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In recent years THQ has become almost synonymous with making games
for children. Despite a dedication to more mature software like
Destroy All Humans!, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War,
Saints Row and Supreme Commander, THQ’s numerous
Nickelodeon franchises appear to be where the majority of THQ’s time
goes, most likely due to their consistently good sales. Although THQ
are amongst the largest publishers of the oft ridiculed “kids game”
their affinity with the genre hasn’t exactly translated into skill.
For every Disney/Pixar: Cars or Barnyard there is a
The Incredibles: Rise Of The Underminer
or
Spongebob
Squarepants: Lights, Camera, Pants! Making the purchase of a new
children’s THQ game a very hit-and-miss affair. THQ’s latest
release, Avatar: The Legend Of Aang, looks to have promise.
With gameplay similar to Activision’s
X-Men: Legends and a
great deal of licensed material, Avatar: The Legend Of Aang
could very easily be a half-decent game, which is usually enough to
spur parents to invest in it. However, given experience with THQ’s
past licensed titles, it could all go very wrong.
The world of Avatar: The Legend Of Aang revolves around four
nations based on the four classical elements, Earth, Air, Fire and
Water, each of which contains special individuals known as Benders
that can control their native element. As the story goes, the Fire
Nation is on the brink of world domination and can only be stopped
by the Avatar, a being able to control all forms of energy, which
 unsurprisingly is Aang. However Aang is only twelve-years-old and
must receive training to fulfil his destiny. In
Avatar: The
Legend Of Aang, Aang must investigate a new enemy, machines
capable of bending. The story may not be especially original or
compelling, but, unlike many games aimed at younger players, it is
at least coherent.
Avatar: The Legend Of Aang is a Hack-N’-Slash with RPG
elements, very similar to the aforementioned X-Men: Legends
series. Players initially take control of Aang, the protagonist of
the series, however though the game your party will grow to four
playable characters each fulfilling a different role. Players gain
Experience through the destruction of enemies and for completing
Quests. As the characters rise in Level, they gain new abilities and
special attacks which add a little variety to combat, although for
the most part you will be bashing the Cross Button to dispatch foes.
Unfortunately, as well as being somewhat monotonous, combat is also
regularly frustrating due to ropey Collision Detection. Bosses are
also slightly disappointing, although inherently following the
traditions of videogame progression punctuators, with all being
simply a case of avoiding attacks until they present a very obvious
weak point which the player can attack, after which it is merely a
case of repeating the procedure until the bosses submits.
The game takes place over several different environments from the
series, each of which are quite detailed and colourful, although a
little more variety in enemies would have been welcome. The game
also provides the player with a decent amount of Side-Quests,
although many of them are quite tedious. All-in-all Avatar: The
Legend Of Aang will take about ten hours to complete for the
average gamer, should the player decide to finish the Side-Quests
and find the special items.
Avatar: The Legend Of Aang’s characters are all Cel-Shaded
and do look very similar to their animated counterparts, something
that will no doubt please fans of the programme. In fact, the entire
game has a distinctive graphical style that does work very well.
Being a licensed game, there’s also no shortage of speech by the
official character which, together with the occasionally amusing
script and decent effect make sound one of Avatar: The Legend Of
Aang’s finer points.
Although flawed, Avatar: The Legend Of Aang is a passable
Hack-N’-Slash that should suit younger players or gamers looking to
get into the genre well. Although rarely challenging and
occasionally frustrating, it is fun in short bursts and true to the
series on which it is based.
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