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Lair Review
Posted by
Zonk
on Fri Sep 21, 2007 03:31 PM
from the i-want-to-apologize-to-my-dragon dept.
from the i-want-to-apologize-to-my-dragon dept.
Nothing disappoints me more than having my expectations met. I managed to see The Matrix without knowing what to expect, and as a result it was a fine moviegoing experience. Lair, one of the first in a series of high profile PlayStation 3 games due out this year, met every expectation I had when I picked up the controller. If you haven't been paying attention to games sites of late ... that's bad. Pushed for time and under pressure from higher ups at Sony, Factor 5 has poorly rehashed the same formula that made for a couple of very playable GameCube games. The difference? Lair is, in some places, literally unplayable. It's disappointing, and a frustrating way to begin my relationship with the PS3. Read on for my thoughts on Lair, and what might have been.
- Title: Lair
- Developer/Publisher: Factor 5 / Sony
- System: PlayStation 3
- Genre: Flight Shooter
- Score: 1/5 - This game is unfinished/unplayable. It is not worth the trouble of purchasing, or renting.
As the game progresses, we get hints of deeper elements to the story. The two groups are not mono-cultures; there are factions on both sides manipulating events to their own ends. Some of the voice acting isn't bad and while the plot itself isn't the most original tale ever told, it's competently woven. Julian Eggebrecht was the writer for the game, and the same hand that guided storytelling successfully in the Rogue Squadron games does a fine job here.
The game's attempt to evoke a place is greatly helped by the fact that it's visually stunning. It's an old saw now that this generation is no longer 'next-', but screenshots really don't do the game justice. Seeing the dragons in motion is a treat, and the digital actors are better than average. The landscapes really stand out as well, with everything from craggy seascapes to verdant pastures beautifully rendered by the PlayStation's raw horsepower. One early level has you facing down opponents while flying around a massive rock tower, which itself features pieces that are turning in place. It's a complicated environment, but thanks to the detailed graphics it's an easy one to understand. Whatever else should be said about the game, it's important to note just how beautiful Lair is.
The Problems: Everything Else
The reason, of course, that it's important to note that ... is that is just about the only nice thing I can say about the game. I moved past the controls introduction stage, and played through the first level, with no problems. I fought some dragons, killed 'em, landed and slaughtered some troops, and everything was good. There were little things that bugged me, but I assumed it was just because I was new to the controls. So I pressed on.
The way you control your steed has drawn the most frustration from critics. Indeed, the PlayStation 3's motion control system is incredibly unsatisfying here. I regularly found myself tilting the controller hard left, only to see my dragon happily smash into a wall. A few times when I tilted left or right the thing would actually go in the opposite direction, which would seem to defeat the point of having the player provide input in the first place. In short: it only sometimes works. Given that this is the very first thing you do in the game (turn left, or right, or fly up), and that the gimmick hinges on one of the back-of-the-box PS3 features, I would have figured this to be a mandatory 'get it right' situation.
Instead, the control experience feels nothing short of 'mushy'. Above and beyond turning, any attempt to complete a 'special move' has a very low chance of success. In order to do a 180 the player is instructed to pull back sharply with the controller in an upwards movement. I think that motion resulted in my dragon executing such a turn only twice in the time I spent playing the game. Other ways that my dragon interpreted that command include: ignoring it, turning slowly in one direction or another, diving, rising, and then diving again. My personal favorite reaction to that controller input was 'speed way up', which invariably ended up with my dragon and I slamming into a wall or enemy.
The title's showpiece stage, the conflict between two armies on a bridge, has been used at numerous events to highlight the game's features. Instead, for me, it was where the game turned from a title I was struggling to enjoy to a game I was actually angry that I had to keep playing. You're constantly bombarded by new objectives, and your only means of ascertaining the location of these targets is a big blunt arrow. It's just as unhelpful as it sounds, and can easily result in blameless failure as you go on a futile hunt for 'those guys you just saw' in the thousandth cutscene this level. Not only does the game remove your ability to choose what you're doing by making you rush back and forth across the map, but once you're there you are forced into solving the problem a specific way. "Dark Dragons" have to be killed via the horrible wave the controller back and forth minigame. Giant bulls must be slain by waving the controller up and down vertically in another (equally unfun) minigame.
Conclusions
I really wanted to like this game. I set my expectations (mentioned above) very, very, very low for this title. I figured that if I assumed the game would be utter crap going into it, there was almost no way I could be disappointed. Instead, Lair precisely met my dialed in crap setting. Beyond the first few levels the opponents (who are not hampered by the game's poor interface) become oppressively hard while the story takes a back seat to 'yet another excuse for a dragon-to-dragon dogfight'. Even the graphics stop looking that great when you've been staring at a stage's backdrop constantly for the last hour or two, literally fighting with the controller to get it to do what you want.
That right there is what makes this so sad. If they had allowed you the opportunity to use the controller's thumbsticks, this would be a completely different game. The lock-on system and lack of a proper radar would still be frustrating, but at least the game would be playable. That said, I can't wait for the rest of this year's PlayStation 3 offerings. I'm really looking forward to Ratchet and Clank, and even more to Drake's Fortune. This game, though, is a devastating blow for a title-starved console whose owners (including me) are ever trying to justify the high price we paid for entrance into Sony's version of the 'HD era'.
Related Stories
[+]
PS3's Lair Playable Via Remote On PSP 84 comments
Next Generation has confirmed with Sony a rumor working its way through fan boards: Lair is playable via remote on the PSP. That is, you can load up the game on your PlayStation 3, and then actually play it on the PSP's small-but-beautiful screen. This is functionality that Sony has been hinting at since the PS3 was announced, but up until now remote play has been restricted to music and movies stored on the console. Kotaku notes in their writeup that you need to play through the tutorial first on the console proper if you want to do this. The PSP doesn't have the buttons the game uses to brake.
[+]
Sony Dismisses Critics of Lair 55 comments
Despite some very public, very negative criticism of Factor 5's dragon/shooter Lair, Next Generation notes that Sony remains unfazed. "Outgoing SCEA PR boss Dave Karraker told Next-Gen in a phone interview that despite poor critical reception, the flying lizard game isn't necessarily grounded. 'At the end of the day, I'll be interested in the consumers' response, because the consumer awareness for this title was so huge.'" Meanwhile, MTV's Stephen Totilo notes, with more than a touch of seriousness, that Lairs production may have been a touch cursed.
[+]
Ken Levine Defends Lair's Control Scheme 72 comments
A recent Gamers with Jobs podcast (well worth listening to) features co-hosting duties performed by Ken Levine of Irrational/2K Boston, makers of the title BioShock. During the podcast, Levine comes to the defense of Factor 5's Lair , saying that the folks over there may not have had much choice in how to proceed with their game. "Let me speak in these guys' defense for a minute as a game developer. I'm sure somebody came to them at some point and said, 'We have this motion control controller, and we have to make a go of it. And we really think you should try to make your game exclusively on that.' I think you're seeing a lot of this lately. Aren't there a lot of games where you're just like, 'Dude, can I just use the d-pad or the analog stick?' Ever since the DS came out I feel that there have been a lot of games like that. They've been so impressed by their control mechanic that they just really, really want you to play with that." It's still really, really bad.
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Really not that bad (Score:5, Interesting)
Oh, and to the reviewer - the main character is "Rohn", not "Roan."
Re:Really not that bad (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Really not that bad (Score:5, Funny)
Sounds like a prison title to me.
Parent
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This thread is reminding me why everyone and their dog is buying a Wii, including those like myself who've been doing this for 30 years now.
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It also should be noted that the Mokai (your main enemies) are from the north while the Asylians are from the south. Also
Spoiler Alert!
Asylia doesn't become a theocracy until near the end of the game.
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If you tilt gently to turn gently, all is (apparently) well. I might even get this one.
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Some of the major reviewers have not been overly impressed with this game and while I have not played the game myself I have play
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It's much harder to control the dragon than if you had a stick, but that's a major plus. When you ride an animal, you can't just manipulate the analog stick, you have to lean and push, etc, and sometimes that's not super easy.
The parent post just pointed out that this review was too lazy to even spell the central character's simple name correctly, much less take any time at all to
Makes me wonder... (Score:3, Insightful)
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They have the same consols. If the input axis were not precise enough for the purpose they want them so serve, they should have used a different control sheme.
Hopefully it's a system level issue... (Score:4, Insightful)
It was a peice of hardware bolted on since "Nintendo was doing it", but I don't think it's the Hardware per se. Lair by all accounts controlled badly, and no game I played (Heavenly Sword, Warhawk, Motorstorm, or The Super-Rub-a-dub demo) handle with the correct ammount of sensitivity and I end up turning it off whenever possible. Heavenly Sword's "Twing Twang" sections were far more playable using the analog stick, and Warhawk even has the motion controls disabled by default if that's any indication for you.
Not to sound trollish, but It can be done if you look over at the Wii side. Nintendo can get very accurate and sensitive readings from the motion controller over BlueTooth, so there really is no reason why Sony can't.
Maybe Sony went cheap on the motion chip in the SixAxis, or maybe it's the developers not using the tools properly, or issues with how the system itself receives and sends the signals from the chip. Since this seems to be the case across games I'm betting (and hoping) it's a Sony issue with how they interpret commands. I'm hoping it's their problem not because "It's more egg on their face" but because they could fix it in a firmware update and fix the problem for all these games.
Parent
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Ding, Ding, Ding. We have a winner.
Sad that this has to be asked...but... (Score:5, Interesting)
Granted, shipping a game that bad and then patching it later is inexcuseable, but it would be a good datapoint to know if you had difficulty with the game pre- or post-patch.
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Also this... http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/09/07 [penny-arcade.com]
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Nice review but I need a point of reference. (Score:2)
On a similar note I was thinking about picking up this game but unfortunately it is too violent for me to play around my family, and now am considering Heavenly Sword (T rating), and I can't wait for Eye of Judgment because my son loves Pokemon/Yu-Gi-Oh, so that game is a no brainer.
Again, what did you think of other PS3 games
motion controller (Score:2)
Warhawk gives you the option to use that 'controller-tilt' thing to steer the airplanes. I played around with that for quite a while and finally just gave up on it. Thumbsticks are so much easier.
I wonder if the controller-tilt feedback sent to the PS3 is not very high quality (as in, game programmers have a hard time converting whatever signals are sent from the controller into game events), or if people just aren't used to playing with it. Any PS3 developers have an opinion?
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Without that, it doesn't matter how good the developers are.
Another thing (pe
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Unless there was some other 'crap' in your Wii box that you "strapped" on your TV, for some bizarre reason.
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The IR bar is used for motion sensing in some games, i.e. Metroid Prime 3 uses it as far as I know for the door handles, since due to the sensorbar having two light, it can easily calculate distance and orientation t
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Forget Lair... (Score:2)
A lot of piss-poor games (Score:3, Informative)
I've been noticing a lot of crap on both consoles recently. I haven't had much time for videogames, but I did pick up MOH Airborne, and it blows. The multiplayer is the same crap that's seen in every FPS game these days, the storyline isn't much fun and the Super Nazis at the last few missions really kill the feel of the game.
Besides that, the single player campaign is all too short (5 hours to beat it on Normal, with more than one hour of that dedicated to beating the Super Nazis at the end.
Overlord was a good game, but the brewery glitch is a real killer, and precludes you from finishing the game. Last I checked, there was still not a 360 patch out there.
And Lair. Great graphics, shitty, shitty gameplay.
When the next generation Xbox360 and PS3 hit, it was expected that some games wouldn't do anything more than win oohs and ahs for the graphics. They've both been out for a while now. Where are the games?
Some guy in the raytracing story today said that 80% of all games have always been stinkers across all platforms. Maybe that's true, but there were a lot more games available too. That was a bigger 20%.
I don't own a Wii, but it's going to be short in coming if I don't find some games for Xbox360 or PS3 that can hold my attention for more than a few hours. At $60 a game, this is getting kinda ridiculous.
We'll see what Halo looks like next week. My guess: a re-hash of the same old game.
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Perhaps I should have been a bit more clear. I really like historical shooters. Brothers in Arms was great, as was Medal of Honor Allied Assault (the last MOH I played). Call of Duty 2 and 3 (never played the first one) was equally good and had pretty decent multiplayer features.
They had a chance to do something really cool with Airborne; and in fact there are some good features. The graphics are incredible, and the non-linear, start-wherever-you-want setup is pretty cool. They just lost it with the
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By the way, did you try the demo for MOH before purchasing it? That demo was all I needed to know it was crap.
You didn't mention Bioshock...by far the best game for the 360 yet.
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Haven't played Bioshock yet. I'm hoping to pick it up next month when I have a bit more free time.
I didn't download the demo for MOH, one of the rare instances that I didn't try before I bought. I wish I had.
I disagree. (Score:3, Informative)
I think that there has been an awful lot of band wagoning around this title.
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How old are you? and how many games have you played? Are you hardcore or casual? What era did you start gaming?
I think this is a relevant question.
"unfinished/unplayable" ... so then ... (Score:2, Troll)
So after reading all the reviews on the internet and in print saying this exact same thing---weeks ago, mind you---with the myriad of evidence to back it up, you still decided it was worth playing and reviewing here? What a waste of time and bandwidth.
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He had, literally, no choice.
Get Heavenly Sword - Its Brilliant. (Score:2)
Heavenly Sword on the other hand is brilliantly acted / performed, and the game is very well executed. It is short but sweet. The dramatic performances mix well with the action to provide an experience that is really the best seen to date on the PS3. I know thats not saying much, but Heavenly Sword really does shine as a great game and it will for a long time.
Try it.
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Or until you've finished it on the same afternoon that you bought it. I'm sure it's a good game, I'm just not sure it's a good $60 game.
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I like long games (Oblivion), but I also like rather short games as well... if they're well executed. (And HS sounds very well executed..and I loved the demo).
Making a game too long with
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A Ikaruga requires in 5min far more concentration then most RPGs in ten hours combined. So its natural that a Ikaruga can be a lot shorter then a RPG and still provide a good experience. With on RPG you are often wandering around without much goal for hours, so if it would be over after 10 hours, there really wouldn't be much place to fit a story in. On the other side you have games like Fahrenheit, that are only 7 hours, but feel like you are watching a se
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Most games tend to repeat the gameplay over and over... granted they could add more to it... but for what it is, its a very good game and a great experience.
Feel free to rent it... but you should play it if you have a PS3.
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Re:Grammar alert! (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Everyone (Score:5, Funny)
This is slashdot, we all need to get laid.
Parent
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Hehehe... who's your daddy?
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I honestly don't know...
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What are you trying to do? Establish your adulthood for the rest of us? On Slashdot?