Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – From the Ashes Review – Familiar World, Sharper Focus

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – From the Ashes Review

2023’s Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora was a pretty good game. At a time when games are either world-altering blockbusters or massive flops, being pretty good almost guarantees getting lost in the shuffle. That’s kind of what happened. While it was an incredibly faithful adaptation of the films’ world and fiction, Frontiers of Pandora had some issues. From the Ashes — not at all coincidentally releasing on the same day as the new movie — addresses a lot of the base game’s problems. Best of all, many of those fixes transfer to the original.

From the Ashes is less of a DLC and more of a slightly shorter parallel game to Frontiers of Pandora. You don’t need to have played the original, though you do need to own it. There’s a relatively compact series of tutorial missions, and the pace kicks into high gear right from the start. For example, you don’t need to spend hours earning and taming your Ikran. You’ll be soaring above the forests of Pandora within minutes.

Fractious Factions

In From the Ashes, there’s no choice of character. You play as So’lek, a capable and mature Na’vi warrior. Vast areas of Sarentu territory have been set ablaze, and your task is to find the source of the destruction. It doesn’t take long. After ten years of relative peace, the human paramilitary RDA has returned. This time, they have enlisted the Na’vi Ash clan.

In addition to the complex dynamics of two Na’vi factions at war, the narrative premise has gameplay implications. You’re not just fighting the humans and their machines, but the Na’vi. They have the same skill set you do, both in the air and on land. This gives From the Ashes the opportunity for more variety in combat and enemy types.

Bows and Guns and Sneaking Around

Whether you buy the DLC or not, its release brings a huge change to the base game. From the Ashes was designed to be played in third-person mode, which is now available to everyone for the original game as well. By and large, it works great. Just about every aspect of the game feels better in third-person mode, especially combat and brutal takedowns. I suspect if Frontiers of Pandora had this in place at release, its reception would have been better. While we’re on the subject of improvements, the leveling system has been streamlined and simplified, too.

After completing the tutorial, From the Ashes opens its world to more freeform exploration. So’tek’s overall vengeance arc sees him liberating RDA bases, searching for Sarentu hostages, solving a number of environmental puzzles, and following the Ash clan’s path of destruction. At a relatively lean 20 hours, From the Ashes never feels padded, and the typical Ubisoft open world is manageable.

Combat is a definite highlight. I played it on the PS5, where smart use of the DualSense’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers really elevated the gunplay in particular. Stealth is sometimes less rewarding due to enemies being inconsistently aware of So’tek’s presence. Occasionally, the overwhelming size of the enemy force felt in need of balancing against So’tek’s solo abilities.

What a World

From the start, James Cameron’s vision of Pandora has been seen as a crazy quilt of indigenous cultures mixed with a big helping of eco-terrorism and colonialism. Fair enough. But it’s also a fully realized world and thoroughly researched fiction. It’s also incredibly beautiful, something that the game absolutely nails. Like the base game, From the Ashes is stunning to look at. Sharing assets with the movies definitely helps. Pandora is one of those video game worlds where simply aimlessly exploring feels great.

Music, sound design, and performance capture were all excellent in the base game and remain so in From the Ashes. The drama this time around is a little darker. So’tek’s vengeful rage simmers in the background. He’s definitely not the innocent character the player created in the base game, which brings an effective energy to the DLC.

On my vanilla PS5, there were no significant technical hiccups, which is not to say performance was flawless. Still, there were no crashes and aside from some stutters in some of the more taxing combat and exploration sections, the game is in pretty good shape. For $40, the bundle of base game, free previously added content, and From the Ashes is a good value for anyone who missed it. The DLC alone is $25, or free with a Ubisoft+ subscription.

Return to Paradise

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora From the Ashes is an excellent return to the world of Pandora, and addresses many of the original game’s minor faults. The new third-person mode makes the game feel brand new. Better pacing, more streamlined progression, and a darker narrative combine with effective combat and exploration. Players who enjoyed the original will want to pick up this DLC, and even if they don’t, the third-person mode carries over to the base game. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora From the Ashes made my return to Pandora a pleasure.

***PS5 code provided by the publisher for review***