Lair

steviec

So anyone ordered this from the US?

I was going to but I'm in two minds right now. It must be getting the most mixed reviews of any game I've come across.

kotaku wrote:

I literally picked up the controller, jumped on the dragon and flew around the rich environments with ease. And I'm not talking flight simulator, floating around without a sense of speed flying. I'm talking barreling under arch bridges, twisting around castles and skimming the water to take out boats.

IGN wrote:

the final version -- even with its interesting story, occasionally impressive graphics and amazing score -- falls well short of anything you should be playing.

Play wrote:

Lair has come together beautifully... With its stunning visuals and incredible soundtrack, Lair may well be the single most powerful experience that a man can share with his $5,000 home theatre system.

Gamespot wrote:

This is the ultimate example of how gameplay suffers when all the work goes into making everything look pretty. There is nothing fun about it.

Joystiq wrote:

The SixAxis controls felt great -- which surprised us, since the controls had received the most negative press. Flying around as a dragon was incredibly satisfying as we could feel the weight of the creature when swooping down or pulling up further into the sky.

It seems it all comes down to how you adapt to the motion controls - those that liked them, loved the game, while those that didn't hated them. I want this to be good because it's one of the few big releases coming up that's not in one of the usual done to death genres and I love the look and atmosphere of the game from what I've seen in movies of it, but it's worrying just how many bad reviews there's been. I was going to import it from the US but think I may wait for some trusted European reviewers to get their hands on it first.

I'm in two minds about this game too. It's been getting a pasting on some sites and a few others are singing its praises. I'll wait till someone on here post's a review:D

CiDeRmAn

What I hear is it sucks, that the controls stink, hardly surprising, Factor5 didn't do a great job of them for the Rogue Squadron games either, only the license saved that franchise, and here there isn't that safety net, aside from nice visuals.

projectmayhem

yeah it's around the 60% mark on metacritic, and most of the negativity is coming from the bad use of sixaxis.. it's a pity they couldn't have had a go of warhawk before putting this game out

Retr0gamer

Played it yesterday for a short while. It's pretty but very shallow and the six axis control wasn't great at all although it might just take some getting used to. I'd go for armoured core 4 over this any day.

LookingFor

Seems Lair is generating some renewed interest, but not for the reasons you might have expected. It seems it is playable over Remote Play with your PSP.



Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mASdFCTNA7I

Seems to be quite playable despite lag..also, one or two moves aren't mapped to the PSP controls (like braking). Still very cool though, didn't expect a game like Lair to support this. Makes me think more games, particularly PSN games, should support it.

projectmayhem

pretty cool party trick. i've shown mates how the PSP can show movies stored on ps3 and they were impressed. the problem is that it's another cool little thing the two machines can do, but in reality if you choose that screen/controls over the ps3 & sixaxis, you really wasted €600

LookingFor

projectmayhem wrote:

pretty cool party trick. i've shown mates how the PSP can show movies stored on ps3 and they were impressed. the problem is that it's another cool little thing the two machines can do, but in reality if you choose that screen/controls over the ps3 & sixaxis, you really wasted €600

The idea is, you may find yourself in situations where you don't have a choice. Like if your TV is occupied by someone else. Or you're in a hotel room half way around the world (Obviously doing this over the internet increases control lag further, but you get the idea..).

I think the video-out on the new PSPs has new significance when considered in the context of Remote Play also. For example, browsing your PS3 when away from Home, and doing so on a big TV somewhere else using the video-out. That'd even be useful for me at Home for showing photos/videos etc. on TVs around my house without lugging the PS3 around and connecting them to different TVs.

One piece of the puzzle that needs to fall into place, though, is remote powering on and off of your PS3 via PSP.

Zapp Brannigan

Played it at EP, was quite drunk though

The draw distance was incredible, but it seemed to stutter alot. I'd say I'll rent it rather than buy.

vibe666

it seems like at least one of the negative reviews came from a website (IGN) with some heavy Microsoft sponsorships & adverts).

i (accidentally) bought the transformers game without trying it or reading any reviews to my peril and it went right back to the shop, but i'm sorely tempted to give this one a go. i might just have to order it for the US too, get the jump on the rest of ye.

RE*AC*TOR

Seems like this decade's Daikatana

McDermotX

Taken from the other thread..

While its far from the best game ever made.............I have played far, far worse down the years..

Have only played the first few missions, but I think anyone who enjoys shallow shooters such as Rogue Squadron etc, will find something they like about the game.
I'm not sure what anyone was expecting other than this..

Of course, control is a decisive factor here.........if you cannot adapt to the controls, you'll detest the game. Personally I don't have too much of a problem with this end, as it can be quite natural to play at times.
Violent lurches with the sixaxis are a no go as the game requires a delicate touch, which by all accounts, some people pick up right away and some don't..
Any enjoyment in the game will of course be stripped away if not......a fact which has obviously led to some lower than average scores.

There are a number of vids doing the rounds showing you the difference in control methods, with slight tilts and motion proving Factor5's version of events..
http://gamers-creed.com/?p=481

Whether or not the game would be better with standard stick, is a question I cannot answer (especially after only limited playtime), but as has been seen with Warhawk flight controls (excellently done by the way), perseverance breeds its own rewards..

Graphics are, at times amazing, and at times functional........lighting is generally excellent and the game can be quite beautiful looking at times. Some low res texture work though in places can bring it back down to earth. Frame rate though is an issue, especially if you are looking for a constant 30fps. Even in the first few missions, some chugging can be seen when fighting over large vistas. This is at 1080p though, so there may be some improvement when rendering at 720p, but I haven't had a chance to try it out..
Frame rate of course is a little subjective, so it may not be a killer for everyone, and I for one would have been extremely surprised to see a silky smooth experience with such detail and draw distance, especially at this stage of the PS3's life..

Appearing to be so limited, the game is hardly worth the 60-70 euro its going to cost over here (but then again, what games are ), and even at the 50-55 euro you'll pay online, you'd have to be a big dragon/shooter fan to get your money's worth. Worth a rent though, whenever it shows up..

All in all, say 6/10....may be a little higher if you fall for it, and can put up with some repetitive gameplay..

AnCapaillMor

Ordered it last friday off e-bay for 45, check out a crowd called futureplay, got some stuff off them already(that i could'nt get here), usually for around 40-50 yoyos.

cashman

Retr0gamer wrote:

Played it yesterday for a short while. It's pretty but very shallow and the six axis control wasn't great at all although it might just take some getting used to. I'd go for armoured core 4 over this any day.

I got the game 2 days ago and I have to say I am very impressed with the graphics and I have to disagree with you I think it is an excellent game:D

AnCapaillMor

Got it yesterday, its a nice game, impressive as hell looking. so far so good, hope its not another Heavenly Sword, great game but ends too quickly.

CiDeRmAn

And Edge gave it 3/10.
I think I'll be giving this one a miss.
As I said before, Factor 5 are the guys who brought us Rebel Strike on the GC, a dev team to be avoided.

projectmayhem

CiDeRmAn wrote:

And Edge gave it 3/10.
I think I'll be giving this one a miss.
As I said before, Factor 5 are the guys who brought us Rebel Strike on the GC, a dev team to be avoided.

they also gave halo3 10/10... a great game, but by no means "perfect" ffs.

AnCapaillMor

Lair is'nt the best, but its no way 3/10, is a non partisan reviews even possible these days.

super_furry

projectmayhem wrote:

they also gave halo3 10/10... a great game, but by no means "perfect" ffs.

10/10 does not mean a game is perfect. Halo is a 10 game, but no game is, or ever will be, perfect.

I don't know why people were expecting Lair to be a AAA game. Factor 5 have never made a great game, the best they came up with was mediocre Gamecube games that sold on the back of a Starwars licence.

CiDeRmAn

Yup, the Rogue games were great on the N64 because we had feck all else to play, the visuals dazzled us on the GC but the gameplay always sucked, especially the flight model and the frankly broken on foot sections of Rebel Strike and I'd challenge anyone to differ.
Lair seems great, certainly looks good but from demos plays like a dog with poor use of motion tracking, the sixaxis isn't much help but one would imagine a supposed AAA game would have the best dev tools Sony can provide, they look like they made this one up as they went along.
I guess we have been spoiled by greater titles like the Panzer Dragoon series, pity.
Are we all really waiting on Metal Gear Solid 4 to finally show off that the PS3 can play games the likes of we have never seen before, or are Sony owners doomed to cross platform conversions and the odd first party title, sounds like the fate of the Gamecube to me, as long as they focus on the multimedia hub stuff instead of the gaming aspect they are doomed to miss the point, that is that these are GAMES machines, that play GAMES, and preferably god games we can't get anywhere else.
by this stage in the PS1s career we were playing Wipeout, Tekken, Ridge Racer and Ace Combat, on the PS2 we had a poorer showing, but it still had a captive audience that didn't buy into the Dreamcast, the fools!, but now, the 360 seems to be stealing the limelight left right and centre, most of the big titles popping up there as the home console of choice, Bioshock, Halo3 and PGR4 to name but a few.
I don't know, I love Sony stuff, they have, up to now, defeated notions of a market driven developer by bringing up Ico, SOTC, LocoRoco and Parappa.

Where is that creative spark on the PS3?
What games are we all buying a PS3 for?
Is it really the likes of Lair, even at best a game to be soon forgotten and save game deleted?