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Sep 01, 07 at 4:02amvolacide

Alright so I've played up the 4th level which is the bridge level that IGN said that broke the game for them.

Let me start off with what I think of the game so far.

First, the visuals, the first two levels look alright, but the third and fourth really shine, I mean wow. This game looks fantastic. Best water effects I've seen yet on a PS3 game without a doubt.

Let's get onto the gameplay though, or more importantly the control of that gameplay. The game plays as I expected it to, like you're controlling a dragon.

People complain of how wide the turns are that the dragons make and such but that's how it always works with a large creature or plane. A jumbo jet can't maneuver like an F-16.

I don't know what they were expecting from Lair, a game based on flying a dragon, it's no X-Wing and I wouldn't expect it to fly as tightly as one either. So from that standpoint I think it flys just fine.

Next is the sixaxis control, if you don't like it already then you probably won't like it again here, that's probably mostly due to your handicap you give yourself that basically says you don't want to enjoy it because you don't want to have to learn something new, boo hoo.

That being said, the sixaxis controls work great, they're just sensitive enough without being too sensitive and flying the dragon around is pretty easy by the 3rd level.

The only moves that you might have trouble with are the dash moves, 180 degree move, and the side to side attack and dodge moves. These moves require you to instead of tilting the sixaxis, to move it laterally in that direction. It requires a very quick jerk and I mean quite quick in order to initiate the move but after a while you'll get the hang of it and it's probably for the better otherwise you'd be doing it on accident all the time.

Here's the biggest thing they complain about, the lock on. Now as I said, I've played through the bridge level they complained about where you have to pick up the beasts and rhinos from the bridge and I had zero trouble doing so. I don't know what it is but it simply wasn't a problem for me. I could definitely see how you could probably pretty easily get locked onto one of the other dragons flying around, as there are tons of them and there's always a lot of stuff happening on the screen, but the game was very good for me about locking onto what was mission critical, in this case, the rhinos and such. I had no problem holding down the R1 button and causing my dragon to swoop in and pick them up and then pressing triangle to very satisfyingly toss them hundreds of feet out into the ocean, complete with a nice splash and ripple.

So yeah, I just don't see what all the fuss is about, it controls kinda clunky, I guess maybe they were expecting X-Wing like controls from Factor 5 but we're flying a *bleep*ing dragon here, I can understand it.

Now onto the part where I really give my first impression.
The first level was kind of "bleh" to me, it just didn't do much for me, maybe it's because I'm not a big fan of the desert-y color palette, either way, I felt like I was losing because I didn't kill every single dragon but you soon realize that's not the point, you kill as many as you can within the time limit and as long as you kill a certain amount you basically get to proceed on. It's possible to kill them all if you're good and that's why this game needs multiple playthroughs of each level, so you can go back and kill them all faster and unlock extra combos and health increases and such. You can access any mission you've already played and play it whenever you want from the mission select screen which is very stylized and cool looking.

So yeah, I didn't enjoy the 1st and 2nd levels very much, that's probably because in both of these missions there were a bunch of on screen tips and shit that just really cluttered up my beautiful view. Finally, on the third level, the level where you have to take out the lighthouse I was treated to this beautiful ocean locale with some amazing lightning effects among other things. This is when the game really started to shine.

I was taking down other dragons, taking out the lights, etc all without the on screen tips anymore so I could see everything and it looked great and I just enjoyed it more without it seeing like a constant tutorial mode.

Here's the funny part, all the way from the beginning of the game I wasn't having that great a time, I mean it was alright, but meh so far until the 4th level with the bridge, the one everyone seems to hate. The 4th level was the first time I really enjoyed the game the most, I was smiling and saying things like "shit that was cool" to myself. How weird is it that for me, unlike everyone else, my favorite level so far is the one that everyone complained about?

I don't know, it was just a helluva lot of fun to me, It wasn't difficult and it looked amazing.

Here's a rant I have to go on real quick, to all the SIXAXIS haters, it's okay if you don't like it, but don't like it just because you suck at it or don't feel like you should have to learn how to use it. You need to play differently when using the SIXAXIS stuff I think, even going so far as to hold the controller differently. [i]When I play Lair and Flow I grip the controller very lightly, the controller is light already and instead of having a death grip on it that will cause my dragon/organism to go all over the place because of that twitchy grip I hold onto it lightly, relax, and just smooth out all my movements, it works fine then. Maybe you guys should figure out what works for you because I personally think you can't hold the controller the same way you would any other time in order to get good control out of it and I [i]don't
think that's a bad thing.

So here's the closing statement, if you were thinking about giving it a try, do give it a try, you might like it and not have any trouble. If you don't like the SIXAXIS stuff you probably won't like it here either so that's just going to be up to you. This game isn't the greatest ever or anything like that, I'd give it a solid B- or a C+, it could definitely be better but I think the official reviews so far have been way too hard on it. I mean it seems like all of these people haven't really tried to adapt to this new style of play, or they simply just don't even want to.

Thread Recap (last 10 posts from newest to oldest)

Dec 23, 09 at 9:13pm

I just bought the game and haven't had any time to play it but so far I think It looks PRETTY good I wouldn't give it a 10/10 more like a 7/10 But thats just y opinion

Jun 25, 09 at 2:53am

I ordered my copy today after reading this thread. I hope I won't be disappointed. I was a huge Drakan fan, if anyone knows what it is, and I'm simply drawn to the idea of flying a dragon

Edit: Holy Moly this games amazing!

Jan 23, 09 at 3:13am
Red 9

Whoa, talk about a thread gravedig...

The best feature has to be the ground-to-air transitions, and surprisingly enough; the controls. It just felt right using the SIXAXIS...

Jan 21, 09 at 10:02pm
Neo McKnight

Whats the best feature about it?

Nov 17, 07 at 1:47am
Coi Cki

Got my copy of Lair today. I absolutely love it. It's definitely worth the wait.

Nov 08, 07 at 9:16am

well i spent a couple of hours playing last nite and needless to say it lives up to all my expectations as someone who normally turns off the SIXAXIS features on games I'm very impressed on how easy it it to just pick it up. Obviously there was a learning curve but that's why i like games with them as it makes them more enjoyable IMO. only done the first 2 levels and all the training levels graphically it is awesome, the soundtrack set's the scene very well. Just to some up cause i live in the UK i have had to wait so much longer and it has drove me insane with all the delays but i'm glad i didn't decide to get a different game instead (this might just be cause i have an obsession about dragons)and i would recommend this game to anyone who is a fan of not just the FPS as that is what it seams keeps coming out for the PS3 and because this is different it has been received with indifference but that should not be the case right i'm off to play some more it's calling me again LOL

Nov 07, 07 at 11:32pm
Red 9

I hope it's recieved better there than it was here.

Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did.

Nov 07, 07 at 8:07pm

Yes it is had the email yesterday from game saying it has been dispatched hoping it will arrive while i'm at work tomorrow but i doubt it as it's coming via royal mail

Nov 07, 07 at 5:32pm
Coi Cki

So it's coming this Friday!? Yes! Finally! The wait is almost over. The main reason for me to get Lair is the SIXAXIS control.

Nov 07, 07 at 10:57am

Finally getting this game in 2 days and i can't wait have been annoyed that it kept getting delayed here in the uk so hurry up will post an honest review after the weekend hope it lives up to the hype i have given it

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