Quick fun game...if you haven't seen the cartoon. If you have, well...don't bother.
That doesn't mean it is a great game. Don't get me wrong, I liked this game...it did hold my attention...the whole 4 hours it took me to complete it. This is a "maybe" rental to the Nth degree. But to put this mildly...if you have never before seen the TV show or know nothing of the story. This game could probably keep your interest. But the fact that it is nearly a word for word retelling of some of the major plot arcs from the episodes of Book 2 make this game seem really unnecessary.
I find similarities with the "Naruto: Rise of a Ninja" game. More to the point, it follows a known story arc within the cartoon it represents. Now I understand there is just so much you can do with an already known story arc. Yet the Naruto game at least adds side quests (as small as they are) to help break up just watching the same story you know already. They added whole multiple boards from minor sequences in the Anime (i.e. - Jumping through the forest). You get to see a progression of ninja techniques as well as choose them.
Beyond that it LOOKS like it should be on the 360. There is none of that here with Avatar (more on that later). There is one segment where Aang is learning Earthbending from Toph which lasts a few minutes and that is really just part of the story. There is no switching from Air, to Earth, to Water bending on the fly. Your the Avatar for crying out loud! NTM, there was a huge let down with a part of the story. I realize there may have been some conflicts from when this game was developed to when the Episode "The Drill" aired.
This is where the games just ends. Once you complete this part of the game. Congrats! It's over. Wha? I thought this game was supposed to be about the battle for the Earth Kingdom?! Except that they are missing the entire BATTLE for the Earth Kingdom!
As I said, I can understand that there may have been conflicts to when the game was under development to when the rest of Book 2 was being produced. It may or may not. But this game has RUSHED all over it.
Graphically this game is a PS1 quality game. This is where the comparison to the Naruto game really ends. They are both drawn in the same light. 3D characters that are supposed to look 2D. My GOSH it's like night and day. While they both tell their separate stories, ones that fans already know...this is where you see Avatar falling short. To me the 3D work is pretty good in Avatar, movement and such, it's not the best, but it works. The textures on the other hand. *cough*cough*...not sellable quality in my opinion. The fact that this game was shipped with the graphics in that condition for the 360...is inexcusable!! This title needs new life breathed into it STAT! But of course this is what happens when money is put above quality. Because of the Graphics, the shortening of the story, and the simple walk through a board style gameplay...this may even not be rent worthy (considering how game prices have risen). Why rent something that can be beaten on the first day while looking 2 generations late for any system? Forget buying.
THQ should be ashamed by this! I read a review here right before I started typing. "Buy the 'Book 2: Earth' DVD set instead", and I couldn't agree more.