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Fire-breathing mediocrity.
September 4, 2007 | 10:03 PM PSTAMN's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.
What the Game is About
Lair is a game about the classic struggle between two closely linked societies and their hatred towards each other. After generations at war and recent escalation, both sides try to agree on peace. You are Rohn, a young Skyguard for the Asylian race/nation. Through a series of flights around the volcanic continent, you try and sort through all the mess while making a personal journey of growth.
What’s Hot
Lair is a beautiful game. The graphics are gritty and highly detailed. The dragons and other fantasy creatures appear lifelike and scary. The amount of work that must have went into creating a vibrant world that Lair should be applauded. Even though you are in the air, you feel part of a much larger world that could tell a countless number of stories. The overall cinematic feeling aids believability in a positive way. The music score is very well done and the 7.1 Dolby support should give an audio treat to the high-end entertainment centers around the country.
There is also the novelty of playing a game that hinges most of the gameplay on the SIXAXIS controller. Getting the hang of flying around open landscapes has a slight learning curve but after some time spent with twisting your arms, you get the sensation you are holding the reigns of a fire-breathing beast.
Ground-based combat is surprisingly entertaining; swiping, chomping, and stomping on the enemy troops on a large, bad-ass dragon is Trogdor come to life. Too bad the ground based units don’t put up more of a fight than being dragon kibble.
What’s Not
Lair had a lot of potential and in visual and audio presentation, it almost delivered. The graphics are pretty to look at but, at times, the framrate will get thrown out of whack causing a disturbance in the fluid and organic landscapes. Not only will the framrate break the games flow but so will the intermittent cut-scenes. Seemingly, at parts where the action is getting interesting, it will break to let you know what part of the level you need to fly to next. One odd “only in a video game” thing that I wondered, how do you hear your squad mates like they are right next to you when they are flying on their own in the middle of a battlefield? The wooden voice acting for some of the characters is unsettling with the rest of the sound score being so wonderful.
Control is really where Lair gets snafued. Soaring around on a dragon does give you some jollies but you then start to realize that the soaring is more like floating. The SIXAXIS feels unresponsive, including the input buttons during mid-air tussles. It is a buzz-kill for the gameplay that already suffers from an uninspiring mix of “same mission, different name” levels.
Control isn't the only broken thing about Lair. Factor 5’s game design formula from past Rogue Squadron games is applied to Lair as well. Do so well on a level and you get a medal corresponding to different criteria. It seems like an incentive to go back and do it over again for a better rating but with the controls as they are, you just won’t feel up for the task. There are online rankings but once you get over how well things look and sound, initially, you’ll start to pickup on the negatives quickly. Not only that, you'll get bored playing for extended periods of time.
Final Word
Lair is a largely average game. The visual and audio presentations are top-notch but the gameplay and kinks in the other areas crushes the titles hopes for longevity. Lair was a hyped title coming out of the gate but now that it is here it doesn’t seem like that big of deal. You can still enjoy the game’s breath-taking landscapes just don’t expect to navigate them easily. An option for standard controls (like the just released Warhawk) would have given players a choice and been better in the long-run. You can try it out, just hook up your PSP to remote-play your PS3 and give it a whirl (just don’t count on breaking mid-air). The cross platform play is an awesome undocumented addition, if it was by design or accident. It is easy to be drawn in by the cool trailers and stunning screenshots just make sure to keep your inner fanboy under control and have realistic expectations of what the game truly is.
What the Game is About
Lair is a game about the classic struggle between two closely linked societies and their hatred towards each other. After generations at war and recent escalation, both sides try to agree on peace. You are Rohn, a young Skyguard for the Asylian race/nation. Through a series of flights around the volcanic continent, you try and sort through all the mess while making a personal journey of growth.
What’s Hot
Lair is a beautiful game. The graphics are gritty and highly detailed. The dragons and other fantasy creatures appear lifelike and scary. The amount of work that must have went into creating a vibrant world that Lair should be applauded. Even though you are in the air, you feel part of a much larger world that could tell a countless number of stories. The overall cinematic feeling aids believability in a positive way. The music score is very well done and the 7.1 Dolby support should give an audio treat to the high-end entertainment centers around the country.
There is also the novelty of playing a game that hinges most of the gameplay on the SIXAXIS controller. Getting the hang of flying around open landscapes has a slight learning curve but after some time spent with twisting your arms, you get the sensation you are holding the reigns of a fire-breathing beast.
Ground-based combat is surprisingly entertaining; swiping, chomping, and stomping on the enemy troops on a large, bad-ass dragon is Trogdor come to life. Too bad the ground based units don’t put up more of a fight than being dragon kibble.
What’s Not
Lair had a lot of potential and in visual and audio presentation, it almost delivered. The graphics are pretty to look at but, at times, the framrate will get thrown out of whack causing a disturbance in the fluid and organic landscapes. Not only will the framrate break the games flow but so will the intermittent cut-scenes. Seemingly, at parts where the action is getting interesting, it will break to let you know what part of the level you need to fly to next. One odd “only in a video game” thing that I wondered, how do you hear your squad mates like they are right next to you when they are flying on their own in the middle of a battlefield? The wooden voice acting for some of the characters is unsettling with the rest of the sound score being so wonderful.
Control is really where Lair gets snafued. Soaring around on a dragon does give you some jollies but you then start to realize that the soaring is more like floating. The SIXAXIS feels unresponsive, including the input buttons during mid-air tussles. It is a buzz-kill for the gameplay that already suffers from an uninspiring mix of “same mission, different name” levels.
Control isn't the only broken thing about Lair. Factor 5’s game design formula from past Rogue Squadron games is applied to Lair as well. Do so well on a level and you get a medal corresponding to different criteria. It seems like an incentive to go back and do it over again for a better rating but with the controls as they are, you just won’t feel up for the task. There are online rankings but once you get over how well things look and sound, initially, you’ll start to pickup on the negatives quickly. Not only that, you'll get bored playing for extended periods of time.
Final Word
Lair is a largely average game. The visual and audio presentations are top-notch but the gameplay and kinks in the other areas crushes the titles hopes for longevity. Lair was a hyped title coming out of the gate but now that it is here it doesn’t seem like that big of deal. You can still enjoy the game’s breath-taking landscapes just don’t expect to navigate them easily. An option for standard controls (like the just released Warhawk) would have given players a choice and been better in the long-run. You can try it out, just hook up your PSP to remote-play your PS3 and give it a whirl (just don’t count on breaking mid-air). The cross platform play is an awesome undocumented addition, if it was by design or accident. It is easy to be drawn in by the cool trailers and stunning screenshots just make sure to keep your inner fanboy under control and have realistic expectations of what the game truly is.
November 20, 2009
