustration
  • Occasionally buggy AI
• Score: 64/100
• Final thoughts: If you’re a massive fan of Avatar and want more from the world, then I’m sure you’ve bought the game already. However, Avatar suffers from the same debilitating disease that almost all movie-to-game tie ins do: Licence-itis. Without the Avatar brand name, not many people would buy this game. Compared to other licenced games it’s not too bad, but that’s like saying that having chronic diarrhoea is better than having explosive diarrhoea. Rent it if you’re bored, but I wouldn’t buy it for more than $40.

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