Everyone has heard of Avatar by now, the fight between the RDA Corporation and the Na'vi for the planet Pandora, the movie is in the cinemas and frequently advertised. It is a fight for survival in James Cameron's Avatar The Game, set two years before the movie so as to not spoil the ending of the movie. The RDA Corporation are mining on Pandora and wanting to take over the hostile planet causing a battle for survival, while the Na'vi try and defend their home, the game allows you to play both sides, but whose side will you be on?
You have been sent to Pandora to take part in an Avatar program. An experiment to use your DNA mixed with the Na'vi's to produce a hybrid, which looks and acts like the native Na'vis. Looking like one of the Na'vis allows you to get closer to their world and learn about their way of living.
Just like the movie, the game is set on Pandora, an earth-like planet with plants and animals, which are not what they seem. On this planet even the plants and trees are out to get you if you are on the human side, the Na'vi side is more resilient to these. The planet is indeed hostile to humans in fact they can't breathe the air and have to wear masks when they venture outside the buildings, not only this but there are also predators to watch out for.
You begin the game as an RDA and after doing a few missions are placed in the Avatar simulation and are given the choice to remain as an RDA and fight on that side or to join forces with the Na'vi and defend the planet. However, whichever side you choose you cannot return to the other side throughout the game until the final battle.
Both sides have different game play, the RDA can make use of many weapons such as flame throwers and grenade launchers, whilst the Na'vi have more primitive short ranged weapons and bow and arrows. Making playing on the Na'vi side considerly trickier than the RDA. Although the RDA also have to watch out for the ever hostile plants and animals which attack when least expected, at least they can shoot at a distance and there are more places to replenish the ammunition, due to the many A-Pods set up around the planet . The Na’vi’s arrows are not so easy to come across and although they can also carry a gun the ammunition for this cannot be easily found.
The other difference is the way both parties get around Pandora. As you may expect the RDA being human have machinery, such as The Swan, an all-terrain Ground Assault Vehicle and a robot type AMP Suit among others which are designed to take you across the land, water and sky, whereas the Na’vis rely on the animals around them for transport, but are also more agile climbing higher.
With this in mind the stories for both are also completely different, with the RDA’s story typically war and the Na’vi’s a more interesting emotional fantasy world into their fight to save their home and it’s worth playing through both to get both sides of the story so to speak. Making this game one of the longest non-RPG games I have played.
Avatar has two types of missions, main missions and sector challenges. The main missions are typically you follow the arrows on the map, killing loads of enemies, get to your adjective then onto the next, but the problem here is that apart from a few flying missions they are mainly very repetitive and frustrating. At the start of the game especially with the RDAs there are so many Viperwolves that you are taking more time killing these than actually progressing and after a while this becomes tedious, If I never see another Viperwolf in my life I’ll be pleased, couple this with trying to avoid the many plants which are intent to attack you in a Triiffid kind of way and your path to the next mission becomes a long one. The sector challenges differ between the RDAs and the Na’vi’s, but each involves uncovering the whole of the map, collecting plant samples and several other missions.
The game includes a brilliant encyclopaedia of Pandora, interestingly called Pandora-pedia, where every animal, plant, structure or person is documentaried. As an RDA you have the ability to scan the environment and when this picks up interesting objects they are put into this Pandora-pedia for you to read about giving you a greater knowledge of the planet, as a Na’vi you pick up plant samples.
Obtaining XP unlocks armour, weapon upgrades and is also used for the in-game mini game called Conquest, where the object is to capture as many sectors of the planet as possible unlocking armour, damage and critical strike chance as a reward.
There are more than sixty combined weapons for the RDAs and Na’vis and allow to mix and match them assigning them to whichever part of the D-Pad you want them on. As mentioned above, as you earn XP either by killing enemies or completing missions you unlock upgradables.
Also upgradable are the skills. Again these differ depending on which side you are on, but each allows you to regenerate your health or repel your enemies if you are surrounded.
Avatar takes a Mass Effect stance, where you can travel to each part of the planet from a globe, allowing you to return to a sector if there is unfinished business with the sector challenges. You can also warp to different parts of the same sector once you have uncovered the GMIs or Tree of Visions.
Once you have finished both sides of the story and the sector challenges or you just fancy playing against other people James Cameron's Avatar The Game also includes multiplayer, which is just as extensive as the single player part. From Capture The Flag, Team Deathmatch, Capture and Hold, King of the Hill to Final Battle, there are plenty of modes to try, taking this online it was lag free and enjoyable.
Just as the movie is 3D enabled, so is the game, although to play in 3D you are going to have to invest in one of those at the moment very expensive 3D televisions, which very few if any of us have. This I feel takes away a certain aspect of this game, as I would have loved to have played this at home in 3D, however I did have a chance to see it running in 3D in November at Eurogamer Expo and it looked stunning. Putting the disappointment aside that I couldn’t play in 3D, James Cameron's Avatar The Game still looks good.
Ubisoft did well to recreate the planet of Pandora, it is a beautiful place, the kind of place you would imagine an alien planet to be like, with weird animals and Triffid type plants and the fact that you actually have two games here in one with the two different stories and multiplayer included too makes this a game which will take you many hours to complete and is more RPG length, however like many multiplayer games and due to the length of the single player game
will there be enough people playing once you have completed both stories to warrant holding on to?
"We decided to put together a list of some of the best dinosaur games for the PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and more."
Surprised Dino Crisis 1 wasn't on here, or the early Jurassic Park movie games, they were good
I was so excited for Jurassic Park on my SNES. When I first got to play it I was expecting so much more than walking around collecting dinosaur eggs. In comparison to the Genesis version which made it look so cool and awesome, the SNES version was definitely a head scratcher.
The arcade light gun games were fun too.
We really need more dinosaur games....so many Zombie themed games but never enough Dinosaur ones
Dino Crisis 3? seriously? that game was so bad it killed the franchise! should have gone with DC 1 or 2 IMO.
Dino Crisis 3 was awesome... the level design was head scratching, but it was a fun and challenging game
I'm not gonna disagree since you're entitled to your opinion but, I found it to be very disappointing, it just wasn't Dino Crisis... Hence why it sold poorly and Capcom haven't made another since.
The RE inspired formula with more action worked really well, if they had stuck with that we mite have gotten a Dino Crisis in a smiler playing style to RE4 which in my opinion would have been pretty damn awesome.
@zerocrossing I agree, but I think that it was really a transitional game for Capcom and I think that we are at the point that they really should bring it back especially with a new JP on the way
@Cueil
I hope they do bring it back I really do, the only problem with that though is Capcom have apparently been breathing in their own farts for so long they've gone a bit bananas and decided to go about butchering all their decent IP's.
Why the author choose Dino crisis 3 over 1 and 2 is beyond me. The list is called top 10 Best Dinosaur games. so why chose the worst in the series. And James Cameron's Avatar the game? Really!?
3D in video games is rather a hush hush affair, almost a pandering to those who have adopted 3D TV sets and monitors. With little fanfare for 3D enabled games, is it really just one big failure?
Mostly its true - i like that feature, why to hate it - dont need to use it, super stardust is great, idea is not to force 3d in to the games and think about gameplay optimization for 3d - that is harder to make...
Most people here make it sound like the article was negative. The only thing it was really negative about was the advertising and under-utilization of most games... well that and the people like down below who don't even try it.
The author matter of fact listed Uncharted 3 and Killzone 3 as GOOD examples. Surprises me to see just how many don't even bother clicking through before hating on the site.
It may be a crappy source, but in terms of how many people actually own a 3D TV, 3D gaming hasn't really taken off with the masses. I think that having to wear 3D glasses puts alot of people off.
Mostly it's true? No it's not, PS3 has 3D games Xbox 360 has 3D games as does PC - the article even mentions Xbox 360 exclusives that have 3D like Gears of War 3. Stop trying to be clever by thinking an Xbox site is merely digging at the PS3 again (yawn).
OT: I agree 3D is badly advertised. I am looking at the Xbox 360 version box of Ghost Recon Future Soldier and it has "better with Kinect" plastered over the top but no mention of 3D anywhere, not even the little info boxes at the back.
Why would Ubisoft go through the trouble of putting 3D in the game and then not advertise it, unless of course the PS3 boxart has a 3D sticker, then I'd start calling a conspiracy theory.
As someone who plays 3D games all the time on PC and console, i have the opinion that it has not really taken off on console for a couple of good reasons- one being they just don't do it properly.
These machines aren't designed for 3D and 3D is a performance sapping feature. They just don't seem fast enough and you have a bunch of visual compromises to make it work on their aging hardware. 360 certainly isn't really designed for it and the output is even less capable than PS3 in terms of connections and even the way the architecture is designed (limited EDRAM size you have to render to).
Of course this puts off developers less willing to compromise their vision and effectively create two modes with different visual quality and performance.
This in turn limits the number of games, and essentially the appeal for people to go out and buy a 3DTV. That makes devs less bothered about spending the cash and effort making their console game 3D with such a limited audience. The negative feedback loop continues.
The way this is really broken is for your next gen machine to make 3D modes for every game mandatory much like how this generation of consoles standardised HD gaming (or something close to it!)
This standardisation stimulated HDTV sales for gamers, for sure. Although it still took time of course.
Make 3D standard for games next gen, and it'll take off eventually after 2 or 3 years.
As long as consoles would retain their "closed" nature as a platform, 3D would never be able to properly be represented. IMO, the best way to go about this is make 3D more of a novelty akin to buying a racing wheel for a driving simulator.
I suppose "farming" 2 consoles together to retain the native res and frame-rate is the best possible option since it properly demonstrates what 3D could do without "compromise".
valcan stay on pc please. Crysis 2 in 3d plays virtually the same with no draw backs. your trying way to hard.
what is the proper way? edram what lol? please STFU
No, it doesn't jetlian and try to get my name right next time, obviously you can't read. Crysis 2 in 3D on console simply does not have the depth of 'true' dual framebuffer 3D games because it does not employ proper stereoscopic 3D....
It uses a pixel separation effect to try and give the game more depth, which reduces the performance hit to nearly nothing, BUT reduces the quality of the 3D effect to....virtually nothing. Compared to dual buffer 3D it is rubbish, coming from someone who has played countless 3D titles on every platform.
http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...
This technique has been avoided by most console devs because in truth it is half assed 3D. I have played Crysis 2 in 3D and the experience is poor compared to say Batman AA. You may as well not bother with it in the 3D mode it adds nothing to the experience.
I can tell you know virtually nothing about 3D games and how they work.
Please STFU yourself until you know what you are talking about. Cheers very much :)
VALCAN I dont care if it uses full stereo or not so long as its in 3d which it is. I have over 10 games with 3d form ps3/360. I also have about 10 movies in 3d.
proper Stereo(as you call it) only maintains a higher image quality and thats it.Stereo means 2 and crysis 2 uses sbs. even in DF page which you provided it shows a 4 frame drop from 2d to 3d thats nothing. Even anaglyph is 3d only down side is color.
Whats even worse and I know your trolling is batmans 3d on consoles is wack. 3d on that game near the bottom of the games I have.
3d works the same as it always has you need 2 slightly different angles and thats it!! now please STFU
My 3d games, GOWc2,SCC,SC4,UC3,tekken hybrid, Wipeout,CODBops,ACR,BMa city,GOW3,Avatar,green lantern, captain America,halo ann.
You should care, because when is 3D gaming not 3D gaming? When its Crysis 2. It simply is not stereoscopic 3D. Full stop. End of.
This is EXACTLY the sort of compromise i talked about, if they don't compromise the games assets or framerate, they massively compromise the 3D effect so that it is basically worthless.
You have over 10 games? Just the ten? I have loads more on PC alone, nevermind the Ps3 and 360 ones. I have experience on all these platforms, and 3DS.
PROPER stereoscopic is the only worthwhile target for 3D. You are basically admitting that anything else isn't very good, by saying "only maintains a higher image quality"
WELL DUH! Wasn't that my entire point from the start? LOL!
Of course batman on consoles is poor. But then i have the ultimate version- 3D vision enabled (i.e stereoscopic) on PC. It is quite frankly astounding and easily up there as one of the best 3D gaming titles around. Of course you might know that if you actually could play it....
Why isn't the 3D so mindblowing on the consoles? Because they simply aren't fast enough to do proper stereoscopic, and don't really support the connections required. Instead of getting the most compelling looking 3D title on console, you get 3D that just isn't worth bothering about.
All the console 3D games i own are clearly compromised one way or the other, which is why my point easily towers above your attempts to argue.
I know what proper 3D games can do, what they look like, what they SHOULD look like to convince people to invest in the technology. 3D vision enabled titles on PC are absolutely incredible, if you could see it for yourself, you would be hugely more convinced to buy into the tech.
This isn't impossible on console. Just impossible on THIS generation of consoles.
If it is specified from the start of next generation, i can guarantee far more interest once people see for themselves how well it can work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...
there you go. The process of 3d is the same 2 images at different angles.there is no proper 3d.it doesnt matter what system you run 3d will always require more than 2d. A more powerful console will produce better gfx.2d will still be easier than 3d even then.
4 frame difference makes it worthless lol. Now I will say most 3d games on consoles dont do full 720p for both images. thats true but it is stereoscopic 3d
"The process of 3d is the same 2 images at different angles"
That article you linked to is headed 'STEREOSCOPY'!!!!!
This is called stereoscopic in games that use 2 separate frame buffers. Crysis 2 is not truly stereoscopic, it does not use 2 rendered framebuffers i.e 2 different angles..... How many times have i said it?
http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...
"So what happens when you cancel out the pixel offset? We've done just that in this video, confirming that the view per eye is IDENTICAL"
Thats why its 3D is crap. Do you just repeat the same thing over and over to prove my points more and more correct?
These. Consoles. Can. Not. Do. 3D. Properly. Without. Compromises.
What don't you get?
The reason they are compromised are because people are already accustomed to 2D games which look a certain quality from the start of this generation.
2D will always be faster, but haven't you read ANYTHING i have said from the start?
If EVERY game next gen is required to have a stereoscopic 3D mode to pass QC, then thats that. Thats the baseline. Nobody can build a 2D only game that looks much nicer than 3D games, once you force it as a standard, then the bar is set and thus it isn't really a compromise, its a standard.
Please don't tell me it has taken you all these replies from me to finally get you to grasp that.
Once these modes are standardised then devs will make every game 3D ready, and the technology will be far more appealing as a result. Not rocket science, just common sense.
Replies(1)no not really as matter of fact im getting a 3d tv next week sony and a sony 3d blu ray hometheatre system
Go for a soundbar instead. A lot less messy than 5 speakers and a subwoofer. i used to have a home theatre but couldn't stand all the wires! A soundbar is a LOT neater.
My father and myself have exactly the same tv and blu-ray set up, he has a soundbar, I have a full 5.1 onkyo set. His soundbar is good, and as you say, very neat; but my amp is a level beyond.
I have hidden the wires under the carpet, and the speakers aren't that noticeable. Really it comes down to whether neatness is your number one priority.
stonecold, listen to someone who shelled out 1400 on a sony 3D bravia........ do not under any circumstances buy a sony active 3D tv.
infact, do not buy an active 3D set by anyone, be it samsung, panasonic etc. I am in the process of "trying" to get my set changed. the cross-talk is unbearable, some films are unwatchable, avatar which was made in 3D is terrible... the list goes on.
if, you definately want a 3D set. then get a passive (cinema) 3D LG or the new passive one just released by panasonic.
active 3D as a technology is not good. the levels of cross talk in most sets is terrible! and something for the premium price should most definately not be there. there is not much "pop" with active, merely depth. although the clarity is a bit better than passive. in my experience, i regret buying active.
on a side note i live in france. last tuesday after phoning the store where i bought my set, i was phoned by a technician from sony. he then told me that cross talk was normal, and said that to get rid of it, i should buy a more expensive tv..lol and refused to send a technician.
when i asked for that in writing, he refused to give it to me. the next day i spoke to customer services, who put me through a second time to the technical department. another tech told me that there is nothing that they can do, and to speak to either the store or sony for a replacement (which i dont want) or ask to be refunded for the tv..
trust me, dont buy active!!!
Interesting you say this. I bought a passive tv since I couldn't justify the extra cost of active but figured active was better. For sure you lose 1/2 the resolution with passive but there's almost never crosstalk or ghosting.
Stonecold3 you wont go wrong with a sony 3d tv system there amazing and yes you can pickup a samsung or lg 3d system for less but i think the quality of the sony tvs are still better but thats what i like better.
As for 3d games being a flop i dint think they are but not too many people have a 3d tv most people have only just got a hd tv so in the next 3 to 5 years most people will up grade there tv to a 3d tv and more people will play games with them too and with the next xbox and playstation givin us full 1080p 3d games they will look better than this gen too.
mcstorm: what model 3D bravia are you using?? because i would be interested in knowing which sony set gives "amazing" 3D??
because mine is terrible! and all the reviews of the bravias, mention just how bad their 3D is. but, in 2D and HD, but my set is very very nice. it really is disappointing..
tokugawa I cant remember off the top of my head but I have read in some reviews that if you have the clear or clear plus motion view turned in sony tvs with 3d it looks bad but with it off the quality improves. Ill get the make of my tv tonight and post it on here for you.
You try it? You're the kind of people this article is referring to.
I tried the 3DS, and it seems with 3D on, it actually lowers the frame rate more. In my opinon I guess I think it's because of my eyes trying to focus.
So yeah more like a gimmick and just improves the visuals of the game, though that's not to say it's a bad thing, it's just not for me.
i believe its not a failure, more a work in progress. Eventually it will have its day.
Ubisoft EMEA MD Alain Corre has given his views on the sales and quality of Avatar: The Video Game.
Was disappointed with the game. Very disappointed.
But the movie just kicks ass. Pure brilliance.
The game was okay, but some parts I guess were enjoyable in a way. I'd pick it up when it drops in price to at least 20~25.00 highest I'd be willing to pay is perhaps 30.00.
