The Last Airbender for the Wii video game follows pretty much the same plot as the recent movie just out in theaters by M. Night Shyamalan. Thankfully, it seems that Shyamalan had very little to do with the game.
The familiar story of Aang and Zuko is recreated allowing the player to play these two characters in their respective portions of the story. You also get to play the Blue Spirit for one chapter. The game takes some liberties, of course, by extending particular scenes in order to give you plenty of gaming with action and challenges.
The controls and abilities are easy to learn and execute, all the while remaining interesting and varied. Each character has different abilities, and with each chapter devoted to a different character, you get a chance to see try new moves and explore different areas without the game getting redundant. The Blue Spirit chapter is the most challenging, encouraging you to give more thought to getting through some of the obstacles.
I did get stuck on one challenge with Zuko in the ice caves, where you have to make several timed leaps to get through the level. Since this was more of a timing and coordination challenge rather than a cerebral one, I got bored and annoyed rather quickly, as I had to run back to the beginning of the obstacle course over and over again.
The Blue Spirit
However, I did like how the bending powers sometimes have to be used to get you through challenges and obstacles. For example, knowing when to use Aang’s ability to move quickly by slowing game time in some sort of wind tunnel effect was both interesting and effective.
The game graphics and art were teriffic. The game world scenes were visually interesting to explore. There were few instances when the graphics engine could not keep up with the game play. However, it did not happen enough to deter game play or enjoyment of the game itself. I liked the comic bookish style of storytelling of the cut scenes between chapters; they are dynamic, yet short enough to keep you ready for the next gameplay chapter.
Zuko, doing his thing
For the most part, The Last Airbender for the Wii is good buy. The game is clearly meant for fans of the TV series and movie. It offers a more realistic game environment than previous Airbender related games, which were based on the animated series and thus more cartoonish in nature.
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