Avatar - The Burning Earth: Lightweight Fun - 7/10
Story:
This game is a continuation of the first game where Aang and his mates Katara, Sokka, Toph, Momo and Aang's Bison Appa all make an appearance as non-playable characters and then as playable characters. This installation of the story (Book 2: Earth) follows the gang as they continue to fight the Fire Nations plans to take over the world by wiping out the other elements (Earth, Water and Air nations) to reign supreme (Huzzah!!) It's a pretty simple story and of course being a "middle chapter" in an ongoing story feels unfinished as the ending leaves no doubt regarding a sequel. This game supports up to 2 players so you can either have a mate over to help you or the Wii takes over as the 2nd player.
Graphics:
The game is cartoony like the series, but the characters move really smoothly and the special attacks (especially near the end of the game with all the power-ups) are quite lovely to behold as the character goes into a Matrix-Style slow mo to perform the action. The backdrops to the kids’ adventures are true to the cartoon and I found it quite pleasant to look at.
Sound:
Some of the incidental music was quite lovely. Some of it was repetitive or if an action sequence had finished the music would sometimes run on into the next area which was a bit jarring. The characters are all voiced by the same people who do the show plus Daniel Dae Kim voices one of the characters in the game!! (If you play it, see if you can spot which is his voice). The characters talk to each other during levels usually making observations about a certain puzzle, switch or lever to help you on your way (remember, this game is aimed primarily at children). Sometimes the characters repeat the same phrase several times, which gets a bit annoying.
Controls:
This game uses both the Wiimote and the Nunchuk to control the characters. The joystick on the Nunchuk moves the character around easily and is also used in some attacks to direct the flow of the attack. Attacks are performed on the Wiimote and the player can unlock combo attacks during the course of the game (these moves can be reviewed in the game Journal screen). Using the Element Bending skills takes a bit of getting used to, it actually requires some finesse to perform:- not waving the Wiimote around wildly! However, once I actually did what it said on screen, (there are prompts) then it worked! Amazing what happens when you read the instructions!
The Z button on the Nunchuk is used for a variety of tasks, such as talking to NPCs, opening doors and Element Bending.
Weapons:
Aang being the Last Avatar (he is the only one able to bend all 4 elements) can do some really excellent combos and his special attack is fabulous to watch. He also has an attack called the "Avatar State" and the big arrow on his head glows along with his eyes and you press a series of buttons for him to unleash his power, which is also cool to watch. His fighting is done bare handed. Aang also has the ability to use air attacks which also help with some puzzles.
Katara is a water bender so she has a ... water whip? It looks like a whip, she whacks enemies with it. She also has a cool Freeze attack where with a flick of the Wiimote she sends out a stream of ice to knock enemies down. Her ability helps with some puzzles in the game.
Sokka is Aangs mate and apparently can’t bend any elements (I don't watch the cartoon so I don't know). In the game he has a cool boomerang which he uses for both close combat and to knock enemies down at a distance. He also uses it for puzzles.
Toph is an Earth Bender. She is blind but uses the vibrations of the earth to "see". She has some truly awesome fighting moves and teaches Aang how to earth bend to progress in the game.
Momo looks like a cross between a Bat and a Chihuahua but it kicks butt in fights, using fruit attacks (it throws melons and other fruits) it also appears to bite and scratch opponents as well as kicking them. This character is also useful in solving puzzles.
Enemies/Bosses:
This game has many drone-like henchmen who have no AI at all and just keep coming. As the game progresses you meet henchmen from different Elements so you may find some will throw rocks/boulders at you and some will use fire etc. The bosses aren't all enemies but you still have to beat them to continue the game. Some bosses are time consuming to beat, others are very simple. The worst boss I found was the one on Chapter 5 as it was a timed run, but once I worked out what I was doing the level was easily completed.
Power-ups:
These come in the form of chests you can open, items you can smash (those inevitable wooden crates) and Power-Up cards. Power-ups increase your fighting powers and make your special attacks more powerful and fun to watch.
Health:
Health globes are dropped by the enemies you slay. You can also get health from chests which contain either potions or health bonus power-ups.
Secrets:
There are 6 secrets on each chapter/level. Finding them unlocks bonuses in the main menu. They are usually pretty easy to find.
Niggles:
This game does tend to crash unexpectedly at times, other people have commented on this and fortunately it only happened to me twice whilst playing it.
Another niggle is that it is easy to get "stuck" in 2 player mode if you don't keep your characters fairly close together, in this case you have to "opt out" the stuck character so that the first character can move on.
I also found the game rather short, but my daughter really enjoyed it so I guess you have to look at the attention span of the kids playing to decide if you want to buy this game.
Some of the cut-scenes are in-game, therefore for some reason the characters mouths don’t move when talking, this is rather slack as the BINK movies in the game are great and the characters mouths move and they show expression, I’m not sure why this is so, but it was slightly annoying.
Conclusion:
As a non-viewer of the cartoon series I found this game to be fun and fairly easy to play. Kids who are fans will most probably like it as from what I have seen of the cartoon when my daughter has been watching it stays faithful to the series. Having the voice actors in the game also adds to the authenticity of it. I recommend this game for players aged 7 up as it is a PG rated game due to the fighting (there is no gore, however the "bodies" just disappear).
Graphics - 7/10
Story - 8/10
Gameplay - 7/10
Sound - 7/10
Submitted by Stormstruk
05/12/2007
2190
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Avatar - The Burning Earth
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