Avatar as a movie was a spell-binding success pitting the nature-loving Na'vi against the evil corporation. The video game drops you into that same world.

A good thing to know up front is that you do NOT simply trudge along step by step through the scenes of the movie, like many other movie adaptions would make you do. This frees you up to be in charge of your actions. You can choose to take the side of the corporate marines or of the Na'vi. The world you explore is fairly lush and fantastic - both beautiful and deadly at the same time.

Each side has its own strengths and weaknesses of course. There are plenty of nasties for each side to fight. You can ride in vehicles, man turret weapons, race along on foot, and even if something looks like an innocent plant it could still slay you.

The graphics have a few glitches at times, but I'm not sure I've found a game yet that is completely free of issues in that area. The sound is reasonably OK for what you are playing. In the end, though, it's all about the shooting. Whether you're blasting away at wolf-creatures, taking out plants for points, or trying repeatedly to get past a larger, massive enemy, you have both a sense that there's a challenge and that, with enough practice and focus, you can get through it.

I wish they could have let you customize the character models more. With so many games now allowing full detail customization including eyebrow height, exact skin tone, and such, it was a shame to come in here and only choose from a few pre-set models. There are, at least, both male and female characters in a variety of skin tones.

So it comes down to what type of game you're interested in. If you're looking for an in depth Mass Effect style game, you're not going to find that here. But if you enjoy blasting away at wolves, blasting at plants, and shooting anything else that seems sort of threatening, this gives you a fun world to explore and lots of fairly harsh creatures to take on.

Rating: 4/5

I purchased this game with my own funds in order to do this review.

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