So what’s all the fuss about then?
It’s all been very ‘hush-hush’ up to now, but James Cameron, the director behind the likes of The Abyss, Aliens and Titanic, has been working away on a new stereoscopic 3D film titled Avatar for about four years. Recently, the first information regarding the top-secret film began to trickle through thanks to the filmmakers revealing the videogame tie-in.

Movie tie-in? Not liking the sound of that.
We don’t blame you, but Cameron is keen to insist that Avatar: The Game has been developed in “absolute parallel” to the film, and has had two and a half years of development time devoted to it. Cameron even says that some of the ideas generated by Ubisoft actually made it into the film: there was a lot of cross-pollination between the two projects.

Okay, fair enough. But isn’t it just a bog-standard shooter? What’s so special about it?
Little is known about the action-adventure gameplay, other than you choose to fight for one of two factions (playing a soldier or the alien Na’vi), and gather ‘Effort Points’ with which to upgrade your character’s gear and skills. What’s really exciting is the new technology. Like the film, you’ll be able to don 3D glasses and play the game in stereoscopic 3D.

That’s cool. But won’t I need to fork out for a fancy TV?
Unfortunately yes, and they don’t come cheap. The development team is adamant that the game is just as good in 2D – and we admit the jungle environments are rather attractive – but with the glasses on and a DLP TV the game is awe-inspiring. There’s proper depth or field, a real sense of distance between foreground and background objects, and everything pops out the screen.

Why the third-person viewpoint? Wouldn’t a first-person viewpoint have been cooler with the unique 3D technology?
You’d think so, but according to the team it was important to be able to see your character, how they react to the environment, and how they develop. You also get to see them ride big tanks and mechs, or strange, alien mammals if you’re a Na’vi.

So is this the future of games?
We doubt the next Splinter Cell and Assassin’s Creed are going to end up in 3D, but it’s certainly exciting technology. Unfortunately it’s the only truly intriguing thing about Avatar right now: the rest of the game looks like rather standard fare. Hopefully some of the magic of Cameron’s better works will be noticeable in the finished product come this November.