Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Review - When Nature Wins
Science Fiction sets its stories in worlds humans have never seen using technologies that do not exist. All these contemplations about what could be in settings that never existed serve a single purpose; to tell stories about the human condition past, current and future.
When the movie Avatar came out it became a global phenomenon due to its never-before-seen special effects and partially to its story that warns us of all the wrongdoings humans do to their planet, other humans and nature in general.
Pandora was never a huge success in video games. Main culprits were the inability to match the visuals of the movie and that gamification of such noble stories is not easily done. Ubisoft decided to take on this challenge with Avatar Frontiers of Pandora and manages to pleasantly surprise on both fronts.
Far Cry: Pandora?
Avatar Frontiers of Pandora is an open world First Person Shooter with various activities you can do besides questing. This sounds awfully like one of the many Far Cry games. Although, at first look, it may seem to be just another clone, the tone of Avatar Frontiers of Pandora is quite different. Far Cry is all about adrenaline pumping action with outrageous 90’s action movie stories. On Pandora you’ll spend more time exploring and doing meditative side activities while the main story and side quests are filled with altruistic motifs and positive moral lessons. In the end it felt nothing like any of the Far Cry games.
You’ll be using mostly Na’vi bows to fight polluting humans and their facilities and hunting animals. There is no classic leveling in the game. Instead, you’ll buy or craft gear that provides you with higher stats and increases your combat level. Currency you use is reputation. The more good deeds you do the more currency you have.
If you choose to dabble in crafting, you’ll also have to become proficient in gathering materials. This system is rather well thought out. To get the best quality components you will have to gather them at a specific biome, under specific weather conditions and then, and only then, will you get the best possible quality gear.
Collectibles, other than skill unlocking and health boosting ones, are more like short stories and exercises in meditation that are there to get you into a Na’vi state of mind. Their sole purpose is to induce a feeling of calm rather than adrenaline, which is a brave and much needed breath of fresh air in today’s gaming.
Same Story Different Place
The game takes place on the western continent of Pandora a year before the second movie. None of the characters from the movies make an appearance, but what Jake Sully did in the first movie resonates across the whole Na’vi world. Human colonizers on the western continent are led by one John Mercer who establishes all the filthy resource gathering facilities and starts a “school” for Na’vi children to “integrate” them with humans. Through some rather convoluted storytelling you wake up as one of those children sixteen years later and for the first time since you were taken from your parents step foot on Pandora.
That first step onto Pandora’s soil will take your breath away. In stark contrast to the metallic corridors of the facility you were kept in, the lush jungles of Pandora are a sight to behold. Just like the protagonist, the player will have to discover how these new and strange surroundings function. The first few hours will probably just be spent learning the rules of the land.
It is a very successful piece of storytelling to have the environment produce emotions of wonder and exploration. What helps immersion the most is the high fidelity of every detail. It is the best depiction of nature in any video game I’ve seen so far. Whether the greenery or various rivers and floating islands of the first zone or windy plains and misty woods of the second and third zone, most things you see in the game will be screenshot worthy. Instagram influencers would have a field day here.
Moral Fiber
Ubisoft bravely decided to follow the positive messaging of the Avatar movies. They skillfully avoided overly gamifying issues Avatar tries to address. Instead, they decided to direct the game so it accentuates the true messages it is trying to relay. Gamers might complain that there is not enough enemy type variety. Searching for crafting components for the best gear can be a chore. All of this is just the way it is supposed to be because those things are not important in Avatar Frontiers of Pandora.
The important thing is to remember how humans have wiped whole tribes of indigenous tribes in search of resources and land. How we imprisoned their children and forced them into segregated schools so we can “integrate” them. If you went to a place where lithium is being dug out of the earth to create more batteries for our mobile phones and electric cars you would find unprecedented devastation of natural habitats and pollution not unlike the one you see in the game. This is where the science fiction of Avatar really speaks of the human condition past, current and future.
When Grind Is Good Because Motivation Is Just
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed meeting all the different Na’vi tribes and learning of their unique ways of life and how naïve, yet fierce when the need arises, they are. Although the storytelling is sometimes a bit clunky and filled with cliches, the final act has some very impactful scenes and even the most cynical among us will enjoy the last cutscene of the game’s main story. One can spend a lot of time on Pandora doing side activities and just enjoying the surroundings before finishing the main story. Clearing out all the pollution sites would be called a senseless grind in any other game, but here, seeing how nature revitalizes after each successful site clearing gives you that proper motivation and makes the activity satisfying. Combined with excellent technical execution there really isn’t much to complain about.
Avatar Frontiers of Pandora is a gorgeous looking game with positive messages of protecting nature, respecting different cultures and enjoying life instead of always striving for more. It is a breath of fresh air in this cynical world we’re living in. If you allow yourself to, just for once, not succumb to your cravings for non-stop, adrenaline inducing, action you’ll find a beautiful world to explore, filled with stories worth hearing.
Highs
- Best depiction of nature in video games.
- Filled with altruistic motifs.
- Bravely addresses the biggest human sins
Lows
- Some missteps in storytelling flow.
