Lair Review: All this Hype for Nothing

Lair is a PlayStation 3 exclusive video game about a dragon. When the game made its debut at E3 2005, people were elated. They were amazed by the environments and the open ended aerial combat. Players will begin to notice that the visuals in Lair are stunning, and the full motion video sequences look spectacular. The story is unique throughout the duration of the game, and the audio is flabbergasting. The protagonist in Lair is Rohn (dragon rider for the Asylian army) and the perverse Mokai. Asylia and Mokai used to live in harmony until a volcano transpired. Lair has a plot that appears to be taken straight out of a Hollywood movie script. It has its fair share of twists and turns that will keep any avid video game fan guessing. In addition, Lair contains a few poignant moments sprinkled in here and there. On the contrary, looks can only go so far. The old saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” and “looks can be deceiving” should definitely be applied here.
The gameplay is an enormous disappointment. Even though blowing fire on things looks exemplary, Lair is a video game that people will detest. The controls in Lair are significantly egregious. I felt like my dragon was high on crystal methamphetamine or crack cocaine. Do not even get me started on the flawed targeting mechanic in Lair. Targeting a foe is worse than targeting in Gran Theft Auto III. You have absolutely no control aiming. The shoulder buttons are used to lock on an adversary, nevertheless it has its drawbacks. The artificial intelligence automatically selects what you should be focused on. I kid you not! Even if you are within five inches of your opponents, you could end up locking onto an innocuous object that is 1000 miles away. Unfortunately, gamers are coerced into using the six axis controller in Lair. This feature cannot be toggled on and off (unlike Warhawk) and is poorly executed in Lair (unlike Warhawk). The controls were fairly intuitive in Warhawk; conversely, Lair will give players a migraine. I pulled so many muscles while I was playing Lair. Factor 5 made a brilliant Star Wars: Rogue Squadron trilogy, but they laid an egg with Lair. Unreceptive controls is the biggest blunder in Lair. For instance, fending off a swarm of enemies at once is vexing. Turning around requires players to exert an exorbitant amount of stamina. Making swift and precise maneuvers through the air with your dragon are not feasible. What kind of ludicrousness is this? The one saving grace in Lair is the presentation; then again, that is just not enough to fully enjoy this game. In a nutshell, Lair is dreadful. It is not engrossing to play at all. My hands started sweating excessively every time I utilized the six axis controller. The gameplay is fairly redundant and insipid. Overall, Lair is like an IPhone. They both look stylish; however, they both drastically fall short of expectations.

Final Verdict: 5.2 out of 10