Here we had a game that showed much promise. It was a game with superb graphics and you could fly a dragon and kill other dragons with fireballs in the middle of an intense battle field. So what went wrong? ill explain in just a moment.
Lair's plot is centered around a huge island that used to be one island but is now split into two islands ever since a volcanic eruption. Due to this incident, people have divided themselves into two kingdoms: the Mokai, whose lands are arid and depleted of resources, and the seemingly noble Asylians, who live in one of the last remaining bountiful, green areas. The Mokai are naturally angry against the Asylians and are completely desperate to gain their land. Aggressive Asylian leaders are leading in to the path of the inevitable after the Mokai launch a surprise attack from the rear.
So thats the plot. It seemed good enough but the minute you start playing you realise that the controls are very difficult due to the sixaxis motion sensor and there is no analog control. Most levels require you to be very precise such as flying close to small objects to destroy them. Not having a radar makes this object difficult to find in a huge enviorment and the motion control makes it difficult to hit. Then there are the flying controls, one of the things I hated was the "speed up' control. You have to basically pull the controller back and then pull it foward really fast but this is only responsive about 20% of the time so you end up waving the controller like an idiot just to get a burst of speed. All this makes the game frustrating to play and takes the fun out of the whole thing. It will also make earning those gold medals after a level completion nearly impossible.
Well thats the bad part now I will get to the good part. The graphics are incredible to look at. The power behind this games graphics is pretty amazing. Everything has incredible detail and the framerate stays pretty solid even in huge battles. But even better then that is the sound. The sound quality of this game makes you feel like your right in the game and the soundtrack is very dramatic and matches the game quite well. If you have the 5.1 stereo system and a 1080i HD tv then this game will make you feel like your watching a movie due to the graphics and sound quality.
But unfortunatly like I mentioned before this game just does not quite cut it. Mostly due to the control scheme they tried to implement. It is just too hard to cotrol the game. Nothing really feels fluid and you have to force everything your doing. It should hopefully be a good lesson to any developer trying to make a game where you control the motion through motion sensing. It just does not work.
To sum it up, great graphics and sound, decent story but the playablity is hardly there. It was a game with great potential and it was a shock when it came out so wrong. If there is going to be a Lair 2 then the sixaxis better be optional.
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 .
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.
A reimagining of 5 disappointing video games and the masterpieces they could have been underneath other studios.
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.
The order should have had a sequel. The first one wasn't bad just needed a few tweaks.
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 this piece of flotsam indicated that "Being a clone of GTA shouldn't be that hard" I just closed the window.
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)
good review, im renting this game only to see how the graphics are.. I saw a video of lair in eb once and it was awesome. Iunno do u think this game would score a 9 or 8 if it didnt use sixaxis?
Though I think you scored the graphics a bit too high. While the game did look good it was a bit low res and scaled back due to the huge size of playing field.
As for controls..I felt they worked out very well and I still can't understand the dislike for them. It was easy for me to grasp especially after completing the tutorial.
I'd rate the game overall a 7.5
I should have rated the fun factor a little higher. But if it had analog control and a better system for finding targets then it would probably rate a 8.