Much just like the earlier DLC launch for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – The Sky Breaker – Secrets and techniques of the Spires as soon as extra takes us to a brand-new location. This time round, nonetheless, the brand new zone feels prefer it was particularly designed to utilize the sport’s flying mechanics. Contemplating the identify of the brand new DLC, it ought to come as no shock that huge spires and flying are going to be a key function right here. Sadly, nonetheless, Secrets and techniques of the Spires doesn’t actually do a lot to alleviate the core problems with the sport which have been current since its unique launch.
The DLC kicks issues off on a quite mellow word. Anufi needs to reunite the clans and sends you off into a comparatively unexplored space of Pandora, which might solely be accessed by way of flight. On attending to the brand new zone, you as soon as once more get to expertise the fantastic thing about moon, however from a special approach; nearly every part within the new zone is downright beautiful, with wide-open canyons and towering mountains that have been positively designed with the thought of gamers flying by way of at excessive speeds.
Apart from flight being the important thing mechanic for the DLC, there sadly isn’t actually a lot new right here. Certain, mounted fight will get a giant focus, and also you even have entry to new skills that make flying round an absolute pleasure, however you’re nonetheless in the end going to spend most of your time preventing both native wildlife for his or her crafting supplies, or RDA troopers for the sake of the story. Very similar to the areas from the bottom sport, the brand new DLC zone finally ends up feeling extra prefer it was designed to be a sandbox than with any actual design intent aside from “flying is cool”.
“Visually the brand new zone launched in Secrets and techniques of the Spires is simply as beautiful as the bottom sport and Sky Breaker.”
This additionally turns into fairly apparent when you make content material with the native tribe of the brand new zone, earn their belief, get some new flying skills, and kick off the story in earnest. Finally, it all the time simply appears to fall again to preventing off RDA forces. On the brilliant facet, whereas the story itself is kind of simply an excuse to get you to do issues, the gameplay itself may be quite a lot of enjoyable.
To name flying the core mechanic of Secrets and techniques of the Spires isn’t actually an exaggeration. The DLC introduces model new mechanics that allow you to pull off spectacular stunts like flinging your self to grapple off some vines underneath Pandora’s many floating islands, for instance. Nevertheless, the participant is predicted to be fairly aware of the sport’s core mechanics and doesn’t actually maintain your hand outdoors of the primary couple of minutes when you discover the brand new tribe.
The truth is, the DLC absolutely expects you to come back right here after you’ve wrapped many of the core sport up, since there’s a gear requirement of stage 20, and holding with Ubisoft sport traditions, you’re even given a narrative skip in case you wish to keep away from grinding and get to the enjoyable components. Whereas this does carry up extra curious factors, like why even have ranges of grinding that may be made superfluous on the press of a button to start with, however that has been a core design difficulty with Ubisoft’s video games for fairly a number of years now.
“To name flying the core mechanic of Secrets and techniques of the Spires isn’t actually an exaggeration.”
Visually the brand new zone launched in Secrets and techniques of the Spires is simply as beautiful as the bottom sport and Sky Breaker. The world from James Cameron’s film sequence has as soon as once more been delivered to life in a convincing method, and relying in your system’s {hardware}, the sport even will get extremely near wanting simply nearly as good, and if you happen to get the suitable angles, generally even higher than the flicks.
Whereas the DLC doesn’t carry something new to the desk except for an expanded set of strikes for flying, what it does find yourself doing fairly nicely is bringing in additional of the extremely immersive world that we praised the core sport for. The story itself tends to largely keep out of your manner when you’ve began unlocking your new skills, and quite a lot of the identical gameplay loop is current right here, tasking you with upgrading your gear, and even buff-providing meals by letting you lose in a superbly rendered new zone.
After having spent a while away from Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, returning to it solely with the discharge of its newest DLC, it’s price noting that some features of the core gameplay have began feeling a bit clunky. That is very true for the brand new DLC zone, which depends much more on verticality, and brings with it an entire host of recent methods to journey round together with bouncing vegetation. The presence of those new options makes the final motion of the sport really feel unnecessarily heavy, and leaping particularly feels fairly off when in comparison with even a few of Ubisoft’s different shooters.
“Finally, it all the time simply appears to fall again to preventing off RDA forces.”
Fight, however, stays largely unchanged, except for a few of your new flight-based skills. The core gunplay continues to be strong, and whereas it isn’t going to provide the identical stage of gory leisure as one thing like Doom, it’s pretty competent, and mowing down RDA troops nonetheless has its charms. There’s additionally one thing particular about with the ability to dive bomb into a gaggle of enemies and shortly taking them out together with your arsenal, which now additionally features a crossbow designed to be specifically used whereas flying. Sadly, this alone doesn’t actually do a lot to shake up the gameplay.
Finally, Secrets and techniques of the Spires doesn’t actually do a lot too revitalize Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and except you preferred the bottom sport a lot that you just simply need any excuse to spend extra time with the title, the DLC is unlikely to supply a lot in the way in which of recent engaging options to carry you again. Certain, a number of the new flying skills may be enjoyable, however they have a tendency to cease feeling novel comparatively shortly, and because the DLC’s important story is kind of simply an excuse to have you ever preventing towards RDA but once more, there simply doesn’t really feel like there’s sufficient new right here by way of core gameplay to be price returning to.
However, followers of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will undoubtedly love the truth that there’s a wholly new zone to discover, in addition to a number of new skills that make flying round a extra energetic endeavour than simply holding ahead in your analogue stick. Secrets and techniques of the Spires sadly seems like one thing of a whimper to finish the principle sport’s sequence of DLCs quite than a bang, with its new options feeling simply novel sufficient to possibly preserve a participant entertained for an hour or two however in the end feeling anemic sufficient to entice most to only transfer on to different releases.
This sport was reviewed on PC.
