After a forgettable launch, Ubisoft's Avatar game is getting a huge new update later this year, introducing new game plus and a third-person mode
I liked Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora more than I expected I would when it rumbled into Steam's digital jungle back in 2023. Despite finding James Cameron's films about as interesting as picking out the sock fluff from between my toes, Avatar's remarkable rainforest world was fantastic to explore both visually and mechanically, and I enjoyed booting around human soldiers with my giant Na'vi feet, even if the broader combat was watered down from its Far Cry origins.
In fact, I was surprised the game's launch was so muted, squeezed into the end of December with seemingly little marketing fanfare from Ubisoft. It seemed like the game was fairly quickly forgotten about too, generating relatively little discussion, and without much evident support from developer Massive beyond releasing a couple of paid DLC patches.
But quiet doesn't necessarily mean inactive, and it seems Massive has been busy behind the scenes. An update released in April overhauled the game's Hunter's guide, and now Massive has revealed an even larger update coming later this year, one that will add two of the community's most hotly requested features to the game.
As explained by creative director Omar Boual in the video below, the first of these updates is new game plus. As you'd expect from such a mode, this lets players replay the story against tougher foes with all the gear and abilities from their first playthrough. But it also introduces stronger gear, and allows players to "unlock a new skill tree", giving returning Na'vi extra impetus to explore Pandora again.
That other new feature is a third-person mode. Frontiers of Pandora was primarily first-person upon launch, though it switched to third person for activities like flying and riding animals. This new camera perspective will let players switch between first and third person at any point during play.
Personally, I was fine with the existing first-person mode, not least because being a nine-foot-tall alien made exploring and fighting in first-person fascinating. But if Massive has the will and ability, then I suppose there's no reason not to include a dedicated third-person option. It does sound like getting this into Frontiers of Pandora has been a fair bit of work, with Boual stating Massive is "reworking animations, controls, and camera systems to make sure it all feels just right."
Frontiers of Pandora proved a bit of a divisive affair here at PC Gamer. Nova Smith wasn't especially impressed in their Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora review, admiring its world but criticising its performance and "jarring, awkwardly written and tone-deaf narrative." Morgan Park had a much better time with it, however, conceding that it is basically Avatar Far Cry, but pointing out that it is also "the best Far Cry game to date, and easily the best sandbox Ubi has put together in years."
The third-person update will release on December 5, anticipating the release of Cameron's next film Avatar: Fire & Ash, which hits cinemas on December 19. Announcing an update like this five months out from its arrival seems a bit odd to me, but perhaps Ubisoft is trying to rectify the communication mistakes it made with the game's original launch.
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