Lair is a flying shooter that uses the Sixaxis tilt functions to deliver a beautiful, sweeping story of heroes and dragons.
Lair was slated by critics even before release. The whole world was told about how the difficult controls damaged the gameplay. I don't usually go along with reviews but avoided the game on initial release until I could buy it for under 20 notes.
When I did, I was shocked to find it wasn't that bad a game at all.
Lair sees you take on the role of Rohn, a Sky Guard of Asylia. Your people are relentlessly attacked by the Mokai, another clan of Knights that ride dragons. The story is pretty deep and is subject to many twists.
Essentially, the game finds you usually flying over vast landscapes, targeting other beasts and vehicles and blasting them with flame. You can land and attack with your dragon on foot, munching enemy soldiers and devastating attacking ground forces.
My favourite aspect is the music. Debney's Lair Score is probably his finest to date. It's up there with Shadow of the Colossus and Metal Gear Solid's themes.
In short, the game is so breath-taking and magical that you'll want to see what happens and what you get to do next.
Okay, okay. So what sucks, right?
Well, the obvious reason for all the negative reviews became clear: Tilt Sensativity. I honestly doubt that any of the game review websites had bothered to get to grips with the tilt sensativity tilt controls. I found it tricky to master, but that was part of the fun. The motion-sensative controls are mandatory; there is no option to change it (unless you hook it up to a PSP and play remotely but we won't get into that...)
It's not the tilt controls directly but more their lack of accuracy. The camera is controlled by the analogues and the targeting system is a bit frustrating. But despite what all the reviews said, my major issue lies in the missions themselves.
As you rip through the sky on your dragon during a mission you are alerted to objectives that must be completed in order to continue the battle. The problem: that sometimes you'll be busy destroying the naval fleets when you'll fail the mission because you didn't kill enough dragons, soldiers or beasts in time. There is no choice. Remember Factor 5's Star Wars Rogue Squadron on the N64/PC? When you'd fail a mission for not taking down n AT-AT in time? Same idea. It gets a bit repetative doing missions over simply because of these Mission Critical Time-Based Objectives.
Despite these flaws, Lair is a great game. It doesn't deserve to be Gamesradar's Biggest Disappointment of 2007. It aint that bad. I feel stupid for putting off getting this game for so long.
In summary, if Lair sounds like your kind of game then buy it and make your own mind up. Don't listen to the critics. It'll provide you hours of innovative gameplay and a story worthy of a hollywood epic.
Alex S. from Link-Cable writes: "When shopping for new video games you can often trust the name publisher or developer on the box to be an indication of the quality of the game. Names like Nintendo, Square Enix, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Capcom, Xbox Game Studios and Sega are world famous because they helped shape the industry by releasing some of the most defining video games of all time. Though sometimes even these great gaming houses stumble and put out a stinker."
Splatterhouse remake . Loved the og’s at the arcade growing up . Hell the best thing about the remake was the og,s were included . And left alive by Square . That game had so much potential , but the gameplay was worse horrendous .
once Great studios getting destroyed is actually common. happened with ND and Last of Us2, Bioware and Mass Effect Andromeda/Anthem, Bungle and Destiny .
I'm pretty much certain that any Sonic game that comes out will be terrible, I've not enjoyed one since the original side-scrolling days of the MegaDrive.
For this Topic it says Good Studios that make bad games. Sonic Team hasn't been good in years.
A reimagining of 5 disappointing video games and the masterpieces they could have been underneath other studios.
well... if disappointing movies can get remakes then why not games? some of these have really good premise but somewhat disappointing execution. In the right hands they could be great.
I quite enjoyed lair (after the patch), too human and the order 1886. I'd even add in quantum break and recore as disappointing but with a good premise.
"well... if disappointing movies can get remakes then why not games?"
But how many disappointing movies actually get those? I'm still waiting for a remake of Howard the Duck.
@Gangsta
Wasn't there a rumor that they were looking at making another Howard the Duck? He had a cameo in GoTG2.
Love that movie for how bad it was. That and Garbage Pail Kids.
The Order was a fresh experience. Not the most compelling game, but I didn't want to put it down, and platted it. Good for what it was.
Quantum was something different as well, but a little less fun to actually play, imo. The 'acting' was done in a cheese factory too. Completed one path and never returned to it.
FFXIV was already remade, and it's probably the beat thing Square has put out in years.
Every time sites need clicks. Just look at the obligatory: i wAnT cLIcKs tEh OrDer 1886 pIcTUrE.
It's really not super often, but it does happen!
Mostly we see cult favorites come back around but in the recent case of Shaq-Fu we really saw a truly awful game see new life (not great life but at least new).
It's something I'd love to see a lot more of.
Thanks for reading my article!
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The Order has its faults yes but it had a fantastic atmosphere and some great gameplay. A game with enormous potential and far from disappointing. I say give Ready at Dawn another crack at it because I think they created an diamond with some rough edges that just needs some tlc.
Problem was the repetitive boss fights. I liked the gunplay, cover system and somewhat the story.
It did have fantastic atmosphere, I'll give you that. But gameplay pretty much played out like short gunfire segments interlaced with walking/sneaking + QTE events. Gameplay was the weakest point of The Order because RAD prioritized world building and graphical detail. Ut was disappointing because it didnt live up to the massive potential it haf. If they were given another shot at a sequel, I hope they can learn from their mistakes.
gameplay was meh but the world had potential, in my ideal world it'd have Mass Effect kind of gameplay
I waited till The Order was discounted and went in with certain expectations and wasn’t disappointed. Just like Quantum Break. Great concept just needed a little extra meat on the bones.
I had high hopes before it released. They were curbed some by the early previews, and while I found faults with the game, and it was obviously released unfinished, I still enjoyed it. The lore, acting, graphics, and world itself were excellent.
I agree that it had some awesome atmosphere and the gameplay wasn't awful, but that potential is exactly why I put it on this list. I actually loved playing the game (same as some of the other games I put on this list such as Army of Two) But I would just love to see what could happen if it fulfilled some of that potential, ya know? Could have had the next incredible Sony franchise to rival God of War.
Thanks for reading my article!
The order should have had a sequel. The first one wasn't bad just needed a few tweaks.
I would love a sequel to The Order. It is still a great game.
Lair had a great concept and could be amazing with the current technology available. A Lair-like ps5 game could be incredible.
PlayStation’s strong and impressive lineup of exclusives is probably the biggest edge it has over its direct competition in the market- a fact that has been true for as long as anyone can remember.
Ridge racer for PSP was actually good and shouldn't be on this list. I think I'm the only one that enjoyed Haze.
When GamingBolt have to dig up PS1 & PS2 games you know Sony is doing something right.
The list is about the worst Playstation exclusives games OF ALL TIME...
Why wouldn’t they include PS1 and PS2 games?
That’s right, only PS4 games should be on the list of the worst Sony exclusive games of all time. /s
As much as I like PlayStation, there are plenty of stinkers just like on all platforms tbh.
Haha you completely missed or are willfully ignorant of the intent of this article. It clearly says worst PS Exclusive Games of All Time.
RR on Vita made the list, not the PSP version. RR on Vita was severely lacking content.
They tried something new and it failed.
The initial price point was low but a large amount of content was locked behing DLC
These days you often pay full price up front and get the same concept.
Didn’t the list just have ridge racer on Vita? Because the Vita ridge racer was a dumpster fire at $40 with next to no cars or tracks. It was such an incomplete experience. As the article states, it felt more like a full priced demo than an actual game. Psp ridge racer had so much more to it.
All early ridge racers had next to no cars...game was great because of its graphics, controls, fun factor. Nothing could touch it on PS1.
When this piece of flotsam indicated that "Being a clone of GTA shouldn't be that hard" I just closed the window.
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Socom 4, I guess you could say that was an AWFUL/TERRIBLE Socom game. BUT it was an okay game if it didn't have the word Socom in the title.
To save you from clicking those annoying slides:
HAZE (PS3)
LAIR (PS3)
KNACK (PS4)
RIDGE RACER (PS VITA)
TWISTED METAL III (PS1)
LAST REBELLION (PS3)
BRAVO TEAM (PS4)
BASEMENT CRAWL (PS4)
MORTAL KOMBAT: SPECIAL FORCES (PS1)
GANGS OF LONDON (PSP)
LITTLE DEVIANTS (PS VITA)
PLAYSTATION MOVE APE ESCAPE (PS3)
APE ESCAPE ACADEMY (PSP)
KUNG FU RIDER (PS3)
EYETOY: OPERATION SPY (PS2)
I love when people do this to sites that try to artificially up their clicks by forcing one click per entry. But I will say maybe let's leave off the first entry so they get the one click. Both so N4g gets whatever they're due for pushing traffic to their site and to send a message to the site that you only get one click.
Sites are lucky if I click once or twice, half a dozen or more clicks is more effort than I'm willing for a list that may or may not suck.
Maybe not knack but it's understandable, its not the best game tbh. Dunno bout ridge racer.
Have to say that is a pretty crappy list. I remember being so pissed with Twisted Metal 3 after TM2.
You're doing Gods work. Many blessings upon the house of Gardenia.
i agree- it's not an outstanding game, but its a fun game nonetheless, i think people consider it a dissapointment because of the hype for it. If it was a low-profile game it would have fared much better.