I have now played this game. And holy sh#t if this isn't Rogue Squadron without radar.
First: the controls. Actually, I didn't have much of an issue with them. At least nothing game breaking. Doing the 180 turn around takes some finesse, but nothing for someone with experience on the Wii. And that experience actually takes away from Lair. After spending hours on Metroid Prime 3, I've come acustomed to the sensitivity of the Wiimote. With Lair, there is a fair amount of dead space in the movement. At least in my opinion. My cousin, who owns the game, thought it was pretty sensitive. Now how it is with other games, I don't know. We played Warhawk but left the default controls on, which is the dual stick method.
Conclusion on controls: gimmick. Nothing being done can't be done on a dual stick setup. Warhawk even proves it. But they worked fine for the first two levels and the tutorials.
Graphics: Here we go again. A great big 'meh'. Its 'nice' to see all of the texture work, but people have fallen into the uncanny valley. And for all the hard work put into the graphics, you don't get to enjoy it because everything is so far away and you are concentrating on shooting down dragons or blowing up boats. The water effects were cool when a boat exploded, but really, is that worth the $500 pricetag of admission? There's also another 'Rogue Squadron' effect here: the shadows. Play Hoth and then this game and you'll see what I mean. The flickering shadows that suffer from anti-aliasing issues.
Conclusion on graphics: Nice, but less effort could have wielded similar results and maybe a steadier framerate (though framerate wasn't exactly an issue). Not exactly in the same league as Gears of War, but better than Resistance.
Presentation: This is Rogue Squadron. The way enemy dragons group together, the tow line that zips out, the 'dragon vision' that colors primary objectives, the medals and how they are scored. You even have 2 wingmen that you can command what to do. Its like they took the plan book for RS and slapped a fresh coat of paint on it. Only now there is no drawback to using the targeting computer, err I mean the 'dragon vision'. And the menu system = the same.
Conclusion of Presentation: If you like the past 3 Factor 5 games, you should like this one. Just don't expect anything to be different.
Overall: I had no glaring issues with this game. I do have issue with the hype and how it was being sold through the media. Its not a 5 or lower as nothing felt broken to me. Its not an 8 as nothing is ground breaking and developers need to challenge what they know rather than fall back on it. There is no growth, only a side step from one system to another. This isn't the game that makes you happy to have spent $2500 on a tv, nor does it justify your purchase of a PS3, but it does fill the empty space of waiting for other games to come out. If only Warhawk had a single player experience.
Score: 7 out of 10
Topic: Factor 5's "Lair". Holy crap. (Read 44041 times)
