Lair was hyped and hyped, but it just couldn't deliver. The game
concept is refreshing and new, but it's incredible how much Factor 5
screwed up.
You play as Rohn, a skyguard for Asyliia, and your job is to kill those
damn Mokai. Actually, the story in Lair was really good and well
written, and gave the game a LOTR feel to it. The story touches on
topics like genocide and trust, and it keeps you guessing who the bad
guys really are.
Let's get the positives out of the way first. Lair looks fantastic. The
water effects are very impressive, the character models look amazingly
real for the most part, the dragons are detailed (thank God), and the
worlds are vast and open. Lair also sounds incredible. The instrumental
score never dies down and it feels very medieval. It highlights Lair's
epic feel, and that it should, because Lair is a real feast for the
senses.
But Lair is a game, not a movie. The controls in Lair are that you use
the SIXAXIS to control your dragon by pulling left of right, up of
down. And those controls work. But you feel like an idiot doing it, and
your arms will get tired. You can breath fire on people and other
dragons, you can swoop and pick up foes, and you can swipe the ground
and take hundreds out. The 180 is probably the most flawed part of
Lair. To do a 180, you need to quickly jerk the controller up. This
NEVER works. Once in a million, really.
The camera in Lair sucks. It is all over the place, and never in a good
spot when you need it. The lock on system works, but it isn't precise
enough to do the tasks the game needs you to do. Sometimes you will
need to lock on to a certain object, but your dragon is looking at
something else, so when you hit the lock on trigger, you will be locked
on to the wrong thing. This is very frustrating, and you will die many
times as a result. My final complaint is the length of the game. I was
able to beat lair in just about 7 hours. This is disappointing for a 70
dollar game. Lair has good production values, but i just doesn't give
you enough bang for your buck.
That doesn't mean that Lair isn't any fun. It's incredible fun to watch
the story unfold, and at times, when the controls work, the game really
feels innovative and cool. Unfortunately, the controls don't work
enough for the game to be credited with a good review. Lair is
definitely a game worth checking out, because of its story, because of
its graphics, because of its sound. And for those moments when it
doesn't suck.
