Sony's
long-awaited dragon combat title Lair has finally arrived on shelves after
what seems like an eternal development cycle. Unfortunately for
Playstation 3 owners, while there are some flashes of the brilliant
promise laid out in the game's many demos and trailers, the end result
falls short of the expectations that have been set up over the past few
years. A brilliant cinematic presentation and slick production values are
wrapped around an engaging storyline and there are definitely moments of
excitement and fun in the game. Unfortunately, Lair's poorly implemented
motion-sensitive controls make the gameplay frustratingly inconsistent
leading to a title that doesn't deliver neatly the experience it should
have.
Given the past history of developers
Factor 5 have with the successful Rogue Squadron series on Gamecube,
expectations for Lair on the PS3 were exceptionally high before its
much-anticipated release. Things start off on the right foot initially,
but unfortunately go downhill in a hurry. The basic concept and plotline
of Lair are fairly straightforward, though presented in a somewhat
interesting cinematic way. You are cast as Rohn, a dragon-riding warrior
in a war-torn fantasy realm that has been split apart by years of fighting
amongst two rival factions. Ironically, they were once the same race until
a massive volcanic eruption separated the two and turned them into bitter
rivals who have been at war with each other for centuries. The game is
divided into several missions or levels which players can then battle
through and see the entire story. After each level is complete, players
are awarded medals which can then be used to open locked content such as
developer interviews. The gameplay is relatively straightforward, and
players have a variety of sub-objectives to complete in each area. Most of
the game involves combat in the air, though there are areas where you have
to battle on the ground. Interestingly, Lair doesn't provide much in the
way of traditional on-screen help, with only an arrow to point you in the
right direction. You can turn on the Dragon's special sense and locate
enemies which are highlighted in red, but for the most part, the gameplay
is relatively free-form. These environments offer you a degree of freedom
when you are flying, but the game itself unfolds in a strictly linear
fashion with preset objectives and no level branching, which does tend to
hurt the game's replay value. This all sounds fairly standard for most
games, but once you are in the air and in control of your dragon, things
begin to fall apart, since Lair's execution leaves a lot to be desired in
the interface department.
Instead
of relying on a traditional set of analog flying controls, as you'd expect
it to, Lair instead opts to use the PS3's Sixaxis controller exclusively
when it comes to movement and motion. At first this seems like a cool
idea, since turning and flying your dragon is fairly easy to accomplish.
You fire your weapons using the standard face buttons and can increase
your speed by flapping your wings by pressing the X button several times.
Performing more complicated flying maneuvers, such as quick turns or speed
rushes requires you to pull back or push forward on the controller
quickly, which isn't quite as natural or responsive as one would help. In
addition, players can lock onto a specific enemy by pressing the L1 and L2
buttons, which helps to increase the accuracy of their fire, but also
makes it more difficult to perform evasive maneuvers such as rolling out
of the way or turning around quickly. Even when you master the controller
movements, the responsiveness isn't always as accurate as it needs to be,
which can make Lair a bit more frustrating than it needs to be. This is a
real shame, since everything else you want in a solid title seems to be
present. Making the aerial battles even more frustrating is the fact that
players also can at certain points, take the action to land and fight
opposing forces on the ground. These sequences are more standard because
players control the dragon using the analog sticks, which makes an
inconsistent interface. It also points out the flaws in the design, since
analog control in these portions is much better than the Sixaxis
motion-controlled flight sequences. This only serves to make the control
problems in the flying arenas all the more glaring and apparent and points
to the fact that a consistent interface throughout would have made for a
much better experience overall. As it stands, switching between air and
land battles is an exercise in confusing frustrating.
Lair's motion-sensitive approach to
definitely takes some getting used to and while its control interface
sounds good on paper, but is very awkward to use in practice and makes
playing the game far more complicated than it should be. This leads to
frustration more often than not, and since the game requires you to begin
again at the beginning of its very long stages when you lose your energy,
it makes Lair feel like drudgery at certain points. Players with
persistence will probably get used to the game's idiosyncrasies after
awhile, but the game never feels as smooth as it could have been. What's
worse is that the flying sequences are complicated by the frequent
appearance of quick time events when you get close to an opponent. Instead
of fighting in real time, the action stops and players have to either
perform a series of mindless button presses in time to the game or battle
in a kind of RPG form where you are given choices, such as fighting with
fire or attacking with your claws. This helps to make the experience far
less cohesive than it should be and switching between two completely
different control schemes doesn't help matters. In the end, the controls
hamper what could have been a much better experience and this
disappointing interface goes a long way in diminishing any promise that
the game holds. You can get accustomed to the gameplay after awhile, but
Lair is far less polished and more gimmicky than you'd expect it to be.
Lair's
sterling production values are one are where Lair actually lives up to the
high expectations gamers had for it. An elaborate storyline with cinematic
flair and decent voice acting helps to bring you into the storyline, and
the lushly detailed environments help to bring this elaborate world to
life in vivid fashion. There are some spectacular aerial views that are
simply breathtaking and the game's beautiful character and dragon designs
and particularly impressive. The scale and presentation of these epic
dragon battles are impressive, and the game takes full advantage of the
PS3 in terms of creating its world - the textures, light-sourcing and
smooth animation really do an excellent job in transporting players to the
back of their dragons. An excellent orchestral score helps to punctuate
the action effectively and gives Lair a fairly impressive cinematic
sensibility that makes you feel like you are inside a dramatic film. From
this standpoint, it's almost worth struggling with the controls to see all
that the game has to offer, and to be fair, you can progress through most
of the storyline fairly quickly once you get the hang of its controls and
interface.
There's little doubt that Lair looks
spectacular, and the game's storyline is engaging, but you cannot overlook
it's poor controls, which help to drag down what potential the game had.
You can either look at the glass half-full or dwell on its problems. Lair
is a fairly interesting game on many levels, and it's experiments
occasionally pay off - there are moments when you're flying that the
Sixaxis controls actually feel intuitive. However, the battle system and
its awkward lock-ons and quick-time, shake-the-controller approach doesn't
quite work. Even after you get used to using Lair's problematic interface,
the inconsistent level design and sometimes baffling objectives hinder
what might have been a brilliant game. There can be little doubt that this
is a flawed title, but not nearly as bad as some people might have you
believe. However, even after you get accustomed to its picky and quirky
controls, the game still doesn't deliver on its promise. Gamers might want
to rent before they check out to see if they can get used to the controls,
and whether they find the story and game itself exciting enough to look
beyond its many flaws.Lair does have some flashes of brilliance scattered
throughout, but its poorly designed controls and predictable gameplay help
to extinguish most of its potential. Lair is one of those disappointing
releases with a cool concept most players will probably want to like more
than they will end up actually enjoying it less than they though they
would. Sadly, Lair is probably the most disappointing title on the
Playstation 3 to date in terms of missed opportunities and lost potential.
- Michael Palisano
Grade:
D+
