James Cameron and Lightstorm have spent years bringing the world of Pandora to life on the movie screen, and this work will also find its way toAvatar: Frontiers of Pandorathanks to the collaborative efforts of Lightstorm and Ubisoft Massive. 2009’sAvatarand2022’sAvatar: The Way of Waterboth showcase groundbreaking advancements in film technology ranging from performance capture, filming in 3D, and shockingly realistic water effects. According to the game’s creative director, this drive is one Ubisoft Massive shares with Lightstorm as it looks to push its owns technology to new heights, with the production company’s aid, to bring Pandora’s Western Frontier to life.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandorais an open-world game set on the distant planet of Pandora and will tell a new, stand-alone story within theAvataruniverse. Players will take control of a native Na’vi as they set out to explore Pandora’s Western Frontier, a region of the planet not yet seen on film which houses more of its unique plant life and animal life. As players explore the region, they will also have to push back the dangerous RDA forces encroaching on the Western Frontier with the intent of harvesting its resources.
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As mentioned above, the game’s creative director Magnus Jansen said Ubisoft Massive has been collaborating regularly with Lightstorm to push the limits of the studio’s Snowdrop engine in bringing Pandora to life. Jansen told GamesRadar+ the Snowdrop engine has been at the heart of the two companies' collaborative efforts since production on the game began five years ago to show Ubisoft Massive was “willing to push the envelope of technology.” He added Ubisoft Massive has continued learning what it can from Lightstorm and Disney over that time to bring Pandora to life in the Snowdrop engine and give theWestern Frontierlife.
The few glimpses of the game Ubisoft Massive has shared, as of this writing, appear to reflect the mentality Jansen spoke about as the Western Frontier looks as if it was ripped straight out of Cameron’s sci-fi epics. Herds of wildlife and tribes of Na’vi inhabit the lush, vibrant land of the Western Frontier while the industrialized RDA base offers a stark juxtaposition reflecting the threat facing Pandora’s inhabitants, all brought to life in the Snowdrop engine. Players could argue the detail is due, in no small part, to the influence ofLightstorm’s work and designs in creating Pandorafor two feature films to ensure the game is as accurate to Cameron’s creation as possible.
It remains to be seen, though, how the game will hold up when players are able to actually get their hands on it. As visually striking as it appears, it would not be surprising if some players were concerned the game’s performance could suffer as a result of pushing theSnowdrop enginefurther and further. Time will tell if these concerns are validated or if Ubisoft Massive has been able to live up to Lightstorm’s pedigree.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandorais currently in development for Amazon Luna, PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
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