Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – From the Ashes Review – A Satisfying Capstone

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Movie-based games used to be quickly made and generally poor quality. But over the last fifteen years, many games adapted from popular franchises – like Batman, Harry Potter, and even Guardians of the Galaxy – have actually been quite good. In 2023, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora continued this trend, offering a fresh and immersive way to explore the world of James Cameron’s Avatar films.

Despite already receiving good support after its release with significant story additions, the new expansion From the Ashes, launching with Avatar: Fire and Ash, feels like a more substantial update. This is largely due to its new campaign centered around a unique character and its implementation of the recently added third-person camera perspective.

Continuing the fight against the RDA, From the Ashes introduces So’lek, a new character battling the same enemy while also supporting allied forces. His struggle is complicated by a dangerous new threat: the Mangkwan clan, a ruthless group of Ash people who have joined forces with the RDA.

In From the Ashes, players take on the role of So’lek, a new character fighting against the RDA.

From the Ashes continues the story after the main game, beginning with a distress signal revealing growing unrest. The Aranahe are under attack, and wildfires are raging across the Kinglor Forest – a result of the alliance between the RDA and the Mangkwan.

Unlike previous expansions which mostly added onto the existing game, ‘From the Ashes’ feels like a complete, standalone campaign. The developers estimate around 20 hours of new content, though that depends on how many optional missions you choose to do. I completed the main story in about 15 hours and found it very enjoyable. The story moves at a great pace, and it doesn’t feel like any time is wasted on unnecessary filler.

The core story of From the Ashes includes several large-scale, impressive moments. You’ll frequently move between fighting in the air and on the ground. Important story events are often marked by enjoyable boss battles. These aren’t overly complicated, but they do add variety to the gameplay. Some bosses require you to learn their attacks and find the right time to strike, while others present puzzles that reveal their vulnerabilities.

“The main campaign of From the Ashes also features quite a few epic set pieces.”

The boss fights offer a lot of different experiences. You’ll face everything from dogfights with other Banshee riders and flying vehicles, to stealth-focused challenges reminiscent of the Metal Gear series – like one whole fight centered around sneaking up on a sniper.

So’lek is a strong character who effectively serves as our point of view and source of information. He immediately feels more developed than Sarentu from the original game. Unlike starting as someone with no memories, So’lek is a seasoned warrior, and the story explores that, showing both his rage and his quieter, more vulnerable side – like when he’s forced to fight fellow Na’vi. What makes So’lek interesting is his willingness to use the RDA’s own weapons against them, and the game clearly demonstrates his skill with everything from armor and rifles to close-quarters combat.

The core gameplay is similar to what you’d expect, but the new features really make a difference. Playing in third-person makes sneaking around easier to follow and completing takedowns more rewarding, while engaging in direct combat feels perfect for So’lek’s abilities. His updated skill tree allows for more spectacular, cinematic moments – you can slow down time to aim, highlight enemy weaknesses, and perform new takedowns, even from the air using your banshee. The banshee itself is also much easier to control in From the Ashes, especially when using a keyboard and mouse.

“So’lek is also compelling because he’s willing to turn the RDA’s tools against them.”

The gameplay has been updated for So’lek with new ways to improve his abilities, including new crafting recipes and a unique skill tree. It’s important to know that From the Ashes is a separate campaign from the main game’s story, so any gear you collected while playing as Sarentu won’t be available for So’lek’s adventure.

Overall, From the Ashes features some of the most enjoyable and thoughtfully designed combat in the game. Enemies are placed strategically, which makes stealth gameplay more immersive and rewarding. These encounters are also well-balanced for direct combat. However, this careful design likely led to the removal of co-op play in From the Ashes. The rest of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora allows players to experience the entire campaign with a friend, but From the Ashes does not offer that option.

A great feature of the From the Ashes expansion is the ability to start it directly from the main menu, skipping the original game’s lengthy opening. However, you still need to own the base game to play it. Players initially experienced a problem where they could get stuck in the “A Blessing” mission if they didn’t have explosive grenades. Beyond that, the expansion has been quite stable, likely due to the ongoing support and improvements the original game has received since launch.

Starting the From the Ashes story directly from the main menu is great for players who don’t want to play through the expansive open world again.

The game looks great and runs very well. During testing with From the Ashes, I consistently achieved over 100 frames per second at a resolution of 2560×1440. The test PC was equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D processor, an AMD Radeon RX 7800XT graphics card, and 32GB of DDR5-6000 RAM. Fast loading times were also a highlight, thanks to the game being installed on a speedy NVMe SSD. Although we didn’t test lower-end hardware, the addition of a smoother 40 FPS mode is a welcome improvement, especially for devices like the Steam Deck.

The game looks just as good as the original, continuing right from where it left off. While the first game showed the beauty of Pandora alongside the harsh industrial presence of the RDA, From the Ashes focuses on the destruction caused by the conflict. This is especially evident in the heavily damaged Kinglor Forest, which really emphasizes the personal and brutal impact of the war.

“From the Ashes” feels like a satisfying conclusion to the post-launch story of Frontiers of Pandora. It’s a grittier chapter of the conflict, with a clear protagonist in So’lek, and the combat is improved with new abilities and a third-person perspective. Even if you didn’t enjoy the original game, this standalone start makes it a great way to experience the best parts of Frontiers: stealth, action, and exploring its open world.

This game was reviewed on PC.

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2026-01-07 15:18