Summary
Open-world games have been around, arguably, since the 1980s, with games like the originalLegend of Zeldathrowing players into a world and letting them explore it at their own pace. Over the last few decades, open-world games have evolved quite a bit and taken on many different forms, and this is especially true for games that released in the mid-late 2000s, when a new, grand, and immersive type of open-world game started to become all the rage. Since then, open-world games have remained a common staple of the gaming landscape, withAvatar: Frontiers of Pandorabeing just the latest in an increasingly long line ofAAA open-world action/adventures.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandorais an open-world game through and through. Though parts of the world are kept hidden until players progress through the main story,Avatar: Frontiers of Pandoragives players free rein over a pretty vast section of the world very early on, and from there, they’re allowed to complete a wealth of side missions and activities. But whileAvatar: Frontiers of Pandora’s open-worldis impressive, it isn’t without its criticisms, most of which revolve around it embracing the classic Ubisoft open-world formula.
How Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Shakes Up The Ubisoft Open-World Formula
The Ubisoft Open-World Formula Explained
Though Ubisoft had been making large-scale open-world games for a while at that point, it was2012’sFar Cry 3that really cemented the developer/publisher’s open-world formula. InFar Cry 3, players are tasked with gradually clearing away enemy camps, hunting for resources, crafting better gear and weapons, and taking on a range of side quests. This general gameplay loop was heavily praised at the time, but Ubisoft’s reluctance to deviate from this formula at all has made it a bit of a controversial topic in recent years.
While taking down enemy bases and constantly leveling up and earning new loot can still be exciting, long-time Ubisoft fans know full-well that they’ve already played this same type of game countless times before. Whether it’sFar Cry,Ghost Recon, orAssassin’s Creed, this same Ubisoft formula is present in practically all of its open-world games, and many fans are getting tired of it.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Puts Some Unique Spins on Ubisoft’s Formula
So, naturally, whenAvatar: Frontiers of Pandorawas first revealed and looked very similar to aFar Crygame, many fans felt a tad disappointed. But while it’s true thatAvatar: Frontiers of Pandorais yet another Ubisoft open-world game, it doesn’t mean that its developers haven’t managed to put a few unique spins on the same old formula.
One of the biggest and best spinsAvatar: Frontiers of Pandoraputs onthe Ubisoft open-world formulais an emphasis on parkour. In an attempt to capture the athleticism of the Na’vi shown in James Cameron’s movies, Ubisoft has implemented a simple but effective parkour system intoAvatar: Frontiers of Pandora, giving players immediate access to a supercharged jump and letting them scale freely up vines, trees, and most other parts of Pandora’s lush environment. When further parkour skills are unlocked, players can get quite the flow of momentum going, which isn’t often found in an open-world Ubisoft game.
Another unique spin thatAvatarputs on the Ubisoft formula is a heavy emphasis on player-led exploration. The vast majority of Ubisoft open-world games are heavily criticized for their overreliance on constant waypoints and objective markers. WhileAvatar: Frontiers of Pandorastill has these, they tend to just give players a general area to search, requiring the player to instead pay attention to the environment itself and the compass directions to find their target or objective.
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.
