When Ubisoft introduced that it was making an Avatar recreation, I admit to it wasn’t essentially prime of my checklist of video games to play. I wasn’t a fan of the movies (don’t love them, don’t hate them) and the sport regarded type of generic within the teaser trailers. However when it got here nearer to launch, I admit I modified my thoughts. I had nice religion in builders Large Leisure in any case they’ve finished with The Division, and if anybody could make an open-world exploration recreation, it’s Ubisoft.

Additionally, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora was popping out on the excellent time. Any earlier within the 12 months and it could have been drowned out by the deluge of extra thrilling video games, however early December is the proper time for a by-the-numbers Ubisoft sandbox title. As I used to be mentally worn out from the extra complicated titles 2023 has thrown at me, I used to be prepared to like Frontiers of Pandora.

Now, after having performed it, I’ve one factor to say:

I fucking hand over.

What within the Ubisoft assist cellphone tree…?

Let me paint you an image: I personal a number of gaming PCs, together with the one on which I do most of my work. Admittedly, I haven’t constructed a brand new one shortly, so that they’re not essentially the most up-to-date rigs in existence, however they’ve managed each different recreation this 12 months with out problem. And Frontiers of Pandora solely functioned on one of them. After I tried to load it into my residence PC, it was comically damaged — we’re speaking quest triggers that don’t, invisible enemies and my character falling into black voids each jiffy.

Even once I loaded the sport up on my work PC, the one one that might assist it, it’s nonetheless having points. I used to be even anticipating some bugs – in any case, it’s a Ubisoft sandbox. I used to be not anticipating the sport to be fully unplayable, with a number of in-game bugs, entire recreation crashes and even a number of save-game corruptions. After a sure level, I had to surrender – it was simply an excessive amount of work. And whereas the sport is likely to be marginally extra useful on console, I’ve heard some gamers are working into the identical bugs there.

So to that finish, I’ll warn you up entrance that this recreation doesn’t get a score from me. As a result of I can’t evaluation a recreation that I can’t play. I put a number of hours into the sport – I actually tried my hardest to expertise as a lot as I may. However even after Ubisoft and Large have launched a number of patches, the sport remains to be barely useful on my PC. And consider me once I say I attempted all of the fixes I may consider and nonetheless bought crashes and corrupted saves.

So right here’s what I considered Frontiers of Pandora, for what time I managed to play it.

It was all going so properly: The good things

The sport takes place on the titular Pandora – and I hope you’ve seen the flicks, as a result of the sport does little-to-nothing that can assist you perceive the world and the lore. It doesn’t even clarify what an Avatar is, however fortunately it doesn’t matter an excessive amount of. You’re an orphaned Na’vi, stolen by the villainous people of the RDA for brainwashing, however are saved when your Avatar instructor stuffs you in a cryochamber for 16 years whereas the occasions of the movie collection occur.

If you awake, you’re instantly thrust into the world of the Resistance, a human-Na’vi cohort making an attempt to oust the RDA from Pandora, in addition to the precise Na’vi tradition. You’re a Sarentu, a member of a misplaced tribe of nomadic storytellers – which roughly implies that you’re free to discover the map as you would like with out anybody questioning you. You could unite the native Na’vi tribes with the Resistance to battle the RDA whereas studying about your individual misplaced tradition.

If this recreation will get one real praise from me, it’s that it’s attractive. The world of Pandora is as lush and exquisite within the recreation as it’s within the motion pictures, and the assorted biomes the participant can discover are all breathtaking, particularly as soon as your character will get a flying mount and may view them from above. There’s additionally a verticality to the terrain I hardly ever see in sandbox titles like this – the Sarentu is ceaselessly scaling cliffs or climbing timber and it feels pure. The number of wildlife helps preserve the visuals attention-grabbing.

The motion and gunplay are additionally satisfying. Often in a title like this, first-person navigation can be restricted to human agility and velocity. In Frontiers of Pandora, the Na’vi protagonist is quick and dexterous sufficient to parkour throughout the forest, making navigation on the dense forested areas extra enjoyable than anticipated. And if your individual blue ft aren’t adequate, the sport affords a number of animal mounts, together with the winged ikran, to hurry the method.

The protagonist has entry to a handful of weapon sorts, all of which get the job finished of slaying villainous RDA forces. There’s not a lot selection, even with the compulsory crafting system, however there doesn’t actually must be. The Sarentu comes with a built-in capability to see enemy weak factors, that means that fight is as quick paced and crisp originally of the sport because it’s going to be.

I additionally respect how low-key the “gamey” components are. There’s a restricted HUD that reveals you a common well being and vitality meter, in addition to a compass which you’ll be able to flip off in settings. All the pieces else solely seems once you use the in-game Na’vi senses (principally Eagle Imaginative and prescient) to go searching. It’s clear and retains the participant’s eyes on the great thing about the world round them. Does anybody keep in mind that previous King Kong FPS from 2005? Frontiers of Pandora’s HUD jogs my memory barely of that, particularly for those who flip off the entire non-compulsory components.

Sufficient in regards to the Resistance: The unhealthy stuff

Since everybody already is aware of how I really feel in regards to the recreation’s technical points, I received’t repeat them right here. The principle drawback with Frontiers of Pandora itself is that, for a recreation so exotically lovely and with a lot story promise, it’s fairly primary. It’s a by-the-numbers sandbox with a humdrum most important story and a map filled with factors to find. Like I stated earlier than, I used to be trying ahead to “primary” after a 12 months full of maximum highs and lows, however that doesn’t change the truth that the sport by no means exceeded my expectations.

The story itself can be – properly, I don’t need to say a “let down,” however there’s a glimmer of what may have been that will get smothered in banality fairly early within the recreation. The Sarentu participant character comes throughout as earnest and heartfelt, desperately wanting to attach with Pandora’s residing spirit Eywa and their very own historical past. Had that been the sport’s story, I feel I might have loved it extra. As an alternative, they nearly instantly get shanghaied into serving to the Resistance, which feels prefer it calls for extra loyalty than it deserves.

The entire recreation is about begging three Na’vi tribes to assist the Resistance, when it feels prefer it may have been in regards to the Sarentu and their siblings studying extra about themselves and Pandora. The Na’vi they meet are actually prepared to show them till they begin blathering in regards to the Resistance. That is my good distance of claiming not one of the aspect characters are deep or attention-grabbing and I failed to attach with nearly everybody except for the Sarentu’s siblings.

That is compounded by the truth that there’s no actual risk from the RDA. Sure, they’re colonizing Pandora and have to be stopped, however there’s no sinister villain performed by Stephen Lang able to fly in and menace the Sarentu. There’s a villain – a besuited RDA pencil pusher and his army lackey – however they solely make a couple of appearances and for essentially the most half the participant character is battling faceless RDA troops. It begs the query, if one Na’vi (who’s barely a Na’vi) can take aside the RDA bases like they’re made from LEGO, why do we’d like the tribes to cooperate with us so badly?

So must you play Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora?

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is at its greatest when it’s letting the participant discover Pandora and be a Na’vi – in different phrases, when it’s giving any fan of the Avatar movies precisely what they need. The sandbox is so lovely that, in another 12 months, I’d need to give it a prize for its artwork design and the in-game motion and navigation is ideal, significantly as soon as the participant will get a mount.

Nonetheless, for those who’re anticipating greater than a cookie-cutter sandbox title with boring characters and a narrative that doesn’t appear to go anyplace, you then’ll most likely be disillusioned. As acknowledged, I can’t charge the sport as a result of I can’t end it (I can barely play it), however from what I’ve seen, I doubt there are any large and spectacular surprises ready for me within the closing third or so of the sport.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is obtainable on PlayStation 5, Xbox Collection X/S and PC. Ubisoft gave GamesBeat a code for the needs of this “evaluation.”