Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – From the Ashes Finally Lets Players Bring the Heat

James Cameron's big blue aliens are back in theatres in Avatar: Fire and Ash and Ubisoft is piggybacking on the film with some new Avatar content of their own. Not a full new game this time around, but rather a major expansion, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora - From the Ashes. This DLC offers a new campaign that introduces the violent Mangkwan tribe from Cameron's latest movie, although it isn't entirely standalone, as you still need to own the base Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora game to play it. The expansion arrived shortly after a major Frontiers of Pandora update, which added a number of much-requested features, including a third-person mode.

Has Ubisoft delivered an enticing new reason to open up this Pandora's Box again? Or is this DLC not worth getting fired up about? Scroll on for my impressions...

Note: This is an opinion piece and, thus, not as detailed as a full-scored review would be.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora was quite a remarkable game in a lot of ways (read my full review here) offering eye-popping visuals and an impressively huge and varied world, but its combat was its unfortunate Achilles’ heel. Your Na'vi character was a frustratingly flimsy 9-foot-tall glass cannon, particularly early on in the game, and being sneaky wasn't really an alternative either as the game didn't offer the player much of a stealth tool kit and punished you severely for any minor screwup. I still enjoyed the game overall at launch, but there was no denying it had some big glowing red (or, uh, blue) weak spots.

Well, a hearty kudos to Ubisoft and developer Massive Entertainment, as they’ve done quite a good job of identifying and fixing a lot of the issues Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora launched with. Some of these fixes, including toning down enemy AI and adding the third-person mode, have been incorporated into Frontiers of Pandora as a whole through patches, while others, including an array of combat upgrades, are exclusive to the From the Ashes expansion.

From the Ashes casts players as the "Dog Tag Warrior" So'lek, the badass Na'vi who rescues your character at the beginning of Frontiers of Pandora's campaign. The narrative of From the Ashes jumps forward in time a bit, with the RDA and Mangkwan teaming to torch large portions of the Kinglor Forest. Of course, it’s up to So'lek to bring them down.

While From the Ashes’ plot is relatively straightforward, So'lek is definitely a more compelling and proactive hero than what we got in the core game and the Mangkwan make for memorable villains. In a fun twist, you also get to team up with your protagonist from the first game, Tamtey (aka "The Sarentu"), who shows more personality here than in their own campaign. From the Ashes delivers a good handful of memorable moments without all the padding (the confusing and laborious character progression of the core game has been significantly streamlined).

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora - From the Ashes was specifically designed to be played in third-person, and for the most part, the change of viewpoint works out well. Surprisingly, one aspect you'd think would greatly benefit from a third-person mode, platforming, hasn’t improved all that much. Jumping is still rather unresponsive and imprecise. That said, third-person mode makes it a lot easier and more intuitive to assess your surroundings, making it the clear choice for combat and stealth scenarios.

Sneaking up on baddies is a lot less maddening now, due to the new perspective, improved enemy marking, and added instant stealth finishers. But if you want to mix it up with the RDA head on, that's now also a viable strategy, as So'lek eats RDA troops for breakfast. You're not nearly as frail as in the base game, new slow-motion aiming lets you make killer shots in a pinch, and Warrior Senses, a super mode you can activate once you fill a meter by dealing or taking enough damage, lets you go ham on entire waves of enemies. Ah, but the RDA have new tricks too. Upgraded armored enemy types and pesky robot dogs will require you to make smart use of So'lek's powerful abilities. New boss fights, including showdowns with rival Mangkwan, offer fresh challenges that stand apart from the usual RDA troops in exo suits schtick.

From the Ashes doesn't offer much in the way of entirely new locales, instead opting to reshape the Kinglor Forest map from the core game, adding plenty of fire and ash to previously lush locales. A lot of From the Ashes' main missions revolve around reimaging key landmarks from the core game in fun and interesting ways, with, for instance, the once-safe Hometree being taken over by a large RDA base and the serene Rookery becoming a fiery gauntlet of challenging platforming and pitched combat.

While a lot has been improved, I don’t want to go overboard with the praise, as this still isn’t a perfect game. As mentioned, platforming remains stiff, and I wouldn't consider From the Ashes a truly top-tier shooter or stealth experience. But make no mistake, it is better than it was, and Massive have done an admirable job of refreshing their world and justifying this expansion’s $25 price tag – the core campaign is a solid 10 hours long, and those looking for 100 percent completion could spend twice that long.

A Tightly Restrung Bow

While Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora - From the Ashes is still a bit rough around the edges in some respects, you have to give developer Massive Entertainment credit for at least trying to fix almost every complaint fans had about the original game, sometimes quite successfully. Combat in particular is much improved, making embodying a 9-foot-tall alien warrior into the empowering experience it always should have been. If you enjoyed the original Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, you'll probably love From the Ashes, but even those left cold by the core game may find this DLC sparks something in them.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is available on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5. If you already own the core game, you can pick up the expansion for $25, while those just coming on board now can get the original game and DLC packaged together for only $40.

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