Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora - Everything You Need To Know

Hot off the heels of the latest installment in James Cameron’s sci-fi film series, an open-world RPG game set between the first Avatar movie and its sequel the Way of Water is releasing soon by Ubisoft. The game is called Frontiers of Pandora, and it's actually the publisher's second Avatar game. From its story, to gameplay and release date, here's everything to know about Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.

Release date and price

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will release on December 7 2023 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X & S, PC for $70. Preordering any edition of the game will grant the player the "child of two worlds" cosmetic pack, including an exclusive outfit and weapon skin. The game will also be available as a part of Ubisoft+, which costs $15 a month.

The Gold Edition retails for $120 and includes a steelbook case, a bonus mission, cosmetics for your character and ikran, and access to two DLC expansions that are planned for 2024. The Ultimate Edition, which is digital only and $130, includes everything in the Gold Edition (minus the steelbook case) plus additional cosmetics.

And finally, the game’s Collector's Edition at $230 includes a bunch of physical goodies, with the main attraction being a Na’vi statue, as well as everything in the Ultimate Edition.

Plot

For those unfamiliar entirely with the world of Avatar, the series revolves around Pandora, a habitable, and often extremely hostile, moon in Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to our own.

Pandora is host to a myriad of extraterrestrial flora and fauna, with the Na’vi being at the center of its world and story. These humanoid creatures are blue, 10 feet tall, and connect to other lifeforms via tendrils in the tips of their braided hair.

The first Avatar movie shows the beginnings of a war between humanity and the Na’vi. Humans first land on the moon in the mid 22nd century in the form of the Resources Development Administration. The RDA plans to mine a critical mineral on Pandora called Unobtanium (yes, that's what it’s still really called) in order to help save Earth, which itself is fresh out of all its own resources. As you can imagine, the Na'vi aren't too happy with this plan.

In order to better communicate and negotiate with the native inhabitants, the RDA creates Avatars; human/Na'vi hybrids that its scientists and military units can temporarily embody. The protagonist of the first film, Jake Sully, is a former soldier who takes over the Avatar of his recently deceased twin brother. Initially tasked with gaining intel on the Na'vi, Jake ultimately sides with them, and helps lead the counteroffensive as the RDA pushes further into Pandora. The first movie ends with Jake transferring his consciousness permanently into his Avatar body, and the Na'vi, along with a few human allies, send the RDA packing, but not without a warning; they will return.

Frontiers of Pandora focuses on a region that hasn’t been explored in either film; the western frontier, and focuses on a Na'vi that is kidnapped as a child by the RDA, and trained to become a weapon for humanity. When the RDA is kicked off of Pandora at the end of the first movie, the young Na'vi is put in cryosleep. They awaken 15 years later, are reunited with their species, and join the fight against the recently returned RDA, the arrival of which is depicted in the opening moments of the second film, the Way of Water.

The story is canon and connects to Avatar 3

According to Ubisoft and Avatar movie studio Lightstorm, everything in Frontiers of Pandora is canonical to the wider Avatar movie universe. Not only that, but Frontiers of Pandora may contain clues about the next Avatar movie, according to Lightstorm's Joshua Izzo.

He told IGN, "I can say that there are going to be some future sequel elements in Frontiers of Pandora that will pay off when the movie comes out, when Avatar 3 comes out in 2025," Izzo said. He added, "Careful Avatar fans who have played the game will want to go back and maybe revisit certain things because it will be revealed to them in '25."

Development

This is not Ubisoft's first Avatar game. Ubisoft's Montreal studio tackled a prequel title set two years before the first film. GameSpot gave the game a 5.5 out of 10 back in 2009, with reviewer Kevin VanOrd stating, "It's not a bad game, and portions of it are competent, if not quite remarkable. But Avatar wears thin quickly, and the story is too fragile to compensate for the deficiencies."

This time around, Frontiers of Pandora is being handled by the Division series developer Massive Entertainment, and is built off of the latest version of that series' Snowdrop engine. A prototype of what the game could potentially be was used to woo James Cameron into approving the project, officially announced in early 2017, which at the time, was a little over a year before the Way of Water was meant to release. Needless to say, the movie didn't hit that release date.

While Massive's Division games are set from a third person perspective, Frontiers of Pandora is first person. This decision was made to make the player feel closer to Pandora. The game’s creative director Magnus Jansén previously explained that the world of Pandora is so reactive, that first person gives the game a more tactile and more immersive experience.

Frontiers of Pandora is not the only game based on a Disney property that Massive is working on. The studio is also tackling Star Wars: Outlaws, set to release in 2024. It was reportedly Massive's work on its Avatar title that impressed the house of mouse enough to give it a shot at working on Star Wars.

Gameplay

Players can customize and explore the open world with their Na'vi character. As previously mentioned, the game is first person, but shifts to third person when riding two different mounts.

The first is a flying mount called the ikran, which has its own skill tree and is used to get from location to location quickly including hard-to-reach places such as floating mountains. Players can leap off the ikran mid-flight, and use it seamlessly when going from ground to air mid combat.. The second is the direhorse, which can be ridden across the land.

There are three major biomes in the game; the Kinglor Rainforest, the Upper Plains, and the Clouded Forest. To help navigate the world, the player has Na'vi vision in place of a traditional mini map, which will highlight important elements in the world, including pinned resources such as animals for hunting, crafting ingredients like plants, and objective destinations.

Combat and fast movement are at the heart of Frontiers of Pandora's gameplay. Thanks to a mix of both Na'vi and human training, the player can utilize weapons from both races' arsenals, with guns on the human side, and bows, spears, and homebrew nature grenades from the Na'vi. While the latter may seem underwhelming compared to the former, remember; you’re playing a 10 foot tall, humanoid cat alien. Those bows pack a punch ,and will serve you better when trying to approach a situation stealthily. You can also use a hacking tool to interface with RDA bases or temporarily disable RDA Amp Suits. Na'Vi are large but rely on speed instead of toughness.

In traditional Ubisoft open-world fashion, upgraded gear comes in handy as you clear enemy outposts, especially with the need to craft specialized ammo and healing items mid-battle. There's an extensive gear system with different rarities you’d expect from a Massive game. Clearing outposts will help heal the world of Pandora, opening up new resources for you to use in crafting. Some more rare plant and animal ingredients only appear at certain times of day and weather conditions.

There is also an upgrade tree, which is accessible by connecting with Eywa, the Na'vi's goddess that connects all living things on Pandora. In the lore of the films, this connection allows a Na’vi to view the memories of the deceased, and this provides access to the player’s five upgrade paths: hunter unlocks better tracking abilities, maker improves crafting skills, rider allows players to upgrade their ikran, survivor modifies health and inventory, and warrior raises weapon proficiency.

And that's everything to know about Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. For more impressions, check out our hands-on preview, sit tight for our eventual review, and for everything else Na'vi, stay tuned to GameSpot.