Summary
Fan-service is always a tricky thing to get right, both in movies and in video games. When working with material froma big film franchise, there’s presumably a temptation to just throw every bit of fan-service at the player, from major character cameos to popular weapons and locations to iconic past lines of dialogue. More often than not, a subtler approach tends to be for the best, thoughAvatar: Frontiers of Pandoramight be an exception to that rule.
From what fans gathered from all the pre-release trailers, it seemed as thoughAvatar: Frontiers of Pandorawas going to be a game that that caters to fans ofJames Cameron’sAvataruniversefirst and foremost. While the gameplay definitely looked a little too similar toFar Cry,Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora’s world and general atmosphere made a strong first impression in its early trailers, looking like a spot-on recreation of the movies' best moments. And now thatAvataris out, it feels safe to say that’s exactly the case.Avatar: Frontiers of Pandoraleans all the way into fan-service, but that’s far from a bad thing in this instance.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Puts Its Fan-Service Front and Center
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Plays Like a Greatest Hits of the Movies
While there are plenty of original ideas and story beats inAvatar: Frontiers of Pandora, many of its best moments do feel as though they’ve been lifted directly from theAvatarmovies, though that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The beats are the same, butAvatar: Frontiers of Pandoratries to put a spin on each of its borrowed story elements, either adding more depth to the moment or changing the context significantly to essentially make it a brand-new moment.
One of the best examples of this isAvatar: Frontiers of Pandora’s main plot.Avatar: Frontiers of Pandorasees players take control of a young Na’vi who’s spent his entire young life imprisoned in an RDA facility below Pandora’s surface. Upon breaking out, the player-character is tasked with reuniting the three Na’vi clans of the Western Frontier in an effort to push back the RDA forces in the area, all the while reconnecting with the world of Pandora and the spirit of Eywa.
This premise follows very closely in the firstAvatarmovie’s footsteps. As a Na’vi, players will reconnect with nature by participating in ancient rituals, learning the language of the Na’vi people and discovering long-lost customs.Avatar: Frontiers of Pandoraalso heavily borrows some set pieces from the first movie, withJake Sully’s first flightbeing practically remade in video game format inAvatar: Frontiers of Pandoraduring the mission where the player first bonds with their Ikran and unlocks the ability of flight. These moments never feel cheap, though, asAvatar: Frontiers of Pandoragoes out of its way to understand and embrace what made those moments so special in the first place, which in turn makes these missions feel more like reliving an exciting moment than just treading back over well-worn ground.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Is Filled With New Lore
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora’s fan-service doesn’t just rely on remaking moments fans have already seen before. One ofFrontiers of Pandora’s greatest strengths is its introduction of new lore, all of which is completely canon to the widerAvataruniverse. FromAvatar: Frontiers of Pandora’s four new Na’vi clans, to the planet’s new fauna and flora, the game’s codex is packed with new tidbits of lore for fans to delve into.
Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora
WHERE TO PLAY
Protect Pandora. Become Na’Vi. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora™ is a first-person, action-adventure game set in the open world of the never-before-seen Western Frontier of Pandora. Abducted by the human militaristic corporation known as the RDA, you, a Na’vi, were trained and molded to serve their purpose. Fifteen years later, you are free, but find yourself a stranger in your birthplace. Reconnect with your lost heritage, discover what it truly means to be Na’vi, and join other clans to protect Pandora from the RDA.
