Avatar: The Way of Water, the long-awaited sequel by the director James Cameron, has been a huge success. So far, it's the third highest-grossing film in history, surpassed only by Avengers: Endgame and Avatar itself. The tremendous reception of the film may serve the next video game in the franchise, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, still in development, as a source of momentum following the renewed interest in the saga.
Thanks to the new installment, the planet Pandora has been expanded even further with the inclusion of new tribes, creatures and lore, something that could be reflected in the video game. While James Cameron is confident in Ubisoft's vision for Avatar, the upcoming open-world game has even more to work with since the release of The Way of Water.
New Tribes And Fauna From Pandora
One of the most prominent elements included in Avatar: The Way of Water is the existence of tribes other than the forest Na'vi from the first movie. The sequel introduces the oceanic Na'vi after Jake Sully and his family are forced to run away. They are taken in by this new community and learn their ways in an attempt to go unnoticed.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora could introduce new types of Na'vi previously unknown. Although it would not be surprising if James Cameron wanted to save new characters and cultures for the next films, it would also be exciting to have the opportunity to discover new types of life or even explore more differences between the forest and ocean tribes.
Pandora is a natural environment with unique vegetation and fauna. Despite the great variety of animals both terrestrial and aerial that could be seen in the first Avatar movie, such as the horse-like pa'li or the flying ikran, it is necessary to add those presented in The Way of Water. Among them are the ocean-dwelling ilu and tsurak mounts, as well as Avatar's gigantic tulkun. SInce it's an open world game, Ubisoft can offer a wide range of rideable creatures all over the planet to facilitate travel by land, sea, and air. There's even room to introduce more animals into the game; after all, many of the dangers and mysteries lurking on the planet have yet to be depicted.
Pandora's New Natural Environments
The Tree of Souls, introduced in the first Avatar film, is established as a sacred element of Na'vi culture. It allows the Na'vi to connect, communicate and interact directly with Eywa, the sentient life force of the planet Pandora. The Way of Water, meanwhile, shows the Spirit Tree, the underwater version from the aquatic Metkayina tribe. It functions similarly to the Forest Na'vi's Tree of Souls but allows certain Na'vi to manipulate the aquatic life around it, connecting them to the very ecosystem they inhabit. Frontiers of Pandora could further explore this concept by including more Spirit Trees that connect to different environments, allowing for new connections and abilities linked to the planet.
In the same vein, water is almost another character in the new movie. Many exploration games such as Abzu and Subnautica have shown that exploring oceans and lakes can be really exciting, so perhaps the game can use these new locations to create a new gameplay experience.
Human Impact in Pandora
One of the essential themes of the saga is that humans are expanding across the planet at an alarming rate, destroying nature in their wake. The first film establishes the many interests humans have in Pandora and its resources, and The Way of Water explains that, due to their technological advances and funding from the RDA organization, they have been able to essentially build an entire city on Pandora in just a few months. It would be very interesting to be able to explore and observe the human-built fortresses and cities on Pandora and even attack them. It would show the overreach of the RDA there, as well as some of the unique and intriguing technology that exists in this futuristic world. This seems plausible, given past trailers featuring skirmishes with the RDA.
In addition to showing the human settlement on Pandora and its rapid expansion during the film, it is also explained why Earth's government agencies are so interested in the planet. The Earth will soon be uninhabitable and humanity will need a new place to settle. Although the game is named after the planet Pandora, it would be interesting to take a look at the state of Earth in the Avatar franchise during the time period in which it is set. The game could offer some sympathy for humans looking for a new home, or highlight new ways that humanity might devastate its home planet.
What Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora Should Examine
The Avatar films have very distinct main characters. Although the traditions and customs of Pandora play a major role, these story elements always revolve around Jake Sully, Neytiri and their respective families and friends. The Way of Water introduces new characters such as Jake and Neytiri's children, along with other important humans and Na'vi. Frontiers of Pandora could bring back these characters, allowing players to interact with them. Even if the game explores new characters and locations, there is always the possibility that its story will overlap with the movies, allowing players to connect with some of the characters they already know.
Although the game can learn a lot from the movie, it should not be limited to that either. Often, movie tie-in games are overly attached to the story of the film without bringing anything new to the table, and are quickly forgotten. In recent years, these games have seemingly fallen out of fashion, with more tie-in games being sequels, prequels or franchise-related rather than straight retellings of the same story. Frontiers of Pandora seems to belong to the latter category, but it can still borrow ideas from The Way of Water.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is currently in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.