Frontiers of Pandora: Third-Person's Here, And It's About Time We Saw Our Own Bloody Arms
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
Ubisoft is finally bringing third-person gameplay to *Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora* via a free update on December 5th and a major *From the Ashes* expansion on December 19th, promising a more immersive, and frankly, overdue visual experience. It's like finding the hidden cheat code to see your own avatar, just in time for the holidays, mate!
Remember when every blockbuster film unleashed its vaguely-related video game counterpart upon us? A glorious, often utterly bewildering era, wasn't it? Well, it seems James Cameron never forgot, because here we are again, with another Avatar flick *and* game content dropping practically simultaneously. But this isn't just any old tie-in, mate; it's a bit more intriguing, especially for those of us who like to actually *see* our character doing the running.
As Chris Hayner over at Polygon recently highlighted (cheers, Chris!), we’re staring down the barrel of a massive visual overhaul for *Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora*. Less than a month away, actually. See, Ubisoft's dropping a free update on December 5th that shifts the *entire* main game into a third-person perspective. And then, a couple of weeks later, on December 19th – the very same day the new movie, *Avatar: Fire and Ash*, hits cinemas – we get the *From the Ashes* expansion, which looks like a whole new beast entirely, complete with this new perspective baked right in.
Now, let’s be fair dinkum for a second. While Ubisoft's marketing it as an expansion, the trailer for *From the Ashes* makes it look like they basically rebuilt the bloody game. Third-person, revamped combat, improved Banshee piloting… it almost feels like the game it *should* have been from the very beginning, doesn't it? I mean, who doesn't want to actually *see* their Na'vi scaling those epic, glowing landscapes? It's like finding a hidden spell in a grimoire that *always* should have been there, just…activated a bit late.
The visual vibe of *From the Ashes* is a bit different too. Gone are some of the vibrant, neon glows of Pandora’s pristine bits, replaced by a grittier palette of smoke, flames, and general post-apocalyptic mess. It’s beautiful, yes, but in that 'ooh, what terrifying magic has been unleashed here?' kind of way, which is right up my alley. And with third-person, you get to soak in even more of that delicious destruction. You'll be playing as So'lek, a familiar face from the main game, seeking revenge after the human-led RDA (those chaps again!) teams up with a rogue Na’vi clan to absolutely trash his home. Classic revenge plot, but with more bioluminescence and massive tree-mammoths, apparently.
Perhaps the most magically chaotic part of all this? Ubisoft's kept their cards pretty close to their chest until now. Holding off until less than a month out to drop this trailer means we don't have ages to gnaw our fingernails waiting. Instead, we'll be knee-deep in new Avatar content – both cinematic and interactive – just in time for the holidays. Fair play to them for a quick turnaround, eh? It’s like finding a treasure chest that actually opens *immediately* after you find the map, rather than sending you on a bloody fetch quest for the key.
So yeah, mark your calendars, mates. December 5th for that free third-person update for the main game, and December 19th for the *From the Ashes* expansion and the movie. Looks like Pandora’s about to get a whole lot more immersive, and we can finally appreciate our Na'vi avatar's brilliant blue backside while we’re at it. Now, what happens if I try to jump off that cliff with this new perspective...?
Tags: Avatar, Frontiers of Pandora, GamingNews, Expansion, Ubisoft
Original article: Polygon