James Cameron's Avatar: The Game could be worse, but it certainly isn't the finest thing Ubisoft has put its name on. Issues begin with the camera. Granted, there usually isn't a lot to keep track of (a few guards, a laser grid), but it doesn't make things easier when the camera fights to look somewhere else. It's really cruel when you say, "I want to look at that enemy that's bearing down on me" and the camera says, "No." Luckily, you can always tell where enemies are due to the markers that show up over their heads. These markers are always in the foreground, even when your view of the enemy is blocked.
There are the standard "waggle to attack" motion controls, as well as a bow and arrow aiming system. The waggle system is simple enough, but like many Wii games, it feels tacked on.
It's unclear as to when the game saves, but I backed out of the game a few times and was not left far behind the place where I left. In fact, Avatar is nice enough to save "ahead" sometimes, so if you're having trouble with say, a horribly unfair escort mission, you'll jump ahead of the area where you died. With no lives or continues to worry about, this means you can make it through the game eventually, even if you have to die repeatedly to do so.
The extra features that use the MotionPlus and the Balance Board don't seem to be much to write home about. While the wasp controls nicely, responding to every tilt with a turn or a change in pitch, it is just a wasp. It also doesn't make up much of the gameplay. The balance board controls were one thing I was not able to review, but those sequences, again, do not make up the majority of the game. The standard controls for the Banshee make use of the Nunchuk and were not that great. You tilt the Nunchuk to move the Banshee, but it feels sluggish and unresponsive. It's kind of a shame, since the controls could have easily been mapped to the Control Stick instead.
Avatar checks in as a game based on a movie and goes through the standard paces. The story for this game doesn't seem nearly as compelling as the one for the movie, and the gameplay is decent, but gets old quick. It's very linear, and doesn't give you much of a feeling that you're one of those adventurous, freedom-loving blue aliens, the Na'vi. Sadly, even with so much potential, it seems that the Wii version of a multi-platform game ends up destined for the bargain bin again.