Hands-on with Avatar: The Game

Oct 21, 2009

I'll freely admit it: I'm pretty psyched for Avatar. I haven't seen much of the movie yet, apart from the snippets offered in the teaser trailer, but I've always admired James Cameron – yes, even after his 45 minute geek-out at E3 in front of thousands of industry folk – and, at least in my opinion, the man hasn't made a bad film yet. Well, except for Piranha 2. And with his titanic Titanic money pile, only he can get away with a concept as out there as Avatar. Giant aliens, 12 feet tall, fighting off swarms of human space marines, in 3D? This could get epic.

And now I have a bit more of an idea of the world of Avatar after spending time at Ubisoft getting a hands-on with the Wii game that will release along side the theatrical film. The Wii game is a completely different experience than what the publisher's creating for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 editions, and definitely takes advantage of the unique properties of Nintendo's console.

The Wii version will not be a retelling of the movie. Instead, Avatar: The Game will explore the world of the movie by following characters made specifically for the game. In this case players assume the role of a Navi (the massive alien race) called Ra'uk. Now, normally the Navi are a peaceful and forgiving people, but in Ra'uk's case, he's a little on the angsty side. He's not on good terms with the humans – in fact, he outright hates them. Rightfully so: his clan was wiped out by the invading Earthlings and many of his tribe's possessions stolen.

My hands-on with the game started in what the developer described to me as "stalk, strike, and evade." In this early level, your task is to seek out your lost bow by invading the human's camp. In an over the shoulder perspective you wander through very straight forward platforming levels, leaping through the trees and sneaking in the brush – the Navi are very good at using the environment to hide, and as long as you're crouched in the tall grass the soldiers really can't see you. Like Metal Gear Solid, Avatar has a stealth focus – icons above your targets' heads will indicate when they're on alert or when they've stood down.

While the Wii is definitely the more limited of the console hardware, the developers are definitely pushing a really decent amount of detail in 480p. The game won't feature any sort of stereoscopic 3D due to system restrictions, but at the very least the game looks visually impressive for Wii standards.

The game will support the stock Wii remote but for my hands-on demo I was using Wii MotionPlus. Now, I've never been a fan of motion used for standard attacks as the stock Wii remote is not very good at determining direction when it's whipped in the intensity of battle – games that use controller shake for attack usually get watered down to mindless waggling. But in Avatar, this was the first third-person action game where I felt completely in control over the specific attack directions. A quick swipe from left to right was always recognized as that specific move, as was the right to left slash. Up and down as well as down and up swings were also recognized and the game immediately responded with the appropriate attack. I really felt inclined to play the game properly instead of shaking the remote mindlessly just to pull off a random flurry of hits. The MotionPlus add-on is definitely doing its job in Avatar.

Sneak attacks also uses the motion of the Wii remote, so when you creep up on an enemy you'll be faced with a specific Wii motion, a la No More Heroes. Pull it off successfully and you'll get a take down, but miss and you've left yourself open for an attack.

Wii MotionPlus also opens up an in-game option: in specific areas of the level you'll find hornet nests and when clicking on the nest with the Wii pointer (cleverly setting the MotionPlus's zero point) you'll take control of one of the giant bugs, flying him around the level using tilt control to attack enemies. This option is not available to stock Wii remote gamers.

I did not play these combat levels without the Wii MotionPlus peripheral so I honestly do not have any impressions on how the game works for stock Wii remotes. But after experiencing it with the motion peripheral I would definitely recommend upgrading your controller.

Another peripheral used in Avatar is the Balance Board. This Wii Fit peripheral is optionally used in flying missions where you're riding on the back of a massive winged creature and cruising through hazardous areas much like players did in the classic Panzer Dragoon. By leaning on the board you're guiding your creature up, down, left and right to avoid obstacles and steer down the appropriate path while shooting at targets using the Wii Remote's pointer function.

I had to ask the developer if there was any incentive to use the Balance Board besides getting a different control experience such as a new series of levels or unlockable achievements -- I always find that I'm more successful playing games a more traditional way, and as fun as flying with the Balance Board was, I found myself struggling to maneuver since I have to shift my whole body instead of my hand. The producer mentioned that, while there's nothing added for or rewarded to Balance Board players, in his experience, many people find that shooting is easier using the Balance Board than using the nunchuk to control the flying creature.

But I had to find out for myself. With the Balance Board out of the picture, I now controlled the flying portions with the tilt function of the Nunchuk…and had a far easier time doing it, and had no problems targeting enemies with the Wii remote. So it's just a matter of personal preference.

The game still has a bit to go in development before its release this December, but so far so good. Check out some of the Wii-specific footage in our media gallery, and watch for more on the game as we lead up to its holiday launch.