Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora | 40+ Hours Played - Review

welcome back everybody I'm Nick 930 and today I want to share with you my thoughts on ubisoft's recently released open world action adventure title Avatar frontiers of Pandora frontiers of Pandora is a firstperson open World adventure game created by ubisoft's Massive entertainment Studio using their Snowdrop engine the game takes cues from movie soft's other popular franchises mainly the Far Cry series and how it handles general movement and control though leans in heavily to the world of James Cameron's Avatar film series to create something entirely different players assume the role of their own na'vi resistance fighter as they explore the Western Frontiers in search of new allies in the fight against the enrings the game is available now for Xbox series X PlayStation 5 and the PC the latter of which I'll be showing today in this video and is probably one of the best looking games to release this year using Soph phisticated lighting animation work and art design to create a fully living and breathing Pandora and while there are a few techical hiccups along with questionable gameplay design decisions the game overall is a delight to play through and I feel it's worthy of being stacked up against some of the other great games we've seen released in 2023 so let's kick this review off by first taking a spoiler-free look at the game story for those unfamiliar with the world of Avatar its story takes place far away on a distant Moon called Pandora that's not only capable of sustaining life but does so at an extraordinary rate in scale with colossal tree growth and an exorbitant amount of valuable resources with Earth having basically been picked clean Humanity has chosen Pandora as its next potential home world with the resource development Administration or RDA leading the charge only Pandora is already host to a species of intelligent bipedal creatures the navi who are are determined to defend their home World from Invaders to circumvent an inevitable War human members of the Pandora conservative initiative attempt to approach the navi diplomatically and design the Avatar program which enables humans to directly control their own biogenetically engineered na'vi puppet who can then infiltrate the tribes in hopes of understanding their culture while working towards a potential collaborative relationship frontiers of Pandora kicks off shortly before the original film's climatic ending the player assumes the role of an unnamed na'vi child who's been kidnapped from their tribe to take part in the rda's ambassador program or forced re-education program in an attempt to turn the navvi against one another but after a resistance is formed on The Far Side of the Moon the rest of Pandora begins to push back as well forcing the RDA facility to shut down and the kidnapped children to be secretly Frozen in cryosleep they then awaken 16 years later and are let loose into the Wilds of Pandora where they seek to band together with the resistance and push the remnants of the RDA out of the Western frontier once and for all the game story structure is mostly linear with a singular main quest line leading players nicely to and from key locations often locking the time of day in weather for important sequences ensuring players experience the narrative as intended players will meet a wide range of different characters both notv and human each fully voiced and emoted with some great animation work the voice acting is also decent with the one glaring exception being the male voice actor used for the Player's own character after starting the campaign over when testing the PS5 version I immediately chose the default female voice and the quality and believability of that voice was significantly better the male voice actor isn't necessarily terrible as there are a few well- delivered performances throughout but the voice often feels very childish and whiny at times and keeps you from ever feeling like you're steadly becoming a powerful na'vi Warrior it also becomes especially annoying when exploring the open world outside of the main quest line as the player character will needlessly speak out loud often for each Mission objective completed similar to the incessant character chatter in some Modern titles like Horizon zero Dawn the game does at least avoid the pitfalls of trying too hard to be funny there are some light-hearted fun bits throughout especially from the overly excitable human character priia who now and again will chime in on the radio but most of the time the characters do take themselves seriously and don't fall into the Trap of today's storytelling and film and games altogether the story is fairly decent it doesn't necessarily add much to the Avatar world that fans didn't already know but it certainly provides more to appreciate about the world of Pandora adding with it new tribes of na'vi each with their own unique characteristics and adding extra explanation for all the various plants creatures and RDA technologies that you may have missed on the big screen this alongside the not so subtle overarching messages about environmentalism colonialism and socialism make for an intriguing enough narrative that is present just enough to enhance the experience without being too overbearing and that's perfect because Avatar's open world is one of the more engaging and interesting that I've experienced in 20123 massive has delivered an exceptionally well realized version of James Cameron's world that is both loyal to the source material while engaging to explore using traditional gameplay formats the environment is broken up into three key areas the opening area drops players right off into the heart of the Avatar experience with the kingore forest providing familiar thick jungles winding rivers and gorgeous waterfalls this is Then followed by the vast open valleys of the upper Plains the feature lots of fields with tall grass broken up by towering mountains and Gusty wind and lastly there's the mysterious clouded Forest that feels slightly more temperate than the jungles down south and makes great use of the volumetric clouds and lighting effects Incorporated throughout the game in building the world this way Avatar's campaign is neatly compartmentalized into three act each focusing on the player and the resistance allies working with the local notv tribes all of whom have their own unique cultural identity in each of these areas players will find several smaller encampments that can be used to rest and fast travel players may also encounter members of each Clan out in the Wilds themselves often hunting or Scavenging for resources and if approached they'll often share resources and knowledge with the player the RDA on the other hand aren't so friendly they've set up shop all cross the Frontiers and have massively disrupted the ecosystem in the process if the player feels up to it they can even rid themselves of the RDA altogether disrupting their camps and Mining facilities and restoring life and color to the world in the process this is a lot like far cry's old Outpost clearing mechanic with players able to sneak around or go in guns blazing though you're never required to kill anyone here and can simply pull a few switches undetected to force the RDA to flee if you clear one of these bigger installations this way players are even rewarded with rare gear in a nearby store room making it well worth the effort a really cool detail added here is that if you return to a conquered Outpost at a later time the world of Pandora will have actually rapidly reclaimed it with thick vegetation consuming the old wrecked vehicles and structures and new player upgrades and resources can also be found over top of them alongside Outpost clearing frontiers of Pandora also features several other open world activities to round out the experience like restoring power to Old resistance field Labs finding the right angle to view the sarun 2 clan totem fixing aolan Stone flutes and following a series of hand gestures on screen to create what are called memory paintings while interesting in the sense that they explore the culture of the na'vi a bit more I personally didn't find most of these activities to be all that engaging they came off feeling more like checklist items not unlike most other open world Ubisoft games as of late though they are at least separate enough on the map to not ever feel too excessive and at the very least offer a break from clearing outposts and resource hunting fortunately the game is kept afloat with its gorgeous environment I found myself regularly getting lost in the jungles going from one unique Landmark to the next experimenting with the various plant life and hunting different creatures it's breathtaking everywhere you look and what's more every small bit of these dense scenes clearly has some reason for being there massive spent a considerable amount of time ensuring that all the Flora within the world of Avatar is just as interactive as they appear in the films many plants for example can be picked for their fruit which can be used to to craft New Gear or cook meals that give the player temporary Buffs other plants even play a direct role in the action with these blue flowers providing a temporary speed boost large round mushrooms serving as bounce pads and these big leaves from towering trees being used to slow the players descent if they fall from high up meanwhile other plants May pose a threat shooting seeds or exploding with a poisonous Cloud by building the world this way players will need to steadily learn the ins and outs of everything that they encounter in the wild making them more aware of their surroundings and therefore making every inch of the world more interesting as a result traversal to the world is also handled very well the game is controlled almost exclusively in first person when on the ground you can run jump Sprint and slide and can interact with various environmental elements using Contex sensitive button prompts however the not handle a little bit differently than the humans in the Far Cry series for one they're much larger which masses have did a fantastic job realizing by incorporating lots of two-scale human structures that players will have to awkwardly Crouch around just to get inside doorways also love the animation work that went into this as the player model will often Reach Out And Touch nearby walls as they're rounding Corners which really helps to sell the illusion that much more the knv are also nimbler than their human adversaries which becomes immediately apparent when leaping from tall branches using the helpful charge jump and double jump Maneuvers the the autog grab and traversal also feels really smoothly designed allowing the player to easily walk over smaller Ledges without having to also press the jump button repeatedly and general environmental Collision feels forgiving enough to keep the player moving fluidly at all times the core controls and platforming systems feel fantastic even better than similar mechanics in Far Cry however combat is where Avatar's weaknesses become apparent while similar on the surface Avatar's combat design feels kind of flimsy there's very few combat abilities available to the player outside of just firing back or awkwardly dodging a few feet to the side players can throw in big jumps and slides but not being able to ads and only having one or two melee attacks makes it feel really bare bone the game is built around using only a handful of weapons each with their own designated use depending on the situation there's your standard heavy armaments courtesy of the RDA like the assault rifle shotgun and stun grenades that are loud but extremely powerful and useful when in a desperate situation though the standard bow and arrow is the go-to for taking out most enemies is usually a one-hot kill to any human regardless of where you hit them for tougher targets like the RDA piloting exoskeletons players can make use of more powerful Spears heavy bows and the staff sling exploiting weak spots and destroying their offensive capabilities or they can optionally take the stealthy approach and wreak havoc on the rda's tech with the help of a hacking tool called Sid this tool gets a lot of mileage throughout Avatar as it could be used to stun almost any RDA Mech allowing for a follow-up takedown that ejects the human right out the window Sid can also be used to hack stationary Sentry turrets at fortifications and is regularly used for various hacking puzzles throughout the open world each with a varying level difficulty depending on the location the combat overall is serviceable but it became apparent partway through my playthrough that the stealthy approach was the intended way to play and considering how much fun the open combat can be in Far Cry I was disappointed by just how overly simplistic similar combat scenarios can feel in this game and how overly repetitive they feel as well another big reason for this is the severe lack of diversity with the Enemy combatants sure there's different version of all the amp suits and mechanized exoskeletons with some using machine guns While others have flamethrowers along with a few different types of aerial vehicles too but the predatory Wildlife players will face off against in the jungles is remarkably limited despite there being great diversity with the neutral and friendly Wildlife otherwise you'll basically only ever run into packs of Viper wols for the first few hours and then thur for the last few there's also cloaked Panthers and Scarab crawlers but considering how diverse the plant and Wildlife is in this world I expected significantly more than just a handful of dangerous animals in these jungles to help Traverse the world players are also given an opportunity to bond with their very own icron that like in the movie involves a similar climb to the top of the floating islands via a very well-designed sequence early in the game once unlocked the icron makes traveling the world significantly more manageable as players can freely call on on them at any time and jump off at a moment's notice the icron can also be used in combat as well with cool cinematic moments like this one being commonplace when flying near larger RDA Airborne installations in addition to the icron players can also Mount dire horses later in the game that aren't quite as interesting as their flying cousins but make crossing the vast valleys of the upper planes much easier and even have a cool effect on the ground when running through the valleys at night as players progress to the game they'll also discover several different upgrades each designed to enhance various aspects of the gameplay Loop clothing pieces like torso arm and leg wear can be used to enhance the players base defense stats and can be fitted with additional mods to boost the players combat and healing capabilities new weapons function the same way and operate on a traditional tiered loot system that players should be all too familiar with nowadays frontiers of Pandora also features five different skill trees each built around different aspects of the game alongside the basic skills players will also discover unique ancestor skills at set points in the world two which provide players with special abilities like new takedown Maneuvers a double jump and reduced fall damage to unlock these players need to find large plants called tarsu hidden in the world usually in very well- hidden areas marked with their approximate location on the map smaller taru saplings can also be found which offer single skill points to be spent on the basic skill tree altogether Avatar frontiers of Pandora offers an engaging and Rich open World Experience filled to the brim with detail that will appeal to both Gamers and Avatar fans alike there's a few aspects here that feel a bit basic when compared to other similar open world experiences mainly the combat stealth and side activities but just taking in the SES and experimenting with everything found in each environment was enough to keep me hooked from start to finish finally let's talk about the game's actual visual presentation a big reason that I personally enjoyed my time with this game is just how beautiful it looks regardless of the platform Choice the world is unlike anything I've seen in other games with a fully realized alien world filled to the brim with Dynamic vegetation and animal life the game's lighting is especially impressive with things like Global illumination and bounce lighting being prominently featured most notable when looking at the red cone-like plants that pop into the ground right from the beginning I could tell that massive art designers genuinely cared about the world that they were building with little flourishes in this introductory sequence that reminded me of ubisoft's earlier days the character models are also beautifully detailed especially the not Fe creatures who move and express themselves independently from one another allowing each individual personality to be clearly represented Ray Trace Reflections are also at play here and are coupled with screen space ref flections and some interesting Dynamic water simulation that will react to the player and even seems to feature proper current systems to make the rivers a genuine obstacle and then there's the volumetric clouds that function similarly to the Fantastic Cloud systems used in this year's Horizon forbidden West expansion with Dynamic rainstorms that players can fly straight through only to emerge over top of them in bright sunlight there are a few little technical hiccups here and there like some unnaturally bright Bloom and specular lighting at night in some areas some jarring filter transitions when Crossing into different biomes and occasionally buggy AI pathing that has enemies running back and forth in the distance without actually attempting to engage the player but it's otherwise a gorgeously presented game that ran very well on my PC that being said the game is very demanding even with an I9 13900 k and a 4090 Avatar at a native 4K resolution was tough to run smoothly the game features nvidia's dlss 3.5.1 though if you want to use the frame generation feature you'll need to swap over to amd's FSR 3 instead for a majority of my playtime I made use of FSR 3 frame generation and the experience was notably smoother than when I had it disabled though it would have also been nice to have both types of frame generation available depending on the hardware that you choose to go with I also wanted to point out a slightly annoying visual bug that occurs with certain Hut elements at the time of writing for whatever reason these blurry backgrounds used to help the text stand out for Mission objective reminders make the image feel as though it's tearing really badly which makes for a subpar presentation whenever they appear on screen I found myself totally disabling the HUD for this exact reason which still makes the game fully playable but a little bit more tedious as I regularly found myself popping into the map just to get my bearings as for the console version I was pleasantly surprised to see just how well the game ran on the PlayStation 5 the game ships with two visual modes a 30fps quality mode with what looks like a locked 4K output and a 60fps performance mode at what is likely some form of lower resolution coupled with an upscaling technique personally I recommend the performance mode in this case as the game runs beautifully especially when paired with a variable refresh rate display and things like HDR look phenomenal in this game with plenty of bright vibrant colors really demonstrating the full range of these newer displays overall Avatar frontiers of Pandora is the surprise hit of 2023 sure the game on the surface is absolutely just Far Cry but with blue people and the gameplay Loop could have been made a little bit more interesting but the world that they created here is a fantastic love letter to the franchise it may even serve to introduce Gamers not already invested in the world of Avatar to give it another try but what do you guys think are you interested in checking out this new Avatar game let me know in the comments section and don't forget to like And subscribe for more content posted every [Music] [Music] week

Channel: Nick930

Views: 47,455

Keywords: Avatar, Avatar Frontiers of Pandora, Ubisoft, Massive, Review, Gameplay, Overview, 4K, Ultra, PC, Ray Tracing, RTX, DLSS, Jungle, Na'vi, Navi, RDA, Far Cry, Open World, RPG, Gunplay, Combat, Plants, Ikran, James Cameron, Pandora, Preview, Breakdown, Graphics, Story, Game, PS5, PlayStation 5, XboxSeries X, Xbox, Sony, Microsoft, Nvidia, FSR, AMD, Fidelity, Performance, Benchmark, Nick930, Direct Comparison

Id: MaTUbUVarWs

Length: 20min 25sec (1225 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 11 2023