Lair Review
Sep 4, 2007
A year ago, Factor 5's Lair was one of the best-looking games for the PS3. When we first saw it the visuals seemed impressive, and the action appeared promising. Now, looking at the finished product, we've got to wonder to what degree our appreciation was based on a simple desire for new games for Sony's new console. Because Lair is a total mess. It devotes so much energy to looking good that there's nothing left for gameplay, and PS3 owners are left in the lurch with the most frustrating experience of the console's young life.
You're cast as Rohn, the most capable dragon rider in the Asylian Army, which is fighting the Mokai. The Asylians and Mokai used to be one nation, but they were rent asunder and have lapsed into years of war and treachery. The movements of Lair's story aren't exactly surprising, but they are satisfying in that the plot doesn't shirk fun political intrigue in favor of military action.
But at the core Lair is a dragon game -- you'll fight foes in the air and on the ground, with wing, talon and fire. In theory, this should be an absolute festival of dragon delights. You can ram other flying lizards, tear up massive groups of ground forces, decimate war machines and much more. In theory, at least.
There's one thing very right about Lair, and two things very horribly wrong with the game. Not that it's actually as simple as that, but why make this misfire any more complicated than it has to be?
The reason to play Lair is the phenomenal graphics engine, which is able to display Lord of the Rings-size battles at 1080p resolution with a draw distance that goes on for ever. This is a stunningly lovely game to look at, especially when in the air. Factor 5 has applied their wide experience with the Rogue Squadron franchise to this world excellently, and you'll see 'wow' moments multiple times in each level. We probably enjoyed the plot more than usual due to the Hollywood-caliber CGI powering the cutscenes.
That's not to say that the visuals are perfect, and some areas will chug down to a relatively slow frame rate, hampering the presentation. There are also issues like the invisible wall that bounds certain flight areas. Lair wants to present a massive world, and while it can do so visually, you won't be able to go just anywhere you like.
That invisible wall would be vaguely less irritating if it wasn't for Lair's awful control scheme, which is Major Drawback Number One. There's no analog stick control here; while Rohn works the reins of his dragon when you pull back on the sticks, to turn, dive and perform other movements you'll have to tilt the SixAxis. The feeling is more like lumbering around on a semi with flat tires than riding a lithe, agile beast.
So you're constrained with a massive turning radius, meaning you'll have to do a lot more flying than necessary when trying to position properly in order to swoop down over that one enemy you're meant to grasp in the dragon's talons. A quick jerk of the wrist is meant to engage a fast 180-degree turn. Sometimes it works, other times not. Blundering through one of the game's several tight canyons you'll wish for a Wii strap on the SixAxis, since throwing the controller through a window might seem like the best flight option.
Factor 5 claims they didn't want to dilute the experience by offering alternate control schemes, but if it works for Warhawk, why not here? The kicker is that Warhawk might actually control better with the SixAxis movements than the analog sticks. Oh, irony.
On to Major Drawback Number Two: Lair's targeting system is annoyingly simplistic and inflexible. The poor controls and slow, wide turn radius make this seem a lot worse than it otherwise would be. Essentially, you'll hope for a white targeting reticule to appear around the enemy you want to kill, roast, or pick up and drop in the sea. You'll see the circle often, at which point you can either dive right into the enemy or press the lock-on to strafe or initiate close combat moves.
But you can't choose which enemy the reticule highlights. If you want to hit an enemy dragon and the reticule is on the tower of a bridge instead, there's no way to switch targets. If the reticule doesn't target what you want...well, spend two minutes circling around like a 747 over a crowded runway and try again.
Other games have presented similarly rigid targeting systems, but most of them don't also force you into timed missions, or ones that will force a fail and replay if you don't execute certain objectives within a set time. More agile controls would minimize the issue, but with those two factors in place, Lair crumbles under the weight of dodgy mechanics. The game is very pretty, yes, but it's far from pretty enough to warrant punishing yourself with this one-two blow of poor controls and terrible targeting.