Avatar: The Last Airbender -- The Burning Earth

"Average title"

I've never seen the Avatar cartoon so I can't comment on this game as if I was a fan. From what I gather is that fans should get more enjoyment out of this game than the typical gamer. On the other hand this game has become infamous for having the easiest 1000 achievement points yet. The real question though is the game any good?

Avatar is about a boy who has the power of the Avatar but it can only be unleashed when his emotions get out of hand. A war is starting and people want to sue this boy. I think that's the plot anyway. I quickly started to skip the cut scenes as the game was kind of boring and the way the story was told was boring.

I for one like to see mouths move when a character is talking. This is a next gen game and it's a few years into the consoles life so there is no reason to have no mouth movements at all. This causes cut scenes to be boring. The game does look pretty good though. A bit bland in spots but the cell shading is nicely done and fits the style of the cartoon.

The voice work is done by the cast of the show. That could be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it. I found the voices annoying but some may like them. The music was fitting though and I wouldn't be surprised if it came from the show. Sound effects were nothing special. boxes break and water splashes.

Control in the game is really basic. You have a quick attack with the A button and the X button works as a projectile (hold to charge it). You can also jump. Besides that you really don't do a whole lot. Move with the left analog stick. The camera is preset so you can't mess with that. Easy to pick up and play that's for sure.

This is an action adventure game minus any exploration. it's very linear and if you see two paths one will lead to an item and the other leads you on your way. It really isn't anything special.

The way any level turns out is you walk forward, fight some enemies or solve a push block puzzle. Walk some more, fight some enemies and then get an item. After that you may have to backtrack and repeat the stuff or you go to the next area.

Enemies come at you in rather large groups for a kids game but you can defeat them all without getting hit by just spamming the projectile attack. You don't even need to aim because your character will automatically target the next threatening bad guy.

The game has a few hidden items (6) and it has some health upgrades as well (6). That really doesn't extend the game. The game is also absurdly short and by that I mean well under 5 hours.

Avatar might be a fine game for its targeted audience but it really is nothing special. Boring game play with everything else being painfully average. The length really hurts it as well but I must say it was the easiest 1000 achievement points I've ever gotten and took a grand total of two and half minutes.

Story - 7/10
Graphics - 6/10
Sound - 6/10
Control - 7/10
Game Play - 5/10
Replay Value - 1/10

Final Score - 5/10

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 12/10/07

Game Release: Avatar: The Last Airbender -- The Burning Earth (US, 11/19/07)