If you give a person a blockbuster movie they’ll want a game to go with it. Actually in the case of Avatar the game the roles would be reversed. The Game actually came out way before the Movie. My guess is in hopes of creating more hype for an already hugely hyped movie. I don’t know about anyone else but I’ve been a bit pumped to see this holiday special effects extravaganza especially in IMAX 3D. For the game I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was hoping it would give me some insight to the Movie. How does the game hold up? Does it break the stereotype of Games that are based on Movies?

Gameplay

The Game starts off with you selecting the character that looks most like you. Each Character has a different style Na’vi attached to it. Once you’ve selected a character you begin you journey to the Planet of Pandora. At it’s core Avatar the Game is a over the shoulder shooter. The Controls are basically Walk, Shot, Jump and Roll. Much like a Lost Planet style minus the Hook Shot. The Game does attempt to add a bit of exploration into the mix but fails to really capture do to the Linear Story line. Most missions are you talking to Person A who says to go find Person B who’s somewhere off in the Jungle. Getting to that person can be a bit of a trek with the larger game levels. Luckily you don’t always have to go on foot. There are tons of Vehicles that you get to drive usually laying around the base camp areas. It did seems a little strange to be sending you out in harms way. Early on your informed that you have a 1 and a billion DNA. This DNA allows you to meld with a Na’vi Body. That’s where things begin to get interesting. In your Na’vi form you are considerably stronger, faster and really tall!!! To put simply playing as a Na’vi is pretty fun. The game then decides to take a dramatic leap and asks you to choose your faction. You have the Humans vs Na’vi. As a Na’vi you get hang out in the tribal village and do various missions to undermine the Humans. Oh and you get a Flying Mount :) The game also features a leveling aspect for you character. As you gain levels you get more weapons. I found I didn’t really change weapons through most of the game, just stuck with the defaults. Also throughout the game you can find information pertaining to the culture of either the Human’s or the Na’vi. This goes into a database that you can look at later. I found this piece to be interesting, it was a little difficult to figure out what things could be researched. I felt the game needed a cover system and a little UI fix. It was a bit difficult to locate enemies in the jungle (of course they were wearing camouflage).

Graphics

This is one of the better games I’ve seen on the market. The graphics look amazing and the jungles look lush. It made walking around a bit of a treat considering just how much detail went into the foliage. Though it does come with a catch, the loads times were a bit rough at times. This was of course playing straight off the Disc vs doing an Install. Another feature that I wish was explained a little clearer was the 3D. In the options of the Graphic Menu there is a whole section to playing the Game in 3D. I hoped that it would have been a simple flip of the switch but it turns out you can’t just wear glasses. Apparently you need a special TV and Glasses. I found this to be a bit of a disappointment, I was actually looking forward to trying it out.

Sound

Another area where I was surprised. The Score to the game was fantastic and really added to the environment. Though at times it did seem to repeat itself a lot. As for the SFX they were pretty standard nothing really stood out. The game also features Voice Over which was nice to hear. Sigourney Weaver voiced here character in the game which was an added bonus.

Overall

Not the worst Movie Franchise Game I’ve played but not the best either. It’s a very straight forward shooter that boost some really great graphics. If you have the tech for the 3D portion of the game this certainly could be up your alley.