After Cyberpunk 2077, Ubisoft defends the same vision of video games with Avatar Frontiers of Pandora
Game news After Cyberpunk 2077, Ubisoft defends the same vision of video games with Avatar Frontiers of Pandora
In a recent interview, the developers of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora were able to look back on their game and explain why they decided to adopt a first-person view. A choice defended with the same arguments as for Cyberpunk 2077.
The best way to discover Pandora
Only a few more days to wait before the release from Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. Ubisoft’s new title promises us an exotic adventure on the planet of the Na’vi with a new story for the universe of James Cameron. As suggested by the few presentation videos shared so far, Avatar: Fonriters of Pandora is an FPS title. A choice which disappointed a large part of the public, but nevertheless thoughtful for the Massive Entertainment teams, as Ditte Deenfeldt and Magnus Jansen, respectively game director and creative director at Massive, recently explained.
To be as close to Pandora, to be as immersed in it as possible, which the first person view allows us, it was an obvious choice for us in my opinion. – Magnus Jansen, creative director
We wanted to put you in direct contact with nature, which is, in a sense, the main character of the game, and the best way to accomplish this is the first person view.
The idea is therefore to immerse the player in the heart of the lush nature of Pandora. A completely justifiable choice that aligns with CD Projekt RED’s vision for Cyberpunk 2077 and Night City, the real protagonist of the title. However, with Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Massive Entertainment also intends to offer a third-person view, available during the phases on the back of Ikran or Equidius. A way to further emphasize the beauty and richness of the planet’s environments according to the studio.
We decided to use the third person view for the Ikran and the Equidius because of the framing it offers on the world. We really liked this change of point of view. You can see the branches of the trees, the foliage and all these things (…) that you couldn’t see in the first person. It’s the same when you cross a waterfall from the air, you can see the water flowing over the Ikran. I think these kinds of details would be difficult to see in first person. – Drew Rechner, associate game director.
Two points of view, twice the work
Beyond the studio’s vision and the conscious choice to favor the first-person view in order to offer an incomparable level of immersion, Massive Entertainment also explains that this choice is justified by the saving in time and quality that it represents. Working on two points of view at the same time amounts to working on “two different games” according to Ditte Deefeldt. The studio therefore decided to decide and opt for the FPS view in order to achieve the best possible rendering.
If you want a certain degree of quality on both (points of view), you need to make a choice early. (…) When you’re harvesting, or hunting, or moving around, if you’re in third person, it becomes little pixels touching other little pixels and then you no longer have that special feeling of immersion that we wanted to bring to the game.
To discover Pandora like never before, see you on December 7 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series.
Gn Fr tech
