Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth
Score: 85% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: THQ Developer: THQ Studios Australia Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Action/ RPG
Graphics & Sound: Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth tells the story of Aang and his continuing quest to learn how to control the four elements and put a halt to the terrorizing war that the Fire Nation has brought upon the world. The Burning Earth follows the second book, Earth, and Aangs quest to master Earthbending. Visually, the game looks okay, but I have to say I was somewhat disappointed to find it didn't fit the same style of the previous game. Instead, we have something that feels very much like a generic 3D action game that just happens to follow the plot of an animated series. While the graphics themselves aren't particularly bland, there isn't really anything about them that makes them stand out. The last game had a very different feel to it and the isometric, but still 3D environment, really helped to make the game stand out in my eyes. I also have mixed feelings about the game's sound. Both the music and the voicework are lifted straight out of the series. While I felt like this was a good thing for the music, and really gave it that Avatar feel, there is no additional dialogue, so everything said in the game comes from the show and only the show. Consequently, I didn't feel like I was getting anything extra out of the game that I didn't see in the show, unlike the DS version which went into a lot more detail and felt larger. There is one other thing that I have to mention with regards to graphics and sound, and that's lip synching. Some games handle it well and the lips are dead on, others don't quite have it right but at least try, The Burning Earth simply keeps the characters' mouths closed throughout the conversation, but still has their heads bobbing around as if they are talking. It was an odd experience, and even odder when the models would suddenly move their lips for one or two lines in the dialogue. This part just helped to give the game its somewhat unfinished feel.
Gameplay: Like I said, Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth follows the events of the second book in Aang's adventure. You will travel from the Northern Water Tribe to the heart of the Earth Kingdom, Ba Sing Se, in order to not only find Aang's Earthbending master (who ultimately becomes blind, privileged girl named Toph), but also attempt to stop the Earth Kingdom capital from falling under Fire Nation control. The events of the game so closely match the show that its levels are even divided into the individual episodes from the second season and most of the events that happened in those shows occur here. The gameplay is pretty basic. You will control one of two characters (a second player can pop in and out anytime) as they run around the very linear feeling 3D environment attacking enemies, bending or fighting your way throughout obstacles and helping out the various people you come across. Most of the missions you will find yourself on are nothing more than fetch quests that get pretty tiresome after around Chapter Seven. As you take out enemies, your party gains experience. Characters don't level up individually; instead, once you've collected enough experience, everyone you've played as gets new points to allot between their Combo, Ranged and Special abilities. At any point in the game, you can go into the menu and shuffle how these points are arranged, which is nice and not only lets you customize the characters, but also customize them for a particular task. During the story, you will come across various boss battles. After beating them, you are able to retry those fights outside of the normal Story Mode in the game's main menu. Another mode you can play in is a Battle Mode where you can fight any of the playable characters in an arena. This is a nice little distraction from the Story, but I found myself ignoring or forgetting about it more times than not.
Difficulty: Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth isn't all that hard. I found myself somewhat mindlessly going through the game. I think I died maybe once in an early boss fight before I really got the hang of the game and how to effectively use my characters' powers, but after the short, rocky start, there isn't much of a challenge to it. Granted, the game is geared towards younger audiences, so the ease of gameplay is understandable. Since the show's focus group is on the tweens out there, it isn't all that of a problem to have a game that an older gamer can breeze through on a lazy Sunday.
Game Mechanics: Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth's controls are easy to pick up and anyone who has played a 3D action game should be able to start this title up and get into it without any problems. You melee attack with the Square button, use your ranged attack with the Triangle, jump with the (X) and interact with the environment by tapping the Circle. The only really notable aspects to the game's controls is using the (L1) to switch which character you are controlling and tapping the (R2) to activate your character's special attack (provided you have the necessary pickup). Besides some slightly advanced moves like blocking and dodging, that's it. While Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth is a fairly generic, but solid, 3D action game, I still feel somewhat disappointed that it doesn't follow the style of the previous game. If you enjoyed the last one, then you might want to rent this title before deciding, but if you are in the mood for some mindless action, this game might be right.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
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