Lair Review - PS3

7.5

Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 9
Audio: 8
Innovation: 9

Introduction

Lair is something of a controversial game. It’s the first (and possibly last) non-PSN game on the PS3 which exclusively relies on the tilt and motion sensing of the sixaxis controller for movement in-game. As such, the game has naturally drawn a fair bit of attention in the gaming world, with some seeing this as a good move, and a lot of others seeing it as a bad move. The fact that there is no option to switch to analogue control has drawn a lot of criticism. However, when it comes down to it, Lair is not a bad game by any means.

Gameplay

Lair is a unique game. A lot of the gameplay, as you would expect, is based around flying through the skies on your dragon. The game is mission based, with each level being based around a particular event in the game’s story which requires you to help your fellow dragon riders to turn the tide of war against your enemies. This includes such things as protecting grain barges from attacks by enemy dragons, attacking enemy troops on the ground to assist your side’s soldiers and shooting down/charging enemy dragons, knocking them out of the sky. At the end of each mission you will receive a score based on how much damage you did, how many enemy dragons you took down, and various other things. If you did well enough then you will be awarded either a bronze, silver or gold medal which will give you dragon a health increase.

Some levels are entirely air based which mans that you will be using the sixaxis extensively to play through them, while some are a mixture of air and ground based combat. For those who are panicking a little about the game’s exclusive use of the tilt controls, you’ll be interested to hear that when your dragon is on the ground, the controls revert to a more traditional analogue layout where you move your dragon by using the analogue stick and execute attacks/actions with the face buttons. As soon as you’re back in the air though (to take off all you have to do is make your dragon run at the edge of whatever structure you happen to be on), the game instantly reverts back to motion controls.

On the subject of controls, let’s take a more detailed look at the motion controls, which you will be using a lot. Simply put, your on-screen dragon will follow the movements of the sixaxis controller as you move it up, down, left and right. If you thrust the controller forwards in a quick motion, your dragon will shoot forwards quickly for a short period of time, gaining a lot of speed. Moving the entire controller upwards in a sharp motion will cause your dragon to do a 180 degree turn and start flying in the opposite direction. There is roughly a 1 second gap between when you move and the mirrored movement of your dragon in the game, time in which your real (continued next page)