Sigh. Please forgive me dear readers – as this might prove to be one of the hardest reviews I’ve ever had to write.
I was optimistic for Factor 5’s Dragon-flying-sim Lair. For months, when people would bash the PS3’s lineup, I would show them previews of the game. “Just wait for Lair; it’ll change your entire perspective on the PS3,” I would tell them. I even went as far as to say it would be the system’s first big killer ap. I’ll take my words with BBQ sauce and a side of shame please.
Not only is Lair not the messiah of the PS3 I had touted it as to so many of my peers; it’s just plain not a good game. Sure, the production values and cinematics are amazing, but that doesn’t make up for the game’s horrid control system, predictable story, repetitive gameplay and shameful combat system.
The premise of Lair is simple enough; fly around on a dragon, torching, clawing and devouring anything and everything in front of you. You play as Rohn, a member of the Asylian army, currently at war with the Mokai. Throughout the game, the story’s twists and turns prove to be very predictable. Seriously, if everyone played the first ten minutes of the game – I’d be able to go into detail here; sans spoiler warning. These cut scenes are incredibly cinematic, with very high production values that show off what’s possible on the system – so we can forgive that.
What I can’t get over is just how horrid Lair’s control scheme is, especially being a flight-sim from the same studio that brought us the Rouge Squadron series. In an effort to highlight the PS3’s six-axis technology, movement is handled exclusively via tilt control. While it sounds great in theory, the six-axis proves to be more of a burden than blessing. The biggest problem? Due to the limited motion sensing technology of the six axis -- tight turns prove to be next to impossible, causing your dragon to move slowly, which in turn causes you to take on more damage, which causes you to throw down your controller in a fit of rage. To make matters worse, most of the levels are filled with canyons and other narrow passageways that would require quick movement. At least the developers were able to recreate the experience of flying in wide-open skies – right. Sadly, invisibles walls disrupt the sense of freedom Lair should provide.
You would think it would be hard to mess up dragons fighting, but Lair misses the mark on the combat front as well. The biggest problem is that you are not able to choose what enemy you target. Similar to the targeting system found in most airplane sims, a white circle will appear on screen when an enemy target able. From here you have two options – you can either hit circle and dive headfirst into your enemy, which initiates one of the most annoying slow motion sequences in recent memory – you can’t even control your character anymore, only the camera horizontally. The problem with this is that it completely ruins the chance for combo kills, as you can’t even see the enemies below or above you.
Your other option once an enemy is target is to hit L1 or R1 and lock on to that enemy. This allows you to spit fire at your enemy, or pull up beside them and motion the six-axis towards them to ram them Roman Chariot style. The delay in your motion and that on the screen is incredibly frustrating and can lead to some missed kill opportunities. The lock on targeting system falters heavily when used to take out ground enemies. The ground is usually filled with an impressive amount of enemies, but you can’t select who you target, so if the game doesn’t notice who you want it to, you’re stuck with no other choice than to try to do a 180 turn, and we know how hard that can be.
Lair is not a good game. Not simple enough? How about this – you should not play Lair. At all. Sure, the visuals are extremely impressive, but the gameplay is a complete and total travesty. For a game that could have displayed the PS3 and the six-axis’s potential it merely serves to point out their flaws.
On another note – have you guys seen Little Big Planet? It will completely change your perspective on the PS3…
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