Avatar: The Last Airbender-The Burning Earth

Last year a friend of mine turned me on to a cartoon series on Nickelodeon entitled Avatar: The Last Airbender. After checking out a few episodes I was hooked by the animation as well as the story. Inevitably, after a television show gets successful, a game usually follows shortly thereafter, and sure enough Avatar spawned a vide game. The bad thing is that like most cartoon-series-to-game conversions this game was less than stellar. Last year's game covered the first season of the show, and this year a new game has come out entitled Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth, covering (you guessed it) season two of the show.

As stated earlier, this game picks up right after the events of season one and starts in season two with Aang trying to find an Earth-bending master. Fans of the show will really enjoy this game as it really sticks close to its source material and you will get to be in the footsteps of the main characters through the most action-packed scenes of last season.

This is an action beat 'em up game. There are two (pre-determined) characters that you can swap between during the course of the game. These characters are constantly getting changed up for various reasons, such as one going off to help villagers sneak past the guards to having to hide Appa, which is good since it gives players a chance to try out everyone, including some guest fighters. One of the nicer things about this game is that at any time during the course of it a friend can join up to become the second player. This makes the game even more fun since playing with a live human is always better than any computer AI.

Try getting that dirt out of your clothes

The main problem is the repetition that you will face in the game. The main flow of the game follows a very familiar progression. First you will see a cut scene that helps move the story along; Then you will be dropped off and you will be able to use two characters depending on the situation. You will then progress throughout the level beating up any enemies you face and collecting various items until you come across some easy puzzles, such as use “character X” to do a specific move to solve that “puzzle” that only they can do. Then you continue, fight more enemies, solve a puzzle, and your team gets switched up. You progress throughout the level again until you come across the boss battle. Once you beat him you will get another cut scene that will introduce the next chapter in the game.

While it is nice that this game follows the television series so closely, the repetition gets annoying fast. There are only so many things you can beat up, boxes to move and levers to press, before you will have enough. There is some relief in the game where you can fly as Appa (the flying bison) going to some new destination and avoiding enemies, but there isn’t enough variety to keep seasoned players actively interested for extended periods of time.

The combat is decent and will keep younger players happy for a while. Here is the low-down of some of the techniques that you will be performing. First off all characters can attack up close and from far away - block, roll around, jump (double jump) and even do special attacks. The special attacks can only be done if you have collected a special attack token, and it is best to save these for the really tough enemies. If the party gets in real danger, sometimes Aang will enter into the Avatar state and perform some ultimate move, which will knock out even the most ferocious of enemies.

Bison boarding

One of the neatest ideas is the focus moves, and it is such a shame that it wasn’t implemented to its fullest potential. As you go across the world you will come across several obstacles that require a specific bending power or even a feat of strength. While this helps divert from some of the monotony of the game, this is also some of the most challenging parts due to implementation. Once you get the correct character to the spot needed, you will have to press the Z button and perform a specific Wii-mote gesture. The problem is that some of the gestures are not clear, and since the examples are not animated it might take several minutes to actually get that move across. For instance, I got stuck at one place as I couldn’t figure out a very simple move because it was not explained enough. I turned and asked my wife if she could see what it was and even she had difficulty figuring out what was needed to get past this area. It was a sheer stroke of luck that I was able to get the right gesture to move along. If this confused me and my wife, I can only imagine the frustration younger gamers, who aren’t as patient, will have with these sections.

The graphics for this game are really good looking. The best part is that the developers were able to capture the look and feel of the cartoon. While it is not 100% the same look (and it rarely will be in any cartoon-to-game conversion) this is one of the closest I have seen in a while. The sound is also really good. The developers were able get the same voice talent that is in the TV show and it sounds really good. The music is also straight from the show, which is also a nice treat.

Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth is rated Everyone 10+.

Gameplay: 6.2
Even though the combat is fairly effective this game remains way too straightforward and monotonous for the average gamer.

Graphics: 7.6
The developers did a good job of getting the game to look very close to the television series. While it is not perfect, it is a much needed step up from last year’s game.

Sound: 7.9
The developers got the voice actors from the show to portray their in-game counterparts, which is a big plus to fans of the show. The music also mirrors or is reminiscent of the television program.

Difficulty: Easy
This game is made for a younger gaming audience, so it takes no time to breeze through it.

Concept: 6.5
This game really doesn’t add much to the genre. I did like how close it stayed with its source material  .

Multiplayer 7.9
The only multiplayer mode that this game offers is the ability for a second person to join the single-player game at anytime they wish. While it would have been nice to have a little more variety it is always nice to have a human player instead of the computer AI.

Overall: 6.7
Before I give my concluding remarks, I have to say that in comparison to last year's game, the developers really improved the sequel. While there are still things that need to be ironed out, this is a much better game, from the graphics to the gameplay. With that being said I wish that the developers took a little more time improving it as it could be much better than it is. I would highly recommend this game to fans of the series and for everyone else a rental just to check out playing co-op with your friends.