Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Preview — Come to know Eywa this December

Recently we sat down with Magnus Jansén, Creative Director at Massive Entertainment to get an early look at Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. After a quick introduction from James Cameron, we got our first look at the game in motion. Paired up with the team at Lightstorm and Disney, Massive Entertainment would be bringing the world of Pandora to life in a whole new way. As they said during the demo, “Sivako”, which is Na’Vi for “Rise to the challenge” – something Massive has done in a big way.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora takes place between 2138 to 2169. You are a Na’Vi that was captured as a child by the RDA. The intention was to build an army of natives that could be turned on their own people. Trained in the latest military techniques, you were a living weapon. During your training, Jake Sully and the Na’Vi fought the battle of the Hallelujah Mountains, sending the RDA packing. The leader of this splinter RDA group ordered that all of the children be killed, but your teacher found a way to put you into a cryosleep pod.

The year is 2169 and you’ve awakened from cryosleep right as the RDA have returned. Now, in conjunction with the events of Avatar: The Way of Water, you’ll wage war on the RDA once again. There’s only one problem – you are a child of two worlds, and somehow a child of neither. You are trained as a human soldier, knowing nothing of what it means to be Na’Vi, and any clan you encounter will see you as nothing but an outsider. As you learn what it is to be Na’Vi, you’ll have to use everything in your power to protect a world you’ve never known.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a first person open world action adventure. Taking place on the never-shown Western Frontier, the team at Massive was able to build something familiar but entirely new. Free-running, sliding, driving, jumping, gliding, riding, and much more are at your fingertips as you discover what your character was supposed to be doing with her life when she was taken. It was easy to see the influence of other games like Far Cry, but with the power of the Snowdrop engine (albeit with a ton of upgrades), the action is smoother and more cohesive than it’s ever been.

As you learn your place in the world of Pandora, you’ll encounter tribes like the Aranahe tribe – a clan of Na’Vi weavers who will help guide you on your first hunt, and even your first flight. You’ll need to bond with your Ikran, whom you’ll be able to raise, feed, and even customize. You’ll even eventually learn to ride Daiya horses as you explore the vast open world. Better still – you’ll be able to do all of this with a friend as the entire storyline can be played cooperatively.

One aspect we saw in motion is the destruction of RDA facilities. These buildings are siphoning off the resources of Pandora, causing massive ecological damage in their wake. As your power and support grows you’ll be able to fight back, taking the war to the RDA directly. Destroying these facilities allows the world to reclaim the land, healing it. You’ll need to use all of your powers to destroy them, leaning on both your human training as well as the Na’Vi weapons of your kind. A staff sling allows you to set traps, a longbow can pierce the armor of mechanized weapons, and when those aren’t getting it done, you can use your superior strength and the occasional rocket launcher. A shotgun, assault rifle, and stun grenades, heavy bow, as well as a spear thrower and shortbow round things out, though we didn’t get to see all of these in motion quite yet.

With these facilities destroyed you’ll be able to once again harvest the best resources Pandora has to offer. That gathering process rewards you if you take only what you need, and if you do it carefully – Eywa would approve. These materials can be mixed and cooked to help you grow, meaning it’s worth paying attention to how you collect the materials Pandora provides.

Your connection to Eywa holds the key to your growth. Your skill upgrades in stealth, weapons, fighting, and more lie in the collective memories of your ancestors. Joining these upgrades are improvements to equipment for your head, waist, arms, and legs. Even your Ikran has three upgrade slots for their name, head ornaments, and streamers.

Between the incredibly fluid parkour and the thrill of flight on your Ikran, it’s clear that the world of Pandora is alive. The team at Massive are building something well beyond a simple movie tie-in, and it won’t be long before we’ll be able to try it for ourselves.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC on December 7th of 2023.

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