| Played_Out said: @ HappySqurriel It's interesting that people keep saying stuff like this about Lair. You must have a very selective memory, as all the previews I saw slated it for it's graphical glitches and poor controls. In fact, I read a review of an early build of the game that appeared in a UK mag at least 6 months before it was released that was pretty much identical to reviews that appeared after it officially launched (it scored 6, but I can't remember which mag it was). The only people that hyped Lair were Sony fanboys desperate for a killer-app. I do agree with the rest of your comments about previews though. |
IGN June 6th 2007: ( http://ps3.ign.com/articles/801/801928p1.html )
"One thing that is apparent from the time we've already had with Lair is that it's progressed enormously since the bridge levels we first saw at the tail end of last year. The missions have been fleshed out and the controls refined, plus visually it looks as spectacular as it ever did, running in 1080p at a steady 30 frames per second. Admittedly there were a few moments when the frame rate dropped, but Sony is certain this will be ironed out come release."
In a preview 2 months before the games release, that was the most negative thing IGN said.
Gamespot July 7th 2007: ( http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/lair/news.html?sid=6174463&mode=all )
"Paying attention to the gameplay was a tough task though, mostly because Lair is simply stunning to look at. The draw distance is fantastic, and the enormous maps are rendered down to the last detail. We saw plenty of gorgeous details, from beautiful water-shaders to lovely motion-blurring when we did a 180-degree turn. Even more amazingly, Lair pulled it off without a single hitch in frame rate, making for plenty of smooth flight. And as you can imagine for a game featuring so much fire, the flame effects are some of the best we've ever seen."
Gamespy: ( http://ps3.gamespy.com/playstation-3/lair/780390p1.html )
"Last week I spent a few hours playing with Factor 5's new PS3-exclusive Lair. With an official release date of July confirmed, I have to admit some concerns about the state of the polished alpha build we saw. At the same time, there's so much promise to the premise, and Factor 5 is such a reliably excellent developer, that I think there's plenty to be excited about this summer. We've seen dragon-riding games before, but this may be the first that really sells the feeling of commanding an immensely powerful beast."
Wow, the most negative comment so far ... I'm sure that I'd be crying mysefl to bed after someone said "there's so much promise to the premise, and Factor 5 is such a reliably excellent developer, that I think there's plenty to be excited about this summer. " about my game ...
1up:
"#1 -- Playing Lair, one word really comes to mind: Epic. Seriously, the experience of flying through these stunning, expansive landscapes with tons going on all around you and a fantastic orchestral score playing underneath is really quite something. You've simply not experienced anything like this before -- certainly not on this scale. The lighting and weather effects (lightning and rain were specifically impressive), the draw distance (you can see for miles and miles), the amount of on screen action at times (tons of other dragons flying through the air, ships in the sea, and warriors on the ground), and the ability to simply and seamlessly switch between fighting high in the sky and down on the ground -- this is absolutely a next generation experience.
"#2 -- There is one major worry and it's perhaps a damning one: the Sixaxis controls. At times, the Sixaxis seems fantastic for a game like this -- controlling the dragon's giant swoops seems perfectly suited for motion sensing controls. At others, it feels clunky as all hell. Trying to bash another dragon in close range combat took me out of the experience right away -- I felt like I was fighting the controls. More often than not, I couldn't help but wonder how much more I'd be enjoying the game were I just using standard controls. Now, perhaps the controls will improve with more familiarity, but this is certainly a concern shared by many others who played the game today and in the past.
"Factor 5 has about a month left to finish tweaking the game. Here's hoping our concerns with the controls are either addressed or alleviated by its release, as a game this epic really deserves to be played. "
It wasn't until the game was practically complete that people started to say anything (really) negative and even then there was little indication that they would end up reviewing the game with a score of 40% to 60%.
