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PS3 Fanboy review: Lair
While Colin gets the delightful task of reviewing Warhawk (9.0), I'm left with the arduous burden of reviewing Lair, one of PS3's most hyped and anticipated games. What could possibly go wrong with a game where dragons fly around, killing each other? With stunning graphics, incredible production values, and dragons, Lair easily had a ton of potential. However, it all goes to waste through unresponsive controls and flawed level design.As any Gamecube owner knows, Factor 5 is a team comprised of technical wizards. Their previous Rogue Squadron games pulled off graphical techniques on Nintendo's last generation machine that most Wii games still don't take advantage of. Factor 5 managed to rip out the most celebrated moments of the Star Wars films and make a captivating series that delivered action faithful to its inspiration. So, why does Lair feel like a retread from Factor 5's previous games?%Gallery-3198%
Play Lair on PSP with remote play
If you're wanting to enjoy Lair's gorgeous visuals on an itty-bitty screen (or more likely, you're just wanting to play the game with an analog stick instead of the much-maligned motion controls), it has been confirmed that the PlayStation 3 title supports remote play via the PSP, with credit going to Dubbedinenglish of the PlayStation forums for first making the discovery.The "full" game is playable in this manner, although some actions can't be performed on the PSP's control scheme, making some parts of the dragon romp impassable. Video proof embedded after the break.[Via PSP Fanboy; thanks, Rocco]
Metareview -- Lair (PS3)
On paper, Factor 5's Lair does so many things right: Beautiful graphics and sound making full use of all the blue rays, cells and bumpy maps the PlayStation 3 has to offer. Majestic dragons flapping their leathery wings, swooping down on hapless soldiers and occasionally fighting other, similarly majestic dragons. Unfortunately, this enticing list was apparently jotted down with a pen the size of a tree stump. Awkward to maneuver and clumsy to clutch, Lair's mandatory motion-control scheme seems to have sent it into a quality nosedive. IGN (49/100) laments the "horribly unresponsive" controls and "god-awful lock-on system," quickly labeling the whole affair as "a mission worthy of swallowing the business end of a shotgun to avoid." Just so we're clear, they're implying that you'd rather kill yourself instead of playing Lair. Harsh, and certainly surprising if you read the E3 preview -- a few weeks earlier, the game was "surprisingly easy to pick up and play" with dragon controls that became "simple with practice." Gamespot (45/100) thinks Lair is beautiful... a "beautiful disaster," that is. The review's third sentence claims it's "stunning to watch", but that comes after the second sentence which declares the game to have "one of the worst control schemes ever devised." That's assuming you even make it that far, as the first sentence is simply, "You shouldn't play Lair." If that sounds bitter, it's probably because you remember the sweet taste of the last preview: "Flying the dragon around isn't tough, but there is a bit of a learning curve." Apparently it was more like a 90-degree angle. 1UP (60/100) was right to be concerned about the controls in an earlier version of the game. Here, the game is deemed frustrating and "one of those games where you die or fail through no fault of your own." The article also reinforces the belief that Factor 5 is still stuck in the icy wastelands of Hoth, complete with dinosaurs waiting to trip over your dragon tow cable.
Confirmed: Lair can be played on PSP
No, this is not a joke. Lair can be played on PSP through PS3's Remote Play functionality. As discovered by Dubbedinenglish on the PlayStation forums, this is quite possibly the first Blu-ray PS3 game to run successfully on the PSP. By reducing the visual quality and increasing the response time, the game is actually quite playable. In fact, because the game uses the PSP's analog stick instead of tilt controls, it actually controls better than the PS3 counterpart.Stay tuned for a video.[Thanks, Nightz!]
Lair swoops into stores a day early
While there was some confusion about just when Lair was actually going to be shipped out, we have gotten confirmation from multiple sources that it's actually in the stores right now. That's right, you can go out and get your dragon on immediately. It's a little odd that it was released on a Thursday since almost all retail games go on sale on Tuesday, but why look a gift horse in the mouth? If you do go out and pick up a copy of Lair today, why not come back here and leave your impressions in the comments section? The reviews have been pretty controversial so far, so it would be nice hearing what the fans themselves think.[Thanks everybody who sent this in]
Amazon will not honour "incorrect prices" on Lair and Folklore orders
What started out as a simple deal of the day has turned into an ugly battle between Amazon and some of its customers. Lair and Folklore were listed for £14.95 each, an incredible deal by anyone's standards. Because of this, both games shot to the top of the Amazon bestseller's list for Video Games. Some of our more paranoid commenters emailed Amazon about whether the price was correct and whether they would honour it if it turned out to be an error. At least one person apparently got an email stating that the prices were correct and that they should expect no price change. As the old saying goes, "just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you." Amazon yesterday started sending out emails stating that people's Lair and Folklore orders had been cancelled due to a pricing mistake. It seems weird to us that two games were priced wrongly for exactly the same amount of time and at exactly the same price. What are your thoughts?[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Deal of Yesterday: Lair and Folklore back at full price at Amazon
Amazon's amazing deal on Lair and Folklore yesterday seems to have unceremoniously come to an end. The price for each game has risen to £34.99, more than double the "sale" price. Was it a sale though? We're not sure. It didn't take long for both games to hit the number 1 and number 2 spot on the bestsellers list for Video Games. We're sure Amazon themselves would have noticed the amount of attention the games were getting if it was a mistake.We don't know whether yesterday's prices will be honoured for those that pre-ordered the games, but are looking into it. If you've been in contact with Amazon about it, please let us know.
LGC07: Lair Hands-on impressions
Ah, Leipzig Games Conference Business Day: a full nine hours of exploring the massive halls of the Leipziger-Messe convention center without a member of the 'Dreaded Public' in sight. We managed to get our hands on a number of games during this time and, after hearing mixed reviews and impressions of Lair, we made that our first priority.
Deal of the Day: Lair and Folklore for 15 each at Amazon
Despite there being no retail releases in Europe this week, Amazon are keeping people happy with two potentially great games available for £15 each. Lair and Folklore have both received the less-than-half-price treatment and are now firmly at the top of the bestsellers list for Video Games. This seemingly random deal has no explanation attached, nor an indication of when it might end. So if you fancy getting two PS3 exclusives for this incredibly cheap price, then do it now. Both titles promise to be excellent fun and we've thoroughly enjoyed our hands on time with both of them. The only problem now is, do you import Lair and pay full price, but get it a month early? Or order it from Amazon for less than half price and wait until mid October? Decisions, decisions ...[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Worldwide PS3 releases for the week of August 27th
Games! Yes, seriously. Check out the full release list, just a matter of millimeters below where you're looking right now.US Games Warhawk Lair Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 Dynasty Warriors: Gundam EU Games No new releases Asian Games Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War Mist of Chaos Warhawk and Lair? In the same week? Potentially. A lot of websites are showing the US release date has been pushed forward to the 30th of this month. It could easily be the case that whatever problems they had with the game that originally had it pushed back could have been solved early. In any case, we'll find out within a few days.European PS3 owners, worry not. As games are region free, you can import any of the games in the above list without fear. Your PS3 will gobble it up without caring where it's from. Also, don't forget the PSN version of Warhawk will be out this Thursday, with the retail box appearing on shelves in a few weeks. Remember, release dates are constantly subject to change. Constantly.
Factor 5's Eggebrecht annoyed at ESRB's censorship
Perhaps comparing the ESRB to the Communist hunter Joseph McCarthy is a little extreme, since there's not really a Red Scare in videogaming, but Factor 5 President Julian Eggebrecht made the allusion when stating the ESRB was essentially choking the creative life out of games during a speech at GCDC. What we mean by that is the ESRB fails to approach games as art. Eggebrecht voices his wishes: "I would be happy if in games we could talk about homosexuality, but we're not even at the point where we can admit that humans have heterosexual relationships, and that is a real problem - and it tends to show that games are not being seen, even by our own ratings boards, as an artform."He mentioned a cheat code in Lair that unlocked a "Hot Coffee" pot -- an actual coffee pot, which others at the GCDC got a kick out of, but he digressed from the humor behind the GTA: San Andreas fiasco. "If you cannot have satire about these things, that is approaching the realm of McCarthyism." Pressing further, he mentioned the movie Eyes Wide Shut, which dealt with relationship issues in marriage, among other things. Eggebrecht wants to see games with that much ... ambition hitting shelves, which require games to be placed on the same art pedestal as film.Eggebrecht finally got to the meat of his argument -- censorship in Lair. Sony sought a "T" for Teen rating, since the game appeals to teenage gamers, but the ESRB continually knocked it to an "M" for Mature rating due to blood and visible "chunks" of other dragons getting slapped away in fights. In the end, Eggebrecht said, "they let us through with a Teen even though you can use fire - you can set up to five, six thousand people on fire. They burn, they run around and they scream, but of course that wasn't a problem [due to the absence of blood]."
PS3 first-party exclusives finally get EU release dates
It's been kind of hard getting Sony to nail down release dates for their upcoming stable of first-party exclusives, regardless of territory. Europe has really gotten the rawest deal though, with no confirmed release dates for any games period -- until now. Thanks to Gamer's Creed, Europeans finally know when they will be getting the first wave of mega-titles from Sony. Here's the list according to the scanned documents: Warhawk with headset: September 19th Heavenly Sword: September 19th Folklore: October 10th Lair: October 24th Eye of Judgment: October 24th Singstar: October The release dates are kind of lame in general -- with Europe getting titles between two weeks and a month later than Americans get them. At least PS3s are region free, so impatient Euros can simply just order them from an American store like this one (as used by Jem, our resident foreigner). Still, the release list has got to be frustrating for Europeans wanting for the summer game drought to finally end. [Via N4G]
Creating the music of Lair -- Part 2
John Debney, the composer of Lair has updated the PlayStation.Blog again with more details behind the musical score of the game, as well as an additional theme you can listen to. Titled "Crossing at Dawn-Bridge Battle," Debney describes it as a more brutal and primal theme versus the track he posted earlier which he felt displayed a more high-culture sensibility. While this is probably way over the head of most of us, the new track is indeed quite beautiful to listen to and is worth checking out (sorry no direct link this time). For the more visually oriented of us though, they also included a new screenshot (shown above), which can be checked out in full resolution here.
Moving from Christ to Lair: creating the music
The London and Royal Symphony Orchestras don't just work for anyone. Composer John Debney, who worked on films such as "Passion of the Christ" and "Sin City" was given almost unprecedented musical freedom when he was asked to score Lair. In a recent PlayStation.blog entry, he notes: "Creating new, original themes for this primal world has been one of the most stimulating experiences of my career, something I will look back on and cherish. The overall tone of the work can best be described as operatic, ethnically rich, lyrical, elegant and, at the same time, tragic." The musical landscape looks to be quite complex!And he also offers a sample [Download MP3] of one of the tracks from the game. In typical Factor 5 fashion, it is incredibly epic. No, it's not from some big-budget movie ... this will be coming from your PS3 when the game comes out next month.
Lair box art swoops down from the heavens
Sony has just released the official box art for Lair, and it's looking pretty hot (no pun intended). Featuring the armored mug of Rhon, the main character, glaring off into the distance while a battlefield of guys get the marshmellow-in-campfire treatment, it's got classic look to it. Interestingly, the game got a Teen rating -- which seems a bit low for a title that rewards in roasting people alive. But whatever, as long as the game isn't being made by Rockstar, nobody cares.
Lair not done, delayed until September 4
Though originally confirmed to be complete and on track for an August 14 launch, SCEA Associate Producer Ryan Hamlyn has posted on the official PlayStation blog that Lair is being delayed until September 4 due "to enhance the community features in the game.""Natural challenges that arose while finalizing the offline game to include key online features - such as leaderboards and medal systems - have led to the difficult choice of pushing back the release date," he said. It'll be interesting to see what happens to those early reviews of the game.%Gallery-3183%[Via PS3 Fanboy; thanks, Sceren]
Lair delayed until September 4th
That's right. Ryan Hamlyn, Associate Producer for SCEA, has confirmed on the PlayStation.Blog that Lair has been delayed until September 4th ... 2008. Not really, but it may as well have been. Pushing back a game that we at PS3 Fanboy likes to refer to as a "thirst quencher", during these months of drought, is a real disappointment. It seems QA has had to be extended by "an extra step", which means an extra three weeks of development time. For those of you keeping score at home, that brings the total number of AAA titles being released this month to ... well, one actually. Warhawk will be out on the 28th, but that's barely August really, is it? The thing we're most worried about now is that Lair won't get as much attention as perhaps it should, with Heavenly Sword being released on the same day.So get yourself stocked up on crisps and beer and prepare to wait out the oncoming month in some sort of drunken, greasy stupor. August never seemed so uninviting.
PlayStation 3 to rock Lollapallooza
Since nothing emphasizes the street cred and indie-vibe of an alternative music show like having a massive corporate sponsor, Sony has announced that they are sponsoring Lollapallooza this year and will be having a major presence at the event. Attendees at the show will be able to play a wide variety of PlayStation titles, including both Lair and Heavenly Sword on the PlayStation 3. Also shown will be Buzz and Singstar on the PS2 and Parappa on the PSP. Sony will even be having contests and competitive games to entertain you, in case you're not real into the musical lineup this year (and with Pearl Jam headlining, nobody would blame you).Anybody hear planning on hitting up Lair-apallooza? (Sorry had to do it.) If so, let us know what you think of the games!
Lair is gold, flies onto PS3s August 14th
PlayStation.Blog has been updated with the latest info on Lair, and the news is good. According to the post, Lair has gone gold for it's North American release and is on track for the August 14th launch over here. There is still some work to be done in regards to localizing the game for European and Asian audiences, but for North American audiences our flying dragon epic is only a couple weeks away.Also, they mentioned another cool tidbit that while there won't be online multiplayer, there will be full online leaderboards and they will be international across all territories. Not quite compensation for multiplayer action, but a nice addition regardless. Finally, we'll be able to show those funny-talking Germans who's the best at aerial dragon combat!
Lair is done, set for August 14 release date
Factor 5's Lair has "has completed its development and is now in manufacturing," according to SCEA Associate Producer Ryan Hamlyn via the PlayStation blog.The game is on track to be unleashed August 14 in North America. Localization for other regions hasn't been completed yet, said Hamlyn, so release dates elsewhere haven't been revealed. Since we didn't spend much time with Lair at E3, we're interested in seeing how the game has shaped up since we last saw it at Sony Gamer's Day. %Gallery-3183%
