Na’viing a laugh so far.
You know that bit at the beginning of The Wizard of Oz?
That’sexactlyhow I felt when I first stepped out into Pandora.
It kind of hurts your brain.
What, exactly, are you supposed to be looking at here?
The vines growing on the tree?
The plants growing on the vines that grow on the trees?
The deer-esque silhouetteseatingthe plants growing on the vines that grow on the trees?
Where does one life begin and the next end?
Where am I supposed to go?
What the hell am I supposed todo?
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandoraeven nails The Wizard of Oz’s sneaky bait and switch, too.
There is no colour here.
It doesn’t matter, though; the metaphors here are neither subtle nor sophisticated.
Much has been recycled from Ubisoft’s established blueprint.
And it’s… noisy.
And I’m certain it’s Pandora’s thriving ecosystem that gets me lost all the time, too.
The combat, too, feels like a stumble backwards rather than the step forward I’d been expecting.
- there never seems to be the mountainous topography I crave near RDA outposts.
This is particularly problematic when your supply of traditional metal-and-gunpowder ammo falls low because guess what?
Your ammo supply willalwaysbe running low.
Not when there are five murderous mechs trained on you, anyway.
But hey - it’s early days.
And between us, that’s okay with me.
I don’t want to skip the side quests.
I don’t want to rush.
I can’t wait.
A copy of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora was provided for review by Ubisoft.
