PLATFORM: PC, PS5, XBOX SERIES (REVIEWED) | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Set amongst the events of the first two Avatar movies, Frontiers of Pandora casts players as an orphaned Na’vi who – along with several others – had been kidnapped as a child and raised as a soldier by the Resources Development Administration. Kept in line by the RDA’s heavy-handed tactics, the Na’vi are eventually rescued and put into cryogenic suspension for their own safety. Years later, the awakened Na’vi join forces against the RDA, uniting the local tribes to take back their homeland.
If you’ve played any open world game over the last ten or fifteen years, you’ll be in familiar territory with Frontiers of Pandora. Playing very much like a teen-friendly Far Cry set on on an alien planet, FoP contains all of the usual elements that you’d expect to find in this sort of game – tons of exploration across an incredibly beautiful and detailed world, taking down outposts (here represented by mining facilities), foraging for resources to craft weapons and equipment, lengthy side quests and all the other trimmings. Pandora is an absolutely stunning place to spend time in and certainly offers a huge amount of things to do, but a lack of enemy variety and an abundance of cut-and-paste settlements and side quests mean that deja vu can set in quite quickly. Maybe not a game to binge on, then, but more suitable for dipping into for an hour or two at a time.
Your character’s level is linked to the equipment you’re currently using, and there are two ways to increase this – either gain favour with various clans to reap the rewards of their friendship, or hunt for rare materials and craft your own gear. The campaign’s missions insist that you continually reach higher levels before being able to take them on, so you’re often forced to break away from the story and spend time searching for various bits and pieces in order to beef your stats up to the required level. The inventory system adds an extra wrinkle with its restrictive limits and lack of options, making it difficult to keep track of which items you might need or which ones you can throw away each time your stash box fills up.
Frontiers of Pandora plays things very safe with its open world, offering plenty of activities but never really taking any bold decisions or doing anything truly novel. Fans of the Avatar films will revel in the detailed depictions of Na’vi life and its associated challenges, and the whole thing really is an absolute treat for the eyes (this is easily one of the best-looking games of the current generation). For all that it does right, its over-reliance on hunting and crafting does get in the way more often than should really be necessary, preventing you from playing through the game at your own pace. Despite its flaws, those with a fondness for open world games will undoubtedly find plenty to keep them occupied.
