Cert: 12+
Platform: All Formats
Genre: Action/Adventure

The movie has been one of the most built up in cinema history, marked the directorial return of one of sci-fi’s greatest Directors (he also did Titanic), and is apparently set to transcend anything made before it, and, on top of that, reshape how movies are made in the future. So, it was only a matter of time a videogame would emerge. Forgetting the fact this is a movie-tie – history has shown how often these have failed, and miserably, in the past - could any game live up to the lofty heights being set by its bigger sibling?

For those who are unaware of the cinematic tour-de-force that’s about to hit our screens, Avatar takes place on alien moon, Pandora, and on which live the lanky – looking inhabitants, the Na’vi. You play as a soldier for the RDA, a rouge military branch, who is sent to Pandora to help acquire unobtanium, a rare mineral source that is the catalyst of the war between the Navi and humans. But because the planet is inhospitable for human life, The RDA have come up with Avatars, a sort of cross between human and Navi so the soldiers can live within the alien atmosphere.

However, the game acts as a sort of prequel to the movie, so don’t expect a complete repetition of the events you’ll see on the big screen. Players can choose playing for the RDA or the Navi, but which side you choose doesn’t really alter the third person experience to any great effect.

Like many other movie-tie ins, the game itself lacks the style and finish of your Halo’s or Gears of War, which is surprising, really, considering the proclamations from those involved in creating the movie – you would have expected the game to possess a similar wow factor, but it just doesn’t. Instead what we have is a pretty ordinary 3rd person adventure.

Some scenes are impressive, but shaky controls, which are at times very unresponsive, detract from the sometimes, gorgeous looking Pandora experience.

Mutliplayer is available, but again, offers nothing groundbreaking or anything we haven’t already seen before elsewhere. A bit like the game, itself.

Rent/Buy: Rent
Graphics: 3/5
Gameplay: 3/5
Replay Value: 3/5
Overall: 3/5

Reviewed By: Simon Rubbathan