Avatar: Revolutionizing Ubisoft's Open-World Games

Open-world games often thrive by immersing players in the midst of epic conflicts and uprisings, waged within breathtaking and captivating realms. These worlds are typically dominated by a malevolent force that has seized control over nearly everything, necessitating a relentless and incremental push to reclaim what has been lost. Utilizing this tried-and-true formula, Ubisoft consistently crafts open-world games that boast vast and stunning landscapes, pitting players against formidable and deeply entrenched military adversaries. The enigmatic and awe-inspiring moon of Pandora, a focal point in the Avatar films, harmoniously aligns with this approach.

Yet, what truly distinguishes Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is the potential it presents for developer Massive Entertainment to refine the Ubisoft open-world formula during a time when the genre is yielding a palpable weariness.

We spent approximately two and a half hours immersed in the world of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. At first glance, the game fits seamlessly into the well-established Ubisoft open-world genre. Players engage in quests, gather resources from plants and animals for crafting, and liberate enemy-controlled areas by capturing bases. Initially, the gameplay bears resemblance to the Far Cry series, but incorporates some RPG elements inspired by Massive's Division games, as well as the presence of extraterrestrial beings.

Nevertheless, what truly sets Frontiers apart from other Ubisoft titles is the expansive and visually stunning world of Pandora. This captivating realm is teeming with peculiar flora and fauna, offering players an exciting opportunity to explore an entirely unfamiliar terrain.

Frontiers of Pandora offers an independent storyline separate from the movies, but with a similar foundation. Players assume the role of a Na'vi, the indigenous inhabitants of Pandora, who are engaged in a battle against the invading human forces of the industrialized RDA. This captivating narrative unfolds on the unexplored continent of the Western Frontier, which has yet to be featured in any previous Avatar stories. It takes place shortly before the events depicted in Avatar: The Way of Water.

During our hands-on experience with Frontiers of Pandora, we engaged in several story quests that provided insight into the game's world interaction. Playing as a Na'vi evoked a distinct parkour-style sensation, given the character's larger size compared to humans. Scaling rocks and trees effortlessly to maintain speed, there were ample opportunities to climb and traverse the environment. Additionally, the ability to charge jumps for considerable height and employ air dashes to bridge gaps significantly enhanced mobility, effectively granting a triple jump mechanic.

"Na'vi vision" is a helpful tool for navigating your surroundings. It highlights creatures and important elements in the world, as well as briefly pointing out your destination points. Quest objectives provide descriptions and directions to locations, emphasizing the use of landmarks and compass points. However, this navigation system may be confusing at first, especially in unfamiliar landscapes. It is easy to get turned around or miss your destination, requiring some time to consult the in-game map for reorientation.

Na'vi vision allows you to mark plants and creatures in order to gather information about them, which can be added to a hunter compendium menu. By researching ingredients and animals, you can learn where they gather and how to locate them. Na'vi vision also enables you to highlight these marked objects, making it easier to find what you need. Keep in mind that the rarity of plants and animals can vary depending on the time of day, weather conditions, and other factors, so careful tracking is necessary to obtain the items you require.

Frontiers of Pandora utilizes Na'vi vision not only to guide players towards navigation points or present them with numerous icons to pursue but to immerse them in its otherworldly environment. In a specific side-quest, players are assigned the task of locating a missing RDA defector who crashed a VTOL while attempting to deliver medical supplies to the Na'vi resistance. Finding him involves several stages, including discovering the crash site, eliminating the RDA forces also searching for him, and conducting your own investigation of the crash.

There's a bit of detective work involved in this task. Your objective is to locate and choose various objects at the crash site, such as a parachute entangled in a tree, a torn flight suit, or even the VTOL itself. You then need to "connect" these pieces of evidence that fit together, allowing your character to draw conclusions. Once you have determined what transpired, your character deduces that the defector sustained injuries and left behind a distinctive scent, resulting from the medical supplies used for self-treatment. By utilizing Na'vi vision, you can visualize the scent trail and track it. Although not entirely groundbreaking for open-world games, these elements are skillfully integrated in Frontiers of Pandora to immerse you in the role of a discerning hunter in the forest. Appreciatively, the game challenges you to critically analyze these puzzles rather than mere reliance on markers or mission goals.

The Frontiers of Pandora benefits from its less obvious directions, enhancing the overall experience. During the preview session, one of the quests immersed us in an Avatar-like scenario: locating and bonding with an ikran, the Na'vi's flying creatures for transportation. This mission required scaling floating islands above Pandora's terrain and occasionally solving puzzles to progress. These puzzles involved discovering large paddle-shaped leaves that propelled us across vast gaps and uncovering pathways blocked by massive shell-like plants.

To overcome these obstacles, one needed to follow vines around the environment, reaching leaves that could be activated to clear the path. The demo did not provide any explicit instructions on how to solve these puzzles, implying that one must rely on their intelligence and their Na'vi vision to determine the next steps. Although initially puzzling, this reliance on navigation emphasizes the sensation of possessing the Na'vi's unique abilities and connection to the world.

How well these attempts to fully immerse players in Pandora actually work is difficult to determine with just a brief glimpse of the game. During our few hours in Frontiers of Pandora, we found ourselves getting lost frequently, as the game often required us to locate small plants or objects in its densely packed world. This could be quite frustrating, considering the vast number of plants and animals that serve as crafting materials. However, we did not spend much time exploring the crafting systems. Furthermore, our lack of understanding regarding navigation and finding important materials could be attributed to joining the game midway, without the usual tutorial experience that new players receive.

Once you have formed a bond with an ikran, you can summon it at any time, which helps make the expansive world of Pandora feel more manageable. This bond also grants you unique combat abilities, emphasizing speed, maneuverability, and unorthodox attack strategies.

As a Na'vi fighter, you possess incredible speed and strength. However, you are not impervious to the RDA's weapons and explosives, which they use without hesitation. While you may have a physical advantage and tower over any human opponent you encounter, they are equipped with VTOLs, mech suits, and assault rifles. The fact that you are outmatched and formidable yet not invincible emphasizes the importance of strategic thinking in approaching battles in Frontiers of Pandora.

You have the option to confront your enemies head-on, but in the specific quest we played that involves infiltrating an industrial RDA base, stealth and hit-and-run tactics prove to be more effective. In Ubisoft open-world games, stealth is usually a viable choice but not necessarily mandatory, mainly because you typically have such powerful weaponry that allows you to effortlessly defeat any group of soldiers foolish enough to challenge you. However, in this game, your vulnerability creates a sense that being covert and clever is just as essential for survival as having excellent marksmanship.

In this open-world game, we embarked on a story quest that involved infiltrating and dismantling bases. However, similar to other games in this genre, you will also come across bases as you explore the world and can engage in combat with them at any given time, provided you have the appropriate gear level. It's worth noting that some bases are significantly more challenging than others, prompting your character to emphasize the importance of preparation before attempting to conquer them. These RDA bases have a detrimental impact on the surrounding environment, causing distress and even death to the wildlife and draining the vibrant colors from Pandora. The only way to rectify this pollution is by completely destroying the bases. This typically requires entering the base and triggering several switches scattered throughout to induce a meltdown. However, it's crucial to remain covert as all RDA bases are heavily guarded, and being detected will sound alarms and attract reinforcements.

The stealth and combat mechanics in this game feel reminiscent of other Ubisoft titles in the same genre. Enemies possess indicators that alert you when you've been spotted, allowing you to retreat and hide to avoid detection. Additionally, you have access to a silent bow that can silently dispatch RDA troops without alerting their comrades. The game truly showcases its integrated systems when you are spotted. Surviving in this hostile environment relies heavily on your ability to run, jump, and climb, and while facing mechanized enemies, they can be taken down relatively quickly. This prevents you from feeling overwhelmed by enemies that are overly resilient compared to your character. By targeting their fuel tanks with well-placed shots, you can dismantle mechs and other adversaries. This adds a skill-based element to the gameplay, complementing the necessity of utilizing movement, cover, and climbing to gain an advantage over the RDA. Interestingly, there are multiple strategies available for defeating mech suits, including shattering the cockpit glass with a powerful bow shot to reach the pilot, exploiting environmental hazards, or hacking into the suits and executing a disabling command.

Our hands-on experience with Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora was impressive, showing great potential. It appears that Massive is utilizing the Avatar license to push the boundaries of the typical approach to open-world games by Ubisoft. While many familiar elements are present, there is a clear effort to move away from excessive hand-holding often seen in these types of games. When the game reaches its peak moments, this approach proves effective, providing thrilling, fast-paced action and a visually stunning world to explore.

The real question is whether a vast open world can function without relying on the usual user interface elements and navigation icons that guide players. Although features like Na'vi vision seem like a step in the right direction, they may offer a different form of guidance instead of reducing it. This alternative guidance requires players to simply hold down a button to see what needs to be done, rather than having constant prompts displayed on the screen. Nevertheless, given that Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is set in an enormous, breathtaking, and unfamiliar world, if it manages to strike the right balance in guiding players without explicitly telling them what to do, it could become a truly thrilling new frontier in the realm of open-world games.

Editor's P/S

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora has the potential to revolutionize Ubisoft's open-world formula. The game takes place on the stunning moon of Pandora, which is teeming with exotic flora and fauna. Players take on the role of a Na'vi, the indigenous inhabitants of Pandora, who are engaged in a battle against the invading human forces of the industrialized RDA. The game features a mix of familiar Ubisoft open-world gameplay elements, such as quests, resource gathering, and base liberation, with new RPG elements inspired by Massive's Division games.

One of the things that sets Frontiers of Pandora apart from other Ubisoft titles is its focus on exploration. The world of Pandora is vast and varied, and there is always something new to discover. Players can explore the world on foot, on the back of a mount, or even in the air using a glider suit. The game also features a number of side quests that encourage players to explore every nook and cranny of the world.