Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora review (PS5)

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, the long-awaited open-world action-adventure game, has finally arrived. Ubisoft, in collaboration with James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment, has been promising an immersive experience set in the enchanting world of Pandora – and with today’s tech we were curious to see how well it would deliver upon the standard set by the films. Released last week for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S, we explored the Avatar world on a PS5 for this review.

Frontiers of Pandora veers heavily towards the Na’vi perspective, placing players in control of a young Na’vi orphan raised and initially trained as a soldier by the Resources Development Administration (RDA). The story unfolds in the Western Frontier, an unseen region of Pandora, as the player discovers their origins and leads local Na’vi tribes against the RDA’s exploitation of natural resources.

Having seen the films, there’s a degree of predictability in the main story moments. However, the true allure of the game lies in the free-roaming experience, exploring the intricacies of Pandora and encountering different tribes affected by human interference. The visual and auditory aspects of the game contribute significantly to its immersive quality, with stunning graphics that do the films justice and a soundtrack that complements the original score as well.

Played from a first-person perspective, Frontiers of Pandora focuses on exploration, harvesting, and hunting rather than solely emphasizing combat and narrative. The game’s detailed open world is impressive, with lush environments and diverse biomes to discover. The implementation of a crafting system, intricately tied to exploration and the quality of the materials you collect, also adds depth to the open-world experience and your understanding of the environment around you.

The game features an innovative approach to character progression, linking levels to the equipment you carry around rather than traditional XP-based systems. This system encourages players to adapt their playstyles based on the gear they acquire, promoting a dynamic and strategic approach to combat where you’re not just consistently trying to get better at the same thing for the entire length of the campaign.

The combat mechanics, while generally enjoyable, suffers a little because of a lack of enemy variety. There’s a great blend in combat styles because of the use of the Na’vi weapons, such as bows and arrows alongside RDA firearms, but we would have loved some more surprising adversaries and scenarios to run into as well. Instead, Frontiers of Pandora tends to fall into Ubisoft’s familiar open-world tropes, and not all of the side activities are equally interesting to do.

The incorporation of the Na’vi sense, highlighting interactable objects and enemy vulnerabilities, added a strategic layer to the gameplay. The game’s agility aspect, allowing advanced acrobatic feats and riding on flying creatures named ikran, contributed to the fluidity of movement – while adding immersion to those who are fond of the films at the same time.

Frontiers of Pandora’s visuals, are some of Ubisoft’s best yet, showcasing the vibrant and detailed world of Pandora. The attention to detail in flora, fauna, and the overall environment is excellent, and it looks like the decision to leave the previous console generation behind has paid off. The game’s immersive qualities were further heightened by the use of the DualSense controller on the PS5, offering a great use haptic feedback and adaptive triggers.

In conclusion, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora emerges as an excellent open-world adventure, leveraging Ubisoft’s collaboration with Lightstorm to create a visually stunning and immersive rendition of Pandora. While the narrative doesn’t turn the world of Pandora upside down, the game’s emphasis on exploration, crafting, and unique character progression systems provided a fresh take on the open-world formula. The breathtaking visuals, captivating sound design, and attention to detail in Pandora’s ecosystem make this game a worthwhile experience, even for those unfamiliar with the Avatar series. So despite some minor shortcomings, Frontiers of Pandora is a notable achievement in the realm of movie tie-in games – which tradtionally get a bad rep.

Score: 8.0/10