'James Cameron's Avatar' by Gameloft Released
posted by Eli Hodapp on December 14th, 2009 5:25 PM EST in $9.99, Action, Adventure, Games, Platform, iPhone games, iPod touch games
If you haven't gone crazy with Avatar fever by now in the wake of what may very well be the most hyped movie in modern history, and are looking for a platforming adventure game set in the fantastic jungles of Pandora, an alien world inhabited by the blue skinned Na'vi, James Cameron's Avatar [App Store] for the iPhone may just be what the doctor ordered.
From our hands-on preview late last month:
The game itself merely takes place in the Avatar universe, and tells the tale of the events leading up to the movie as a sort of prequel to the film itself. Gameloft apparently had complete access to all of the assets behind the movie, as well as recording some original voicework by the cast for use within the game– Creating an experience that (to this skeptic of movie games) was quite shocking.Avatar somehow manages to stand on its own, and instead of feeling like a game that was created for the sake of yet another marketing avenue for a movie, it feels like a game that just happens to take place in the same world as the movie. Controlled using a mixture of a virtual joystick and on-screen buttons, there are portions of the game that are reminiscent of traditional 3D platformer games like Mario 64 or Crash Bandicoot, with a combo-friendly combat system straight out of games like Hero of Sparta.
The following video shows some highlights of the first couple levels:
Later in the game you come across a Na'vi village, ride some crazy six legged horse, and there's even a Panzer Dragoon-like flying level where you pilot a banshee which can be seen in this video (which regrettably doesn't have very good sound) that was shot at the Gameloft event in Paris:
We will have a full review soon, but in the meantime first impressions and other comments are being collected from forum members in this thread.
App Store Link: James Cameron's Avatar, $9.99
Hey Eli are you excited for the movie?
I'm excited to see the technology behind the movie in the inevitable super-premium ultra edition Avatar BluRay extras. The actual movie itself? Not so much.
Wouldn't know why you aren't interested in the movie. It's universally critically acclaimed, aside from just being an awesome tech feast.
Dang, the game looks quite neat – those graphics are amazing…
Hmmm…too bad I refuse to buy movie tie in games. But I will go see the movie.
seems like you might be missing out on some good games, then.
Gameloft makes some good tie-ins!
one too many 9's for me. looking forward to seeing the eye candy in the movie though, will hopefully enjoy it as much as the matrix series and FF spirits within.
so you'd rather have it at 9.90 rather than 9.99, it doesn't make much of a difference to me
He could have meant that $9.09 was ok. He couldn't've meant $.99, could he?
Got it Runs awesome on my 3GS really enjoying it, very awesome game guys, I strongly reccomend it !
$10 is too much due to all the iPhone games I've been purchasing…$4.99 is the magic number
. I'll wait until a limited sale goes on for this game…it'll pop up eventually.
Game has been removed from App Store temporarily…
Until the scheduled released date of Dec15
No, it's back now. It's good, looks and controls like a PSP game.
Companies need to hire analysts for pricing. Me for example, I'm promoting myself, but honestly, almost every game has the same pricing schedule, and it's very poorly executed. $9.99 is maybe what the game is worth, but so many people will hold out for a price drop! I'm telling you, the app store is a microcosm economy… it's very interesting..
That being said, i'd get the game right now, but I don't have access to Wifi (Thanks Comcrap) so i'll have to wait…
When I first played Assassins Creed on the iPhone, I thought if anybody could port Tomb Raider, Gameloft would be the one. After seeing this video I know I was right. Time for Eidos to do the next step.
It looks like Platform Adventure meets WoW. Seems too good to be true, and dare I say, probably is?
FYI: Subatomic Studio's will be releasing Fieldrunners on the Nintendo DSi Q1 2010
See Nintendo's Offical video game lineup for Q1 2010.
http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/AyF8_d15Prh0yVDUiDdNir_uKrUOZmSN
Looks like Gameloft is gradually raising the prices on their games. I'm going to hold off on this one unless I'm really impatient and love the movie. I bet Nova will be 10 bucks because it's one of the most anticipated iphone games right now.
Wow. I know I don't like movie themed games, and that it's cool for TAers to hate Gameloft, but this looks incredible. Like a totally legit 3d platformer to replace Otto-matic on my iPhone. If I find this game is long, I will get it.
Has anyone heard anything about James Cameron working on a live action adaptation of Canabalt?
Price is awesome!
Damn I need money now
can't wait for christmas
Here in lies a big hurdle for the AppStore. This looks like a great game, but I cannot bring myself to buy H.A.W.K, Skater Nation, or Avatar even though the reviews are basically all positive. I have the money too. But games are so cheap in general and I've stockpiled such a massive selection of games as a result, that it's hard to modivate myself myself to buy premium-priced games. There is such an over-saturation of games on the market that it becomes increasingly more easy to simply wait out an inevitable sell and use the 100-plus games you already own to occupy your time until then.
I did buy Driver, and will purchase NFS and NOVA. I'm not a cheap stake by any means. It's just that the appstore's overwhelming catalogue of back-logged games really starts working against the notion of premium-priced games gaining any real foothold in the market.
with notable exceptions from big names, such as Call of Duty: World at War from Activision…