The "Avatar" game, launched at the year's end without the usual pre-holiday promotional build-up, stirred speculations. But why hide the game amidst other significant October and November releases? Early clips portrayed immense promise, suggesting the game as a late-year surprise. However, after clocking a dozen hours of gameplay, the game comes across as a disappointing, clunky, and hollow experience.

Contrary to expectations, fans of Sam Worthington will not play a character from the James Cameron films in "Frontiers of Pandora." The storyline kicks off eight years before Jake Sully lands on Pandora, giving it a new twist. You play as a Na'vi orphan kidnapped and trained to be a soldier by the invading Avatar antagonists, the RDA. The game traces the story of rebellion from a Na'vi’s perspective, along with the blockbuster movies.

The game begins with you escaping the remnants of the RDA, finding a base, and becoming a key player in the resistance. It provides an experience akin to the movie scenes of Na'vi warriors revolting against the heftily armed bad guys and enormous human-controlled mechs, but lacks the expression.

Despite featuring immense open-world exploration and travel, "Frontiers of Pandora" feels cumbersome. The vast environment takes no artful form but mirrors the "Far Cry Primal" wildlife encounters and crafting upgrades. However, the pseudo exploration and repetitive gameplay fail to immerse a player into the world of Pandora.

The game graphics fail to impress, especially in long-range targets. The gameplay mechanics are exasperating, with complicated weapons swapping, healing, and other combat basics. Inconsistent weapon recoil and arrow impact add to the frustrating experience. The game clearly needed more time for development to hone these integral play elements.

It’s dispiriting to see the game underperform when it holds the potential to be better. An open-world game in Pandora was an exciting premise, but it fell short of expectations. It lacked the secret-filled game world that engages players and the excitement of discovering new in-game elements.

The resurgence of "Avatar" in pop culture at the end of 2022 and the success of "The Way of Water" stirred the anticipation for the game. With the third film now pushed until Christmas 2025, "Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora" will likely fill the gap for fans. But will it be enough? Or maybe, replaying one of the movies might be a better choice.

The publisher rolled out a copy for reviewing this title. Now it is up for grabs for PS5, Windows, and Xbox Series X, from December 7th.