As a confessed
viewer of Nickelodeon’s many animated series and a devoted fan of Japanese
anime, I have been drawn to the world of Avatar and enjoy its interesting
universe that kids find so enjoyable. Drawn to its characters and Asian
mythology, there’s just something about the story of a boy who is destined to
bring balance to the Great Nations as a legendary Airbender. It’s such a great
concept that there was no doubt in my mind that the series would inspire a game.
This brings us to Avatar: The Last Airbender for the PlayStation 2 … a
game that has all the right characters and nothing much else.
The Last
Airbender is
an original tale that involves the show’s memorable characters like Aang, the
titular Airbender, as well as his friends Sokka, Katara and Haru. It seems that,
once again, the four Great Nations (Water, Earth, Air and Fire) are being
threatened by a force that requires the aid of young Aang. As an Airbender, an
ability that allows Aang to manipulate air so he could call up wind gusts and
even take flight, he possesses the power to come to the aid of the Great Nations
and does so with the aid of his friends. And so he sets off on an adventure with
multiple quests to complete along the way.
Unfortunately,
even with a great story and a strong cast of characters present, the game hardly
makes you feel like its playing in the same world as the show. Aang does manage
to manipulate air in the game but he never once takes flight. Instead, Aang just
gets upgradeable moves and the ability to use Momo, Aang’s cute and mischievous
lemur. We do, however, get to play as the other supporting characters and the
best part about this is that you can do it often throughout the game. Using the
directional pad you can select either Haru, Sokka or Katara and make use of
their individual skills. Katara, for instance, is a Waterbender and her ability
is to heal all the members of the party. Her brother Sokka, on the other hand,
has the ability to really clear the room with his powerful moves.
The RPG-styled
leveling up allows your character to learn new and more powerful moves along the
way and you’ll be glad for these upgrades since you’ll get overpowered by a
number of enemies later in the game. There are quests to complete that range
from the simple (locate so-and-so) and later becomes just a tad more complex
(retrieve an artifact and get it back to a certain person). Sadly, though, a big
part of the game is the combat and while the controls make for a decent beat ‘em
up it also becomes repetitive and boring. Worse yet, there are times when you’ll
be hitting nothing at all. Chalk it up to poor collision detection.
Secondly, the
game doesn’t even add multiplayer. This is a game that practically screams co-op
and there is none to be found here. Still, fans will find plenty of unlockable
goodies that come in the form of galleries filled with concept art as well as
character art. Really, you have to be a devoted fan of the show to put up with
the weak combat to buy this game for its features and characters.
Graphically
speaking, the game uses poorly rendered visuals that are suppose to bring to
mind the colorful animation of the show. It fails in this regard mainly because
the cel-shading looks cheap in this game and while the characters do resemble
the show’s characters, they just don’t look good in action. The same can be said
about the environments. Then again, it’s hard to ignore the more glaring faults
such as the awful clipping issues. Well, at least the visual effects are Ok.
As for the
game’s sound, The Last Airbender uses the same voice actors as the show
and it helps makes the dialogue sound like you’re actually watching an episode.
There are some great lines scattered throughout the game and while rest of the
dialogue is handled through text you’ll hear from every character you happen to
encounter. The game’s score is also a highlight and, thankfully, it plays
throughout the game. Even the sound effects aren’t bad at all.
Avatar: The
Last Airbender
for the PS2 does have its moments that come close to mimicking
the show but in the end what we get is a game that hardly rises above its boring
battles. This is too bad, really, since all the animated series’ characters are
present and accounted for and the game’s story is actually pretty darn good.
What fans won’t accept is the fact that this Aang is a poor parody that doesn’t
even fly and the game’s biggest flaws are just too hard to ignore. If you’re a
hardcore fan of one of Nickelodeon’s coolest animated series, you might just
want to rent this game. If you’re just a casual watcher of the show you might
want to stay clear of this one.
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Review Scoring Details for Avatar: The Last Airbender |
Gameplay: 5.5
There are
plenty of moves to unleash and enough enemies to pounce but in the end the
action becomes way too repetitive. While the story is good, younger gamers will
be turned off by the boring battles and the fact that this Airbender doesn’t,
well, bend the air at all.
Graphics: 5.0
The cel-shaded
character models and environments try to capture the feel of the animated series
but fails miserably. There are some truly flashy effects that work well but it’s
certainly nothing spectacular. Unfortunately, the game is plagued by awful
clipping problems that are quite the eyesore.
Sound: 7.0
The show’s
main characters are voiced by the show’s voice actors and that should put a
smile on any fan’s face. To top it off the dialogue isn’t bad at all and the
sound effects are right up there with the show. Even the score is handled nicely
throughout.
Difficulty:
Medium
Younger kids
will find some difficult enemies along the way and even more so during crucial
moments later in the game. There are quests aplenty and some are even nicely
challenging. Overall, this is a game with puzzles that aren’t too hard to figure
out and that’s great.
Concept: 4.0
You’ll get to
play as Aang Sokka, Katara and Haru and pass through the familiar Great Nations
just like in the show and that alone is the game’s only cool feature. There’s no
co-op, leaving gamers to play solo in a game that would have been great playing
alongside a friend. Well, there are unlockables to look forward to, like the
image gallery.
Overall: 5.5
While somewhat
faithful to the cartoon, Avatar: The Last Airbender for the PS2 fails to
capture the true essence of the show’s characters in a game that’s short and
uninspiring. Sure kids will get a kick out of playing as their favorite
characters but the beat ‘em up action just grows old the more you play. Sorry,
Avatar fans, but this isn’t the game we’ve been waiting for since the
show debuted.
