bit-tech Shopping: Sony Lair (PS3)

• 1080i (HDTV)
• 1080p (HDTV)
• 720p (HDTV)

Rating: 6

Time with product: 3 Months

Strengths: Impressive graphics

Weaknesses: Controls, framerate issue

Summary: Lair is a fine example of excellent concept with poor implementation. You play as a dragon rider to save the world and causes destruction to your enemies along the way. There are aero dragon combats and ground battles. However, it is plagued with scratchy control and framerate issues. Bad things aside, the game looks amazing with its 1080p graphics and sounds amazing with its audio tracks, but it's not enough to save the game. All in all, Lair is a ok game. Just don't play it with a high expectation.

Rating: 6

Time with product: 2

Strengths: great graphics, fire-breathing dragons (if you like that sort of thing)

Weaknesses: Finicky controls, can get a little boring

Summary: Poor, poor Lair. The game was panned upon its release for failing to live up to the hype surrounding the game beforehand. A game involving riding fire-breathing dragons engaging in mid-air combat made by the same developer that brought us Rogue Squadron sounded great on paper (and looked pretty darn good in motion too). Unfortunately, the end result was marred by imprecise controls that forced the played to use the SIXAXIS motion controls. Many months later, that problem has been partially rectified with the release of a patch that provides the option to use the analog stick to control the dragons (an option that should have been in the game all along). However, motion controls are still used for other things besides flight control but they mostly work fairly well. What the patch didn't fix is the relatively short length of the game and the occasionally frustrating combat. All these issues aside, Lair is still a gorgeous game and there is at least a modest amount of fun to be had here, especially if you are a fan of medieval fantasy and/or dragons. Overall, with the patch taken into consideration, this is a decent game and is at least worth a rental. I wouldn't recommend a purchase unless you can find it on the cheap though.

Rating: 6

Time with product: 2

Strengths: great graphics, fun game play

Weaknesses: very short, need to get use to controls

Summary: Lair is another Sony exclusive that I wanted to get to expand my collection. Simply put, in this game you control a dragon and basically kill enemies with different abilities. I?ve read numerous reviews that bash the motion controls with a majority of them saying the game is unplayable because of it. I felt the motion controls added something different to the action genre and made it that much more fun. I admit it was frustrating at first, but once you get use to it, it is actually pretty fun. I think this games graphics are great and are one of the main reasons why I bought it. Unfortunately, the game is very short with hardly any replay value. Unless you find this game cheap, I recommend it as a rental as you can beat this game in less than 8 hours

Rating: 6

Time with product: 1

Strengths: Great graphics, great sound, control is better with the new patch

Weaknesses: Game feels unfinished, or like it could have been so much better

Summary: Where to start with Lair-- this was one of the most hyped games leading up to the PS3's launch and afterwards. Everyone expected it to be amazing and be something totally new and innovative, and then it launched to a pretty resounding thud both critically and in sales. What went wrong? A lot of people blame the controls. Lair initially REQUIRED players to only use the SixAxis motion controls of the PS3. The problem was the game required a lot of very precise movement and in the heat of battle it was just too easy to do the entirely wrong thing. Now, the good news is a patch came out in mid April 2008 which finally allows for analog control which helps quite a bit. It's still not perfect but it does make the game easier to play if you've never been able to get your head around it. But should you play it-- that's an interesting question. In many ways, Lair's "air combat on dragons" is very well done. The graphics are mostly amazing (With quite a few framerate issues, unfortunately) and you can really get into it. But there is just an overall lack of polish, and fairly high difficulty level (Some intentional, some cheap, and some just from poor controls!) makes it a bit of a frustrating experience. Given Factor 5's (the developer) history in making incredibly good Star Wars games on the Gamecube, it was a bit of a surprise overall that this game, which should have been a slam dunk, just was pretty average. Had it come out without the years of hype, I think it would have done better, but as it was, it had to be much better than it ended up being to justify the hype. It should be noted that the art direction (And especially the sound-- the game offers 7.1 channel PCM [uncompressed] audio if you have the system for it) is absolutely impeccable. In many ways I'd say to buy the game just to show off your system. So.. I'm giving it 3 stars. It has a lot of potential which it unfortunately will probably never live up to (And the odds of "Lair 2" seem pretty low). But there's a lot of interesting things tried in this game. It's gone on clearance here and there so I would say if you can find it cheap, and are willing to put up with some frustration, it's a fairly good title worth at least checking out.

Rating: 6

Time with product: 2 Days

Strengths: Solid and gritty graphics. Triple A grade audio.

Weaknesses: Six-Axis control scheme. Level desgin, escort mission concept.

Summary: Preview The much maligned "Lair" for the Playstation 3 now may warrant a second look by those who passed on its initial release. A faulty six-axis motion scheme that kept this game on the avoid list many buyers and reviewers is now patched offering standard analog controls. This fact alone garners Lair a second glance since that major flaw in it's game mechanics is now rectified. A second, also significant complaint regarding the in game enemy targeting has also been addressed by the patch. However, the level design and fundamental design of the game is still largely composed of the escort mission types of game-play that many players despise. If you can get past the now reduced flaws and experience "Lair" is it was likely originally intended (without the hokey, unrefined and tacked on motion controls) you will find it is a passable exclusive title.