James Cameron's Avatar

James Cameron himself has emphasised the closeness between his first post-Titanic blockbuster and the accompanying game, pinpointing sharing of computer-generated assets and the game's role in fleshing out Avatar's back-story.

This raised hopes that Avatar (the game) could strike a blow against the poor esteem in which games-of-films are held. The reality, although not without merit, is ultimately faintly disappointing. Avatar is a third-person shooter with some clever touches, most notably a storyline which branches at a crucial point, early in proceedings, letting you choose whether to play as the indigenous Na'vi or the US military-style RDA. This really lets you immerse yourself in the Avatar universe, experiencing the struggle between the two sides at first hand. Graphically, it is hugely impressive, and the planet, with its lush, alien flora and fauna, is rendered with incredible attention to detail. The difference between the heavily armed RDA and the Na'vi, with little but bows and arrows, powerful melee weapons and a knowledge of how to encourage the vegetation to turn against their oppressors, is also nicely observed.

But one feels that the gameplay has suffered at the hands of such fidelity to the film, and the perennial problem of third-person shooters – losing track of enemies' whereabouts once they get close to you – is annoyingly present, although several devices are employed in attempt to ameliorate it, such as an evading roll and the ability to launch an attacker-repelling shockwave (which is too fiddly to launch regularly). The targeting system also feels oversimplified – it has an excessive amount of lock-on "snap", and it ought to give you a clearer indication of whether enemies are out of range.

Avatar is also unduly reticent about hand-holding in the early stages – in order to find how to pilot the RDA vehicles (and Na'vi creatures), you have to delve around in the "Pandorapedia". As you progress, you acquire handy special abilities, such as rendering yourself invisible for a short burst or healing damage, which are key to making smooth progress through the game, but you have to work at arranging them, too. The result being that, early on, you tend to die with annoying frequency. It's a good job that the game is heavily checkpointed, and at least lack of ammo is never a problem. Once you work out how to maximise your special abilities, however, you find an immersive, easy-on-the-eye experience with a great storyline, especially if you play as the Na'vi – although it's a good idea to play as the RDA first, as the extra firepower makes it easier to survive.

Avatar, then, won't trigger rapture among hardcore gamers – but fans of the film will delight in how it lets you get deep into the goings-on on the moon Pandora.