The Burning Earth is the sequel to last year's Avatar: The Last Airbender, a substandard action platformer. Having already been released on the PS2 and the Wii, the Xbox 360 port now comes along to further dissatisfy the masses, offering the most minimal of upgrades on a console that has more than enough horsepower to make it stand out. The sad fact of the matter is that The Burning Earth is a sloppy port of what was already a lackluster game.

This might be the best looking version of the game out there, but you'll quickly realize that's not saying much once the opening cinematic ends and the game rears its ugly head. There is virtually no distinction between the cut scenes and the in-game engine, except that both sport low-polygon models and blurry textures. The environments are sparsely decorated and repetitive, with little interaction. Sometimes people in the streets just stand motionless as you spar around them. Even more puzzling is the fact that, while characters move their mouths during the FMV sequences, they do not in the in-engine cut scenes, creating a completely conspicuous disparity. At other times, the game opts for text instead of voice, for no discernable reason.

The lack of polish applied to the port really shows when you realize that it is possible to earn all 1,000 achievement points in the first five minutes. There are only five of them, rewarded for earning 10-, 20-, 30-, 40-, and 50-hit combos. Combos carry over from one enemy to another so long as the enemies don't hit you. This means in one single encounter you can snag all five in quick succession, giving us by the far the most inane usage of achievements we've ever seen.

You can play the game solo or with a friend (assuming someone else actually wants to play this); either way, two characters will always complete missions, even if the other is computer or human controlled. You can switch between them on the fly, and each have special moves that you can use in order to advance. There are also Avatar moves, which amount to nothing but tedious quick time events that take too long to execute.

The artificial intelligence is ridiculously bad, whether from enemies or allies. They'll stand motionless and do nothing, attack walls, jump all over the screen or fall off cliffs with alarming frequency. It takes almost zero effort to complete a battle without getting hit once you figure out fighting patterns, rendering health upgrades and potions useless.

There is a battle arena "mini-game," and you have the option to fight the bosses again any time you want, but there is little reason to do so, as the game offers no real incentive for delving deeper, unless unlocking art tickles your fancy.

With a schizophrenic camera, invisible walls, overly simplistic puzzles relying on tired mechanics like block pushing and completely outdated graphics, Avatar is a mess. THQ may have geared the game towards kids, but that is no excuse to make such an uninspired and monotonous product.