Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Preview – A Hands-On Breakdown Of Our Trek Through Kinglor Forest

Avatar Frontiers of Pandora represents the next chapter in the Avatar story. Set during the one-year gap in Avatar: The Way of Water on the other side of Pandora in a new area called the Western Frontier, players control a Na’vi raised and trained by the Resources Development Administration (RDA) who finds themselves taking the fight to the corporation. That requires, quite literally, getting back to their roots as they reconnect with Eywa while learning what it means to be a Na’vi by ingratiating themselves with the game’s three new clans. 

I recently played around two hours of four story missions in a preview. Here’s a breakdown of the world, combat, and exploration mechanics I sampled during my stay on Pandora. 

Combat and Stealth

The demo starts a few minutes into the game, in Kinglor Forest. This is a jungle-like region that houses the Aranahe clan, the first new clan players will encounter. The Aranahe largely consists of artisans and weavers, and they rely on silk produced by large moth-like creatures called Kinglor (hence the forest’s name). The RDA has disrupted this relationship, which was a symbiotic one. It’s my job to bring it back to balance.

First-person games are known for their familiar controls. Because of their history, the customizable hero wields Na’vi and human weapons. It includes several different bows with a variety of arrow types including poison and fire. Staff Sling is the most unusual weapon. It looks like a lacrosse-stick and is used to throw explosives. 

RDA guns I have used include an assault rifle and shotgun. Na’vi weapons tend to be quieter and better for stealth. The environment can be used to craft arrows, so ammo wasn’t a big issue. Ammo is only available at RDA Outposts and on the bodies of soldiers. This makes bullets more scarce. All of the weapons have a good feel and pack a punch, though I generally favored the Na’vi tools due to my proclivity for stealth and roleplaying the fantasy of being a Na’vi. 

The most challenging sequence, though I did engage in several skirmishes against RDA patrols around the globe, was the mission that required me to close down a major outpost. They are found in Pandora, and they pollute the surrounding environment. We must get rid them.

While players have the choice to go loud, I choose sneaking. Being a 10-foot tall creature makes sneaking around somewhat odd, as human-sized barriers don’t conceal me quite as well, meaning I have to get a bit more creative and quiet. It feels great to slay my enemies with massive arrows, or perform melee strikes that knock their smaller bodies into the air. The base is swarming with AMPs – the mechs that walk in the films – who are a much more equal opponent because of their larger size, stronger armor, and better weapons. 

After completing a minigame in which you have to guide the nodes around an obstacle maze you will be able to temporarily disable AMPs. This allows you, if desired, leave them open for attack. 

It was difficult to complete this section due to so many enemies. The entire base is sent after you if they are alerted. They will even send aerial reinforcements, in the shape of RDA Wyverns. The RDA Wyverns (those fancy helicopters from the films) arrived to help me complete my list of objectives. In order to accomplish them, I needed to take down and / or systematically’sabotage’ multiple points in this sprawling facility. When I was caught, the RDA maintained some form of mild alert status even after I evaded their gaze for a good while, which I appreciated as a touch of realism – they didn’t totally forget I existed.  

The Platform and Flight

Since Na’vi have superhuman agility, I have a standard jump and a more powerful vertical leap by holding down the jump button. Holding the right bumper activates my Na’vi sensing system, which allows me to see the surrounding area better by revealing animal smell trails. (Great for hunting and tracking, but more about that later.) It also highlights targets within the thick foliage.

The best example of platforming’s parkour elements is in a quest where I have to scale the islands suspended above the rookery so that I can tame the ikran, my flying mount. While running you can sprint over its giant vines, climb the platforms and grab objects like climbing vines. This creates a fun flow and momentum. The level design also feels natural; climbing points aren’t obvious, but I can still get a good sense of where I need to go. 

On my way I meet the ikran who catches me eye and try to comfort it with sweet whispers and a slow approach. It will fly off each time I ignore it, which triggers another platforming round. When I finally reach the top and earn its trust enough to perform the ceremonial bond, the ikran becomes my mate for life, meaning it becomes my permanent flying mount (and can’t be killed). I also give my ikran a name from a preset list – Carol, if you’re wondering – and outfit it with adornments such as a saddle and mask. 

Ikran’s perspective is changed to third-person when mounted by pressing Up. Flying generally feels good as I’m able to boost flight speed at the expense of my mount’s energy bar. This is replenished by giving it food on-the-fly via the item wheel. Flight opens the door to new combat possibilities, including barrel rolls and other tricks. When I encounter several Wyverns, I engage them using my guns or bow. Both can turn a helicopter into a fiery pile. It’s generally easy to aim and shoot while steering the ikran, though the real fun comes in messing around with some creative stunts. I like to jump off my ikran mid-air and then use my Staff Sling as a weapon to throw bombs on targets below. Then, command the ikran catching me to take off while explosions rumble. 

Ikrans can also be used as a distraction. At the RDA outpost, I called it to the area, which attracted the soldier’s attention. It was a great opportunity to sneak by as they fired at it. As your bond with your ikran grows through the adventure as you reconnect to Eywa, you can use them to travel to the game’s other two regions – Upper Plains and Clouded Forest – once they become available through the story. 

Discovering the world, hunting, crafting, and cooking

Kinglor Forest is huge and vibrant. It’s teeming full of life. Best of all, the map isn’t littered with icons. Frontiers of Pandora takes a minimalist approach to avoid this common pitfall of Ubisoft’s open-world titles. Only key locations are highlighted, and objectives tasked me with identifying elements of the scenery in a general area or cardinal direction (such as a stone pillar covered in willow trees in one mission)  to find my location instead of shoving a waypoint exactly where I need to be. This way, I’m able to keep my eye on the game instead of on the menu and feel better connected to the world as a result. 

As in the movies, it feels like the planet is alive because of the interactions between the plant life and the alien plants. Others are fun, such as watching orange funnel plants launch into the earth when approached. Other flowers are helpful, like blue ones that produce pollen to boost speed. Be aware of dangerous flora, such as large egg bulbs which explode when they are close. Tarsyu was by far the most useful flower that I discovered. The large, bright pink flower will give you a point of skill once it is connected. They tower above the ground and usually require traversing elevated platforms or terrain to reach them, but they’re worth stopping what you’re doing to visit if you see one. 

While I am exploring, I collect some of the plants to use for crafting and cooking. It’s more complicated than I anticipated. Quality of yield is affected by weather and other conditions, such as when it’s picked up. As an example, a flower picked in the late afternoon will be lower-quality than one that was harvested at night. Harvesting is enhanced by a short minigame in which I move the angled sticks to determine a good spot for yanking stems or cutting them. By clicking on the right analog, you can scan animals, plants and other objects. This saves their location, as well as their best conditions for harvesting. 

Similarly, hunting is also a complex activity. Targeting weak spots will help you kill the animal faster and more efficiently. The quality of meat and hides will depend on the type and amount of ammunition you use. The precision and power of arrows is perfect for this. A couple of carefully placed shots preserves the meat and hitting weak spots will result in a merciful death, increasing your overall yield. The Na’vi hate metal and will not harvest anything that is killed with a gun. The choice is made to use guns in order to eliminate more dangerous beasts faster, but at the cost of losing the rewards. This adds more weight and tension during battles.

The cooking system is similar to the Zelda game series. It allows you to transform your ingredients, which are hard earned into different dishes. Ingredients can be combined in surprising ways. Some dishes give you temporary benefits. The wrong combinations can result in unfit-to-eat dishes. For easy access, recipes are stored in a database.  At a weapons bench, you can craft armor and new weapons using the materials that have been harvested. Armor comes in a range of colors, with different rarities. However, it also has special perks. 

Outside of crafting and consuming goods, one particular recurring sidequest involves donating requested goods to a tribe’s communal basket. Each village I visited was equipped with one, and they all requested different types of plants, foods, or items of specific rarity or quality. The spiral meter was filled up by fulfilling these requests. I didn’t fill it up during my session, and the Ubisoft representative didn’t clue me in on what happens when you do when I asked. We’ll just have to wait and see how you’re rewarded for being a generous giver. 

All your actions contribute to leveling-up, unlocking skill points that can be spent on the five different skill trees, Survivor, Warrior. Hunter. Rider. and Maker. The stats of health and energy are determined by Survivor. It also increases the size of your inventory. Warriors are all combat-related, and let you improve weapon skills. Hunter allows you to unlock more abilities that will improve your ability to track and recognize higher quality materials. The Rider skill set teaches your ikran to do barrel rolls and catch fish near water. Maker is the last option, and it improves your cooking skills. 

Avatar Frontiers of Pandora was a game I enjoyed largely. On one hand, it’s familiar in the sense that it channels games like Far Cry in its open-world combat and exploration. On the other hand, it remedies criticism of Ubisoft’s open-world design, such as getting rid of icons and letting players explore using the pretty sights. This game captures the essence and personality of this IP admirably, and it’s not just because exploring the world and playing with the controls is fun. It remains to be seen how the storytelling holds up, but we won’t have to wait too much longer. Avatar Frontiers of Pandora will be released on 7 December for PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S (and PC).