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| | Title:
Avatar The Last Airbender
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System:
Xbox
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Genre:
Fighting
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Publisher:
THQ
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Developer:
THQ
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Release:
October 2, 2006
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Online:
No
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ESRB:
RP (Rating Pending)
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Avatar the Last Airbender is being developed by a THQ studio in Australia, and is a game based on popular Nickelodeon television series. Unlike other licensed property though, it appears Airbender is its own game by taking the likeness from the series and utilizing that in a fascinating game world complete with in-your-face kung-fu action. The game will feature four playable characters, despite being a single-player game, and allows players to customize and improve the skills of the characters in various ways. The game will also feature new enemies and environments not seen in the television show.
Avatar the Last Airbender’s premise revolves around an alternate world dominated by four separate nations: The Water Tribes, the Fire Nation, the Earth Kingdom, and the Air Nomads. Within each nation, there are those who have formed an order that reaches out to harness innate powers within their world. These individuals are called “Benders”. “Bending” is accomplished by combining martial arts skills with magical elements. Within an era, only one Bender is capable of mastering the elements of all four nations; such a Bender is called an Avatar.
Over the course of time the Fire Nation grew stronger than the other elements, and attempted to siege the entire planet for more than a century. In the process the Air Nomads were completely destroyed, and the Earth and Water benders were reduced in ranks and barely able to fight off the Fire Nation. Legends say though that every century the Avatar would return to Earth in the form of a human. This would happen in order to maintain balance and harmony among the four elements. However, the cause of the Fire Nation’s destructive domination is because people believed the Avatar never returned. This belief was due to the Fire Nation getting rid of the Air Nomads. Since all four elements are required for the Avatar to return, it appeared hopeless for the planet.
The series centers on Sokka and Katara, a brother and sister water Bender who live with a small tribe in the South Pole. One day they discover a young twelve-year-old boy encapsulated in an iceberg. After releasing the boy from hibernation, the siblings discover that the boy is the Avatar of the Air Nomads named Aang. With the ability to harness the four elements, Sokka and Katara journey with Aang in his quest to master the art of Bending, and defeat the evil Fire Nation.
Like the television series, players will take control of characters who can wield the power of a Bender, and traverse on a beat-e’m-up RPG-style adventure with old and new enemies to the Avatar the Last Airbender world. The characters that are available include Aang, Katara, Sokka and Haru. Each character’s skills can be upgraded and improved throughout the game and their Bending abilities can be customized to a player's liking. Exactly how much control players will have over the evolution of the characters' skills has yet to be released. Still, it appears gamers will have enough options when it comes to the characters and gameplay that the game may provide a couple of extra hours over the standard beat-e'm-up title.
As for the visuals in the game, they aren't exactly groundbreaking. However, it does transfer a good depiction of the series through the use of cel-shading. It’s nothing like CyberConnect 2's cel-shading in Naruto: Ultimate Ninja, but everything appears solid. The environments and characters all share their appropriate likeness to the cartoon. Nevertheless, what’s more important, the action is all about fast-paced martial-arts action and elemental Bending. The control scheme is rather simple for utilizing the characters and their skillful abilities. In fact, the face buttons perform general actions such as interacting with NPCs, blocking, and attacking.
When attacking, though, the combos are automatic with repeated presses of the attack button, much like Sega’s Spartan: Total Warrior. So there’s nothing complicated to master with the controls in this game. Special moves can also be pulled off easily by holding down the top buttons and pressing one of the face buttons. Many of the Bending skills from the show also make an appearance in the game, such as Air Tornado, Air Dome, or Dust Blast. Special moves must be earned throughout the course of the game by collecting points/experience from fighting. So for those out there who felt this game would benefit the target audience by housing RPG qualities over the straight-forward adventure/beat-e’m-up hogwash, then your prayers may have been answered.
The game’s camera is primarily viewed from a third-person perspective, with the possible option for an over-head view as well. The primary focus of the game, apart from fighting, seems to be on the adventure elements present in the game. From the looks of things, it appears players will be able to travel around from town to town, and visit many of the locales from the TV series. If the game is broken down into actual stages, then they are very free-roaming and have map that are setup much like a standard RPG. There’s even a small map in the corner that gives players a view of the enemies and NPCs in the area.
On a final note, if there is a downfall–as the game stands right now–it would have to be with the lack of multiplayer support. With up to four playable characters, it would seem like a standard to have multiplayer support. Still, the game is some ways off from completion. And as a game based on a licensed series it doesn’t appear to be a bad cross-over at all. In fact, it’s shaping up to be a very interesting title. You can look for this to hit shelves come October 2, 2006 for the PS2, Xbox, PSP, and GameCube.
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