In early November, CGMagazine had the distinct honour of being among a select group of gaming outlets invited to James Cameron’s production company, Lightstorm Entertainment. There, we were able to get an extended sneak peek of not only the highly-anticipated third cinematic installment in the Avatar franchise, Avatar: Fire and Ash, but also got hands-on with the latest paid DLC expansion for the Avatar videogame, titled Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – From the Ashes.
The joint use of the word “ash” is no coincidence, as it symbolizes both the introduction of a brand-new antagonist to the Avatar universe, the hostile Mangkwan Na’vi clan (a.k.a. The Ash Clan), and further entwines the narratives of both the cinematic and videogame worlds of Avatar together, as they currently exist within the same timeline and canon.
Unlike the base game and its two story packs, which featured a customizable character simply known as “The Sarentu” that could be male, female or androgynous in both appearance and voice, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – From the Ashes focuses on So’lek, a battle-hardened Na’vi warrior and trusted ally of The Sarentu, the latter whose clan has been reborn following the events of the first game.
As one of the hundreds upon hundreds of Na’vi that fought alongside Jake Sully during Avatar’s climactic Battle of the Hallelujah Mountains against the RDA forces, but not before suffering the loss of his entire clan and eventually his first winged Ikran (a.k.a. banshee) companion in battle, So’lek has endured unspeakable pain and loss in the 15 years that have followed, and the return of the “Sky People” (i.e. humanity, the RDA) to Pandora is now forcing him to relive those nightmares.
Despite the above, however, So’lek sees both hope and kindred spirits in the Sarentu, who are valiantly fighting to rebuild their clan from the handful that still survive, as well as a growing number of trustworthy humans who have since joined the resistance and are learning to co-exist peacefully with both the Na’vi and the largely untamed flora and fauna of Pandora.
This is the new family that So’lek has chosen to embrace as his own, so when the sudden and unexpected emergence of the Mangkwan Na’vi and their alliance with the RDA once again threatens his friends, family and all that he holds dear, So’lek does not hesitate to protect them at any cost, using every tool in his arsenal.
Players at the event were given about three hours to play as So’lek through a lengthy pair of From the Ashes missions. I was assigned to a PC demo unit with a PlayStation DualSense controller connected. For me, this was a tiny bit awkward as I generally prefer to use an Xbox Series or Xbox Elite 2 gamepad as my main when playing Avatar.
Fortunately, owning a PS5 as well, it took me very little time to get myself accustomed. As far as I could tell, apart from some minor tweaks, the control scheme for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – From the Ashes is almost identical to that of the base game and its story packs, so existing Frontiers of Pandora fans will be able to hit the ground running.
The first mission, entitled “Alone” immediately sets the tone for So’lek’s sombre journey with its stark, greyish colour palette. So’lek arrives at the Arahane Clan’s Hometree (also the Sarentu’s adopted Hometree) to find it has been devastated and overtaken by a united force of RDA and Ash Clan forces. Much of Hometree is still ablaze or covered in ash, and patrolling RDA Amp Suits, equipment, and the like are nightmarishly emblazoned with black and red paint proclaiming their allegiance. Many Sarentu are either fallen or not yet accounted for, but So’lek is desperate to find and save as many survivors as he can, especially his close friends from Frontiers of Pandora.
“Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – From the Ashes focuses on So’lek, a battle-hardened Na’vi warrior and trusted ally of The Sarentu…”
In comparison to the Sarentu character, So’lek’s many years of combat experience make him a far more powerful threat, even when armed with only his knife, bow, and arrows. Using stealth, he can sneak up upon most RDA Amp Suits (i.e. mechs) for a lethal finisher, but he is also able to take them down frontally with melee attacks as well, without having to stagger them first, unless the cockpit is heavily armoured and requires more damage to be dealt before the weak spot is exposed.
RDA Foot soldiers and Combat EXOs can be swatted away almost as easily as flies when up close, but they can prove to be a whole new challenge for So’lek altogether when backing up AMP suits, mechanized Hellhounds, and flying units like the Samson 16 gunships all at once. As with Frontiers of Pandora and its previous DLCs, players can expect firefights that are gritty and spongy. As nimble So’lek may be, he will regularly take damage, and players will need to keep an eye on their health and restorative items to avoid a quick death and shameful return back to the previous checkpoint.
So’lek’s skill tree progression is symbolized through the collection of dog tags, which are earned as So’lek defeats formidable enemies that stand in his way. These tags unlock XP, which the player can use to upgrade his warrior abilities and skills. Case in point, the gamesave I was given access to had already unlocked the “Take it Slow” ability, which enables Slow Motion automatically whenever So’lek aims while sliding or jumping from high ground, allowing players more time to line up their shot with a bow and arrow or other weapon, not to mention looking very Avatar-badass while doing it.
One of my main critiques of the Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora base game was that it didn’t go quite far enough to capture the feeling of what it might be like to be a 9-foot-tall Na’vi warrior in terms of gameplay or visual scale. It felt more like playing one of the Far Cry games, but on Pandora, which is still quite a trip, but it was missing something.
Strangely, even while reviewing the game, I never thought that the solution to the problem would be to add a third-person mode. Now here we are one year later with an optional, over-the-shoulder mode at the touch of a button, and while it doesn’t solve every issue with the original game, it nevertheless feels that developer Massive Entertainment has finally cracked the code.
The ability to see all of So’lek in third-person and at proper scale within the world around him makes a huge difference not only in how much of a footprint he actually takes up on screen when compared to the humans, RDA vehicles, wildlife and so on, but also how the player interprets the actions So’lek is taking.
Putting it simply, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora lets players run around as giant blue cat-people, firing off arrows, guns and other weaponry in slow-motion, and now we can finally witness both the Sarentu and So’lek doing all that awesome the cool stuff, instead of only imagining it from behind the camera, giving players a greater sense of agency amidst the action taking place on screen.
(Note: Third Person mode will be part of a free title update for Frontiers of Pandora, coming on December 5th, ahead of From the Ashes’ release on December 19th.)
A new “rage-meter”-style ability called “Warrior Senses” allows So’lek to draw upon built-up adrenaline caused by pain, fear and anger to temporarily gain heightened perception, resilience and strength. Accessed by pressing L3 + R3 when the meter is filled, So’lek’s regular Na’vi Senses go into overdrive, instantly marking every visible enemy on the map in red, exposing weak points and augmenting the damage dealt by So’lek towards them.
With the right weapons and resources, players can exploit these opportunities to inflict major damage against their enemies, or alternatively, they can use the moment to temporarily flee to an area on the map that’s less hairy and give themselves a moment to heal themselves. So’lek can even call in Iley, his new, trusted Ikran, to pick him up during battle so that he can quickly reposition himself elsewhere on the map.
The second mission, titled “The Beast,” sees So’lek at a later point in the game where he is tasked with infiltrating an RDA Laser Ore processing facility, once again in the hope of finding the captured members of his clan. As I soon learned after several attempts, stealth is the way to go here as the RDA forces are far too numerous, but even when avoiding combat as much as possible, finding my way inside the facility proper was no picnic either.
It took me much longer than expected to find the electrical panel I needed to shut down so that I could then open the main access door and slip inside. Even once I was in, I found myself frequently turned around by similar passageways, structures and crawlspaces that I either had difficulty making out, or I could see them but couldn’t figure out a means of getting to them.
Once a Ubisoft rep reminded me that So’lek was capable of performing a “boost jump” and “air boost” abilities that the Sarentu character had in the first game, platforming and exploration became significantly easier, but only when I was certain that I knew where I was going and what I was doing.
This brings me to the only serious concern I have right now with From the Ashes, which was the same concern I had with Frontiers of Pandora: Apart from tracking the scents of animals, humans, or other Na’vi, the pathfinding is rather poor. At present, navigation remains almost identical to that of the first game, with quest waypoint markers, altitudinal information, beacons and/or guidance when using Na’vi senses only showing up and guiding players when they are very close to the objective, even with full Quest Guidance turned on in settings.
This often means that players will need to get within metres of the objective before the game starts providing clear breadcrumbs to follow. The game provides hints in the top left corner of the HUD, but they’re usually vague and are supplied on a drip feed, which I found vexing. I get that Frontiers of Pandora is a game that wants its players to explore its rich worlds, and as Avatar fan I’m all there for it. That said, at times the game’s tendency to make the locations of objectives vague and/or lock them behind too many back-and-forth steps can grind the momentum of some missions to a halt.
Otherwise, I’m quite excited about what I experienced at the Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – From the Ashes preview event, particularly the narrative threads. At points in the demo had me briefly crossing paths with key villains that no doubt will be battling So’lek later on, including the infamous Ash Clan trio of Wukula, Zari and Rakx, as well as the newly minted human RDA Commander, Tyler Kupowski, who is the protégé and heir apparent of Avatar’s main villain, Colonel Miles Quarritch.
I’m very eager to see what unfolds when So’lek and Kupowski finally meet face to face, and what it will be like to fight as So’lek with my customized Sarentu character as a companion, rather than the other way round. With Avatar: Fire and Ash premiering in theatres on the very same day as From the Ashes, December 19th is going to be a crazy day in the Avatar universe.
Read more in our interview with From the Ashes Narrative Director Aoife O’Friel.
