This game is alot better than gamespot made out, it's actually a really good third person shooter.
I got the game and was impressed by it! Gamespot has really under rated this one and especially as a movie tie in game, it's done very well considering the crapness of most movie games.
At the very beginning you get to play a bit as human (RDA) and a bit as an avatar (navi). At first I preferred the navi because of the agility and everything and the only gun they had had unlimited ammo and when it came to the epic choice of deciding whether to be navi or RDA I chose the navi, but became disappointed as it's game play wasn't quite my type. Mainly because I like shooting more instead of melee combat and hunting tactics. If you like the shooting element more, don't become a navi, your gun will run out of ammo in a flash and be prepared to die alot more than you would have if you had chosen RDA. Being blue means you have to take a hunters approach to things which I wasn't entirely fond of though I must admit, being above 5 or so humans and picking them of silently with a bow and arrow is extremely satisfying.
No doubt the navi side will have more appeal and and fun for more patient players. It's certainly more unique.
If you choose to be RDA then the shooting part of the game is a lot heavier and you die not nearly as much as you did being a navi. It is useful by the way that the game saves separately at the part where you make the choice so you can play through both campaigns without deleting your progress.
Being RDA you have a good selection of guns at your disposal which will never really run out of ammo because there are stations set up around the map that will fully replenish your ammo.
Also, your targets, the navi, are a lot bigger and easier to shoot. You gain experience points too, which give you more powerful abilities (more on that later) and upgrades for guns or brand new, more powerful ones though you can only wield four at a time.
The skills system is like this also. They upgrade and you can get new ones. By holding down L2 and pushing one other button, you will activate an ability for a limited time. These include restoring health, airstrike, invisibility, and beserk. Skills can help especially when you're in a tight situation.
The driving was also made out to be a dud on gamespot's review and though the constant shaky camera can be annoying while driving, it really isn't the deal breaker that the official review made out.
The graphics look beautiful, the stunning green jungle is as said, beautiful but deadly. The map is free roaming as you make your way from one mission to the next in many different ways. Running (dangerous and combat heavy), drving, using a big robot thing, an airship or simply teleporting.
The music is good, it changes to a harsh jungle tune when attackers are close by, but there is one complaint about AVATAR that I do have.
The cutscenes are atrocious. They are boring as, and so is the story (different to the movie mind you). It basically takes one angle of two characters talking to each other which isn't really engaging at all so luckily there is a skip button. While the voice acting isn't really all that bad, the cut scenes are just terrible which hurts your motivation to play the game.
Finally, if you like third person shooters then this is a game for you as it does what it was meant to do, a stunning feat for a movie based game.
While it wont become an extremely note worthy action game, it is a bunch of fun that is worth your time.