"Avatar: The Last Airbender" has consistently pushed the bar for what children's programming can be. Its surprisingly mature plots, fantastic action, and stellar animation have come together in a package that even the most crotchety old adults can enjoy. OK, maybe not the MOST crotchety, but you get my drift, right? That said, could "Avatar: The Last Airbender" likewise push the boundaries for licensed games? What's that, up in the sky? Is it a yes? Is it a no? Is it a maybe? Wait...wait...it's a no...
And that is this game's fatal flaw, in a nutshell. It is so disappointing because it doesn't emulate the things that made its namesake so special. The show takes itself seriously, but remembers to have fun. It also never, ever, feels like "just another kid's show".The game however, takes the opposite track in almost every way. The game allows you to play as, of course, Aang, Katara, Sokka, and, very strangely, Haru. Of course, this came as a shock to me since Toph had already stepped into the limelight when this game was released. And Toph kicks Haru's butt ALL over the place. It takes a quest-based format right from the beginning, and as is common in uninspired creations such as this one, this means lots of fetch quests... The game starts off in a rather unremarkable fashion. You can spend some time doing some of the infinitely enjoyable fetch quests in the North Pole, fighting some... truly frightening... wolves (over and over and over), and waiting for the game to pick up. It just never does.
The story is, luckily, one of the better parts of the experience. It doens't simply follow the plot of the show, a mistake too often made by such licensed games. Instead, the game follows a simple narrative in which some crackpot wants to get rid of benders so she builds machines to fight them blah, blah, blah.... Still, it's good to see at least one original thing in this game. The delivery is also vastly helped by the original voice actors from the show, who do adequate work, given the ho-hum script.
But that's not all folks. This is a GAME, after all, so there is some GAMEPLAY. A standard beat-em-up by nature, "Avatar: The Last Airbender" the gam also has a few RPG element. Some leveling, some equipment, all standard fare. But, in the end, none of it really matters. The abilities, the powers, sure they're fun to look at for a moment or two. But they're just for show. You never feel like you need to strategize or even use these abilities while fighting the repititious and non-varied enemies.
And that's the game, in a nutshell. You fight, you fight, you fight...Oh look, one of the items I need for the quest! You fight, you fight, you fight...Oh look, a cutscene! You fight, you fight, and...Oh look, you fight some more! Truthfully, lots of games employ such methods at their cores. But they make it fun. "Avatar" really isn't fun. It's repetitive, dry, and yes...boring. In fact, once you've gotten over the thrill of thinking, "Oh my God, I'm Katara!", there's no real reason to stick around. Thank goodness it's not too long...
Instead, go watch the show. Go watch most any show. Or, you know...play another game. Please. Do it for me.