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The Legend of Korra video game is based on the epic animated show which proved a runaway hit with kids and gained a cult following from an adult audience when it débuted on Nickelodeon a few years ago.

The premise for those not familiar revolves around a teenager living in a 1920’s Steampunk Far East, in which a portion of the worlds inhabitants have the ability to control an elemental force (earth, air, water or fire). Korra is the ‘Avatar’, the latest re-incarnation in a long line of Avatar’s who act as a convergence of these powers allowing them to wield all of the elements at once.

In its four seasons the show has dealt with some quite grown up issues; terrorism (as much as a kids show can), social ills likes tolerance, duty, family honour and spiritualism. All of which with a high dose of kick-assery martial arts and action. Nickelodeon and Activision enlisted Platinum Games, makers of Bayonetta, to develop a game based on the series and many, included myself, anticipated it to be something special. The game is finally here and boy does Korra nail the style and genre for an Avatar game. It’s just a shame that it only manages such a fleeting light drizzle of enjoyment.

The story sees our protagonist walking the streets of Republic City and stumble across an an old man conflabbing with a group of ‘Chi Blockers’ (the foot soldiers for the ‘Equalists’, a group of anti-bending revolutionists who use pressure points to suppress  element wielders abilities). A scuffle then ensues resulting in Korra losing her powers. Traditionally in the shows lore, a ‘block’ only lasts for a short while however for the purposes of the game poor Korra must relearn her abilities from scratch – level by level, bad guy by bad guy until she can return to full power and uncover the (blink and you’ll miss it) plot.

Game play makes use of a third-person perspective to have you navigate Korra around city streets, ancient temples and snowy mountains all the while brawling with an increasing number of opponents, unlocking elements and learning/purchasing new combos. Progressing through each section of a chapter, you’ll find a ‘magic force field’ appear blocking you in and seeing you dispatch that arenas bad guys before allowing you to progress to the next …and so forth and so forth. Either mid-way or at the end of the chapter you’ll encounter your typical boss character. It must be mentioned that bad guys only come in a few flavours and varieties.  In total I counted less than 10 enemy models (including the end boss) and are reused frequently following a very simple method of escalating battles, e.g. level 1 boss will appear as a common mob in the next level.

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Basic scrapping has you using two attacks with both being able to be charged/unleashed with gusto if timed right. I did struggle in the beginning as I found the enemies were overly powerful and hard to kill, but after live-die-repeating a few times it became apparent that all enemies were very vulnerable to specific elemental abilities or counter attacks. Countering at the right time appears to be the preferred method of dealing with larger/tougher enemies, and the trick for dealing with these is to use old school attack watching to deduce when best to block and deliver a subsequent counter via quick time event to dish damage. For smaller bad guys certain element attacks work very well. Water is the first element you unlock and is great for sniping pesky Chi Blockers from afar, earth I found was maybe too effective against all ground dwelling combatants as spamming blocks of earth in front of you rendered you untouchable from those looking to do you harm. Even more useful once unlocked was the over powered air bending ability, which sees you ride a hurricane whipping up funnels to produce repeated large area damage. Thankfully this skill was only unlocked very late in the game.

In-between chapters to mix things up no doubt, you’re presented with what I would call a “mini game” level featuring Korra’s pet, Naga the polar bear dog. The objective of this mode is to on rails race your ice hound through streets or icy gully’s avoiding pits and obstacles collecting ‘spirit points’ that can be used towards items via the in-game store. These trinkets include new combos, potions for healing or artefacts that alter your core abilities (one of which speeds up character movement while another lets you trade your health for increased damage dishing). This duck-dodge-dive mode is fun and although the formula does change up briefly at the end of the game, overall it feels very out of place.

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Controls and movement are intuitive, however they do rely on a certain high degree of finger dexterity to block well or time the charged attacks correctly. This is greatly hindered by the flawed chase camera. With a reliance on block/counter mechanics such as you’ve seen in Arkham or Shadow of Mordor, you really do need to be wary of your surroundings, however because the camera places itself so poorly it’s impossible to deduce when an attack from behind or off camera is coming.

Graphically Korra scores well as presentation is to a high standard. The cell shaded graphics give a close approximation of the animated series it’s based on as do newly created cut scenes. Those cast members from the show that do appear in the game perform solid vocal duties and the mirrored music styling also add to the games overall feel and polish.

After you’ve completed the main story, the challenge isn’t’ completely over as a new option becomes unlocked allowing you to return to the first level of the game, and take part in a Pro-Bending tournament. Doing well in Pro-Bending awards you further currency to purchase more items to use when replaying on the games harder setting, or if you do exceedingly well can unlock new character skins for Korra.

The core game is short, between 4-6 hours depending on your skill, which I found was plenty of time for Korra to tell its story and deliver some action without too much further unnecessary repetition. The real crying shame I feel is that the game doesn’t make the most of the license or implement enough of what makes the show great. As the Avatar you have the ability to wield four different elements and although you can switch between these with a press of a button, the mechanic isn’t utilised with sufficient flare to dazzle. It really would have been great to square off against an opponent using all of your abilities in rapid succession. The only time you really can cut loose is when you unlock the ‘Avatar State’ – a zen like realisation to unleash your powers all at once dealing maximum damage whilst being nearly invincible.

For something based on a show with a rich history and narrative, The Legend of Korra Video Game has no real story. I was expecting twists and turns or something be revealed that would change the way I thought about the franchise – but no. No real arc is given other than “chase the bad guy”. In fact the ‘big bad’ monologues his entire nonsensical plan at the very end! In addition to ignoring the lore or setting it features almost none of the regular characters. Only Jinora, the daughter of Korra’s mentor, appears as an astral projection throughout the game to assist when it’s time for new abilities to be unlocked. Korra’s pro-bending buddies Bolin and Mako make quick appearances at the start and end when introducing or reminding us how pro-bending works – but that’s it!

I’m sad to say it’s only selling point is that the game is based on a popular IP. For anyone not familiar with the show they’ll find The Legend of Korra too formulaic and generic to be worthy of note or purchase. The Legend of Korra video game is now available on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 through the PlayStation Network, Xbox  One and Xbox 360 on the Xbox Games Store and as well on PC via Steam.

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