LAIR release delayed til sept 4

[grimsark]

Add me to the line of regretful buyers... Three times within the first 20 mins of play I jerked back the controller to do a 180, and instead watched as my dragon dashed forward to attack, and said too hell with this, and put in FFIV (PS2) instead...

[Sini]

Sony sends out 'Lair Reviewer's Guide' -- Must. Not. Laugh. - Joystiq

Interesting article. That picture should have prolly been posted in screenshots instead of here. Massive photoshop potential.

[AngryGerbil]

Never forget, console controls > *.

[Blide]

I can't help but follow this game out of morbid curiosity, it reminds me of Vanguard. Factor 5 is blaming everything (Including the development being cursed ) but themselves for the game being shitty, which is really pathetic. As far as I'm concerned, when a dev says he can only do a 180 degree turn 80% of the time, that basically just confirms the controls suck. A reviewer should NOT be told how to review / play a game, it should be intuitive. When every credible media source is just shitting all over the game for essentially being just a buggy and unfinished mess in regards to everything but the music, you have have a problem. Then this game has some of the most rabid fanboys I've ever seen who spew bullshit like this (really hope that site is fake).

If Factor 5 just came out and admitted they were too ambitious and fucked up, I'd have a whole lot more respect for them. I was actually looking forward to this game after their respectable job with Rogue Squadron but their reputation and to a lesser extent, Sony and the PS3, will forever be tarnished as a result of this hyped up mess.

[Lyenae]

I'd lower my score as a reviewer if I got a guide like that post-review.

[Coren]

Well, I seem to be missing something hehe. I know I catch on to games/controls etc pretty quick (Like, it took me under a couple days to be playing Expert in GH2, about a week to unlock all the achievements in Geometry Wars, etc), but the controls for Lair seem to be working fine for me.

Hell, that level that the Penny-Arcade review said they couldn't get past due to the controls, I made it through first try.

It's more like, I dunno, I just steer the controller more like one might steer a car or something, and everything is responding. (I can nail the 180 degree turns pretty much every time, like maybe missing 1 out of 25...except I hardly ever need to use it, I can do a normal turn and take down like 3 dragons while turning heh.)

Just feels like I'm playing a totally different game than the reviewers are slamming, I'm having more fun in Lair than I have had in many games, it's ranking up there with Bioshock so far.

[Kasonic]

It's really too bad what has happened to Lair, because without the polish issues(choppiness, freezing up, etc.) and with some solid analog stick control this game would be an instant classic.

[Lorrac]

Originally Posted by Kasonic

It's really too bad what has happened to Lair, because without the polish issues(choppiness, freezing up, etc.) and with some solid analog stick control this game would be an instant classic.

IMHO, Lair is more a case of "failed to meet unrealisticly high expectations" than anything else. Maybe hype did work too well for this one...

[Komido]

Been thinking about giving this game a rent just to see if the controls are indeed as bad as everyone is making them out to be. Other then the controls I hear this game suffers from other issues like the targeting system and a hitch in the frame rate here and there.

That review guide is pretty funny too. Wouldn't it be easier and less embarrassing for Sony to patch in some analog controls and actually try to address the issue?

[Blide]

The GameTrailers.com video review seems to be the most fair Lair review out there and gives the best indication of its problems beyond the controls. Like clipping through the environments for a few seconds, bugged animations, buggy targeting, huge framerate drops (the game should be 720p native instead of 1080p) and the list goes on. The controls just so happen to be the most common complaint. Basically just patching in analog controls isn't sufficient in fixing all the problems this game has.

No doubt Lair didn't live up to the incredibly high expectations that were placed upon it but also Factor 5 seemed way too ambitious with Lair and ultimately failed to release a polished product.

[Cadrid]

If there's one thing every videogame company needs (as games like Lair and Vanguard have proven) it is a "No-man". Basically, it's the antithesis of the "Yes-man", where the individual puts the smackdown on ideas that simply exceed the boundaries of time, talent and expenses that the team has.

I'm a strong supporter of innovations and revolutions in gaming, but if a lofty goal is out of reach it's much better take baby steps towards the dream, rather than plunge yourself into a nightmarish flop.

[Coren]

Just beat Lair heh, took about 10 hours.

Number of times doing a dash when trying to do a 180 = zero. Same vice versa. I dunno what I'm doing different than the reviewers, but the controls were just so quick to get used to.

Now, using the six-axis as part of the God of War type button pushing sequences...that was totally beyond lame. It was also generally not worth it to try and dash or do a 180 while in a turn or something, but if the controller was leveled out, it seemed as easy to do those moves as it was to do the door thing in Metroid Prime 3 anyways.

But anyways, the game certainly had it's issues and was far from perfect, but except for Bioshock just coming out,this was the most ridiculous fun I've had in a game all year.

[Necrolyte]

Originally Posted by Coren

Just beat Lair heh, took about 10 hours.

Number of times doing a dash when trying to do a 180 = zero. Same vice versa. I dunno what I'm doing different than the reviewers, but the controls were just so quick to get used to.

Now, using the six-axis as part of the God of War type button pushing sequences...that was totally beyond lame. It was also generally not worth it to try and dash or do a 180 while in a turn or something, but if the controller was leveled out, it seemed as easy to do those moves as it was to do the door thing in Metroid Prime 3 anyways.

But anyways, the game certainly had it's issues and was far from perfect, but except for Bioshock just coming out,this was the most ridiculous fun I've had in a game all year.

Aren't you leaning just a bit towards fanboyland? The game has clipping issues, framerate issues (massive slowdowns in big fights), and even you admitted you can't dash or 180 during a turn or any other movement and should only do it when your dragon is flying straight--that sounds stupid to me.

[Cadrid]

Originally Posted by Coren

Just beat Lair heh, took about 10 hours.

Don't you feel just a little ripped off that you spent $60 for 10 hours of fun? Even if someone were to play the game casually (2 hours a day) that's less than a week of fun. Unless a game has high replay value, great multiplayer, substantial content updates, or player-generated content I would never buy a game that short for $50-60.

[RiskyChris]

Originally Posted by Cadrid

Don't you feel just a little ripped off that you spent $60 for 10 hours of fun? Even if someone were to play the game casually (2 hours a day) that's less than a week of fun. Unless a game has high replay value, great multiplayer, substantial content updates, or player-generated content I would never buy a game that short for $50-60.

$$ have different significance for anyone else. Precisely how long a game takes to complete isn't of concern to me, it's density of awesome-sauce. BioShock was a solid 20+ hours so far of nonstop sweet, sweet nectar. I'm happy to pay $60 for a game with a great 10 hour playtime.