Avatar Frontiers of Pandora Review: Gameplay Impressions and Videos

Avatar Frontiers of Pandora from Ubisoft and developer Massive Entertainment is a late entry on the historic-feeling 2023 video game calendar.

Yet given the blend of open-world game design smartly wrapped in the Avatar universe, it has the potential to stand out among the year's best.

A first-person game set in the lush forests of the Western Frontier, Frontiers of Pandora hopes to blend some of the best experiences out there with an unmistakable flair.

Easier said than done given the pitfalls of the oversaturated open-world market right now, but presenting something completely fresh via a beloved, established universe certainly sets Avatar apart upon launch.

Graphics and Gameplay

In many respects, Frontiers of Pandora isn't going to shake the Horizon: Zero Dawn comparisons.

But that's not a bad thing.

Like those games, Avatar is a jaw-dropper in the visuals department from the very first region of the game, boasting immersive, lush forests, weaving in an aerial experience with landmarks like floating mountains and looping in a day and night cycle that impacts the entire experience.

On the ground, simply strolling through the vibrant nature reveals little world-building treats, like certain plants that retreat when the player approaches. Excellent ambient sound, lighting and shadows and even details like mist and water droplets on the greenery grab the player and don't ever really let go.

When one isn't engrossed by the flex that is experiencing the varied flora of the land, there's a well done bit of character models, lip-synching and environmental storytelling. The harsh, dramatic difference between the industrialized gray human bases compared to the rest of the game really stands out.

Chief among the impressive feats marrying gameplay to presentation is the carefully crafted jungle parkour system. Players can jump high, but fun traversal assists like vines that whip the player up farther or plants with a serious bounce steal the show.

Impressively, players will start to be able to pick out designed traversal routes amid the lush forests and find themselves zipping through the world at increasingly faster speeds.

Of course, players can hit on traversal via air or ground, even atop a direhorse. Flying feels great too, with the player able to replenish the mount with food via the d-pad. In Zelda-esque fashion, players can leap off a floating mountain, summon the mount, drop, leap back off and re-mount before ever touching the ground. The vertical space is impressive to toy with and dropping ammunition on enemies before re-mounting to fly away is a fun ambush style open to players as a result.

Out in that world, players will find quests in habitats, including field labs and resistance camps. The game's map is actually a highlight for its details, revealing an open-world game that thankfully shies away from the overloaded quest markers and things to collect.

What's interesting is FoP really leans into the immersive fantasy of being a hunter-gatherer character, complete with a Na'vi senses mechanic that is exactly what it sounds like, helpfully feeding the player lots of info about craftable materials through superb UI design.

It's not enough to just run around and collect cooking materials. There's a small minigame of sorts when picking fruit, for example, with time of day and other factors also determining its quality. Same story for hunting, with more skillful shots preserving the quality of it as a resource.

Combat falls into the expected column. Players wield multiple types of bows, slings, spears and more industrialized weapons like assault riffles and shotguns throughout the experience and they all feel good to use with an impactful punch.

Some of the game's objectives, such as tackling an enemy base, do offer multiple ways of approach. Stealth even seems to be encouraged, given that enemies are so tough, abundant and not required to meet certain objectives.

But quality stealth gameplay has been largely missing in action for a long time in the video game space and that's a trend that continues here. It's not bad—but the usual struggles with inconsistent enemy detection and tracking apply. Alerted enemies at least remain mildly in that state even after a player has become "hidden again", which is a nice touch, but overall enemy A.I. feels pretty lackluster.

Players taking a stealthy route will engage often with the SID, the always-there tool that lets them hack doors, power units and more. Performing one of the hacks is pretty interesting, as a display with a maze comes up on the screen. Completing the minigame equals success, which is a fun way to handle it.

In more normal combat, players—like in Horizon—can scan enemies to discover weak points that take significantly more damage if hit, which is especially useful against mech-type enemies.

Health regenerates over time but energy governs just how fast that health will come back. It's an interesting twist that places emphasis on the food portion of the game, meaning finding food and even prepping it before consumption.

Crafting things such as arrows requires getting out and exploring and some things, like ammunition for human-based weapons like rifles, can't be crafted at all.

Overall, FoP hits on an immersive world and really nails the feeling it hoped for by managing to feel distinctly encased in its source material. The combat isn't the best ever, but it is more than enough when paired with the unique hunter-gatherer flair.

Story, Co-op and More

While FoP doesn't exactly shock with some of the narrative beats it hits, the way some of those interact with standard-fare open-world design is pretty interesting.

Players assume the role of a Na'vi who trained in The Ambassador Program but eventually ends up joining the resistance against the RDA as relations sound and things grow more violent.

The game weaves a fun tale, especially in the way some of the side quests and things out in the world to do loop into the bigger whole.

Said tale takes place during the same timeframe as the films, albeit on a different continent, creating some interesting wink and nods to to happenings elsewhere on the moon during the game.

Co-op impressively has one player act as host, yet in a refreshing twist, the guest retains all of their progress and things unlocked back in their own version of the game, too. This respects the player's time, giving them even more reason to go parkour together or create some hilarity while tackling bases together.

Interestingly, the game wraps this storyline into the overall experience neatly by going away from traditional currencies. Instead, players earn favor with the moon's clans that they can then exchange for resources and items.

Combat Strength dictates what a player can or can't do on the moon. Attempting to tackle an objective higher than the current strength level doesn't usually go well, for better or worse.

Players boost this rating by acquiring new gear and leveling up the skill trees.

There are five skill trees that fall into the expected column. The Warrior column gets better handling on weapons and can better take on tougher enemies, while the Hunter can better find important materials out in the wild. Another class specializes in flying with a companion, etc.

Beyond those trees, players can find a handful of skills passed down from ancestors at specific flowers out in the world. These range from great and useful to some that are sure to make some players groan, such as the one that makes fast travel free at places like field labs.

Beyond stories and sidequests, there are plenty of things to do out in the world. Tops among these are clearing out polluted areas by taking down facilities. But players can also find totems, caves with riches, rare animals, rare spaces that boost maximum health, side quests and other checklist items. It never feels like too much and little of it feels absolutely necessary, though, for those who just want to see how the story comes together.

Another nice narrative wrinkle to gameplay? Where some games might send authorities after the player for their actions, FoP afflicts a Disharmony debuff on the player for things like senseless violence, which restricts the usage of Na'vi senses.

As expected for the genre, there are droves of interesting customization options for players. And a robust hunter's guide packs in a ton of information for players who need it on the fly.

In what may pop up as a red flag for some, FoP does have a Season Pass on offer that promises multiple planned story packs, plotted through fall of 2024. At launch, it's a wait-and-see mode on how post-launch support turns out, of course.

Beyond the usual gamut of expected options tucked into the menus is an Exploration Mode that is a massive highlight of the experience. It strips down the HUD and other systems, making for a more immersive experience in a very good way.

Conclusion

Often a breathtaking experience on a visual and immersive level, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will register as many things for many types of players.

For players in love with the open-world format or seeking slight wrinkles to it, the game is a big success. For hardcore Avatar fans, this is certainly a love letter to the franchise. But for those burnt out on a Horizon or even Far Cry-styled formula, Frontiers of Pandora won't feel too terribly different.

Still, there's something to be said for taking a risk and veering off into space for an open-world romp in first person that so aligns with the source material.

While Frontiers of Pandora doesn't shake free of the formula enough to register as a contender for Game of the Year, it's good fun that could register as a pleasant surprise for many.