Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – From the Ashes is a surprisingly nice providing of DLC.
It’s a standalone story that takes place after the occasions of the primary marketing campaign, following the Canine Tag Warrior, So’Lek (a former aspect character), as he faces off in opposition to the villainous Ash Clan.
The Kinglor Forest from the bottom sport is now in destroy, because the Ash (or Mangkwan raiders) scorch away all the color of the as soon as bountiful locale. It is efficient as a story device, though we did miss its vibrancy and wonder throughout our time with the brand new smoky forest.
The premise lends itself to a a lot darker narrative, the place So’Lek should ask how far he’s keen to stray from the way in which of the Na’Vi to save lots of his new dwelling, whereas additionally encountering the primary evil Na’Vi within the sequence.
We really suppose the story in From the Ashes is higher than that of the bottom marketing campaign. It’s shorter, clocking in at round 15-20 hours all in, establishing some attention-grabbing villains, an attractive dynamic between the just lately paired RDA and Mangkwan Na’Vi, and focuses on a way more compelling protagonist in So’Lek.
Its narrative is stuffed stuffed with attention-grabbing moments which are steeped within the lore of the world — each in its foremost story missions and aspect content material.
And that’s a part of the appeal of this DLC. From the Ashes feels very synergetic with the broader IP, particularly the most recent movie, Avatar: Fireplace and Ash. We wouldn’t precisely name it a film tie-in, however it enhances James Cameron’s newest sci-fi epic.
Mentions of key characters, the presence of the Wind Merchants, and, after all, the Ash folks, all make the bounce from the large display screen, making for a way more cohesive and thought-out world. We cherished selecting out all of the tiny little references and particulars.
However how does From the Ashes function a brand new piece of content material for individuals who have visited the Frontiers earlier than?
From the Ashes is definitely a way more streamlined expertise, which we expect is for the higher on this case. There’s not as a lot of an emphasis on searching, gear rating is changed with a primary XP talent level system, and there are solely a handful of armour and weapons to unlock by way of the marketing campaign.
It does take away quite a lot of the RPG facets of the open world that we cherished within the base sport. Nonetheless, From the Ashes is extra like a slice of Pandora reasonably than the entire pie, so you possibly can simply sit again, loosen up, and benefit from the spectacle of all of it.
And it does nonetheless provide a brand new space known as The Ravines. This rocky terrain does not enable for using the Ikran, forcing gamers to discover on foot — however this space’s extra centered, tunnelled design strategy makes it a little bit of a chore to navigate, and pales compared to the extra open Kinglor Forest.
Fortunately, it is a delight to absorb the sights regardless, because of the brand new third-person mode, which is obtainable throughout the DLC and the bottom sport. For us, it’s a way more immersive expertise, permitting you to absorb the true scale of its setting.
There are some teething points, like reducing to first-person when underwater or soothing an animal, so you possibly can inform this was a first-person challenge at its core. We predict Large Leisure has achieved a ok job, although, so it doesn’t really feel like a tack-on, particularly whenever you deliver the brand new third-person cinematics into play.
For the first-person purists on the market, you possibly can play the entire thing in first-person if you want — you possibly can swap backwards and forwards at any time. Nonetheless, you’d then be lacking out on the far improved fight. Fight is first rate within the base sport, however it feels a lot snappier in third-person.
There is a new Warrior mode, too, which helps you to blast by way of enemy well being bars as soon as a gauge has crammed, and new finisher animations are a pleasant contact, even when they get just a little repetitive.
Our greatest disappointment is one we addressed in our preview. The brand new Na’Vi enemies, the Ash, had nice potential to actually combine up fight encounters, as we hoped they’d be put into the common roster of enemies. As a substitute, they’re reserved primarily for giant bullet-sponge bosses.
A number of the greater scripted boss fights are unbelievable enjoyable, like an air-bound assault in your Ikran, however many of the common Ash bosses are simply inexplicably robust, aimlessly operating round as you unload clip after clip into their cranium earlier than you possibly can take them out.
Fortunately, the RDA mechs stay as enjoyable as ever to struggle, alongside the brand new mech-dog enemies. And are available the tail finish of the DLC, you’re so overpowered that it’s a delight to only plough by way of tiny people.
From a PS5 perspective, that is nonetheless such a visible showcase, with some actually beautiful vistas. And throughout its numerous graphical modes, on each PS5 and PS5 Professional, you’ve a set of choices, whether or not you need smoother efficiency or larger constancy. There was the odd minor visible glitch, however we had no issues exterior of that.
And carrying over from the primary sport, the haptics on the DualSense controller are simply unbelievable, and nearly really feel first-party stage at instances.
