Lair finally hits European shelves this month and it has certainly taken some flak on its travels across the Atlantic Ocean, mainly due to the Sixaxis control system that is mandatory in the game, but are the controls really that bad? Read on.

The game sees you play as Rohn, a dragon rider in the Asylian army who has joined the fight against the Mokai, who as far as you are concerned are the evil ones, however as the game progresses your character soon discovers all is not right in the Asylian camp, meaning that there are quite a few twists in the tale.

The best thing about Lair is without doubt the way that the story is told, the cutscenes are like something out of a movie but are at no point intrusive enough to take away from the action, usually they just appear to remind you of what to do or to take you to the next part of the story. It is when you are watching the first of the cutscenes that you realize how much work has gone into the game, the characters faces are all very detailed and the medieval background in which the game is set is a joy to behold.

Once the game begins, it isn’t long before you are into the action. You control your dragon using the much maligned Sixaxis motion controls, elsewhere the X button enables you to smack your dragon to make him go faster, the square button is assigned for your dragons fire breath and circle for stomping when you are on the ground, triangle is also useful at ground level as it allows you to feed your dragon with the enemies. Other controls include the use of the shoulder buttons for targeting and the triggers for breaking.

Much has been said of how difficult it is to control the dragon using the motion control and to an extent this is correct, however like anything new, practice is the key. I remember when I first started to play Motorstorm (another game which uses the Sixaxis) and how frustrating that game was at first, but once I got used to the controls I was finishing first everytime, the same applies to Lair really, sure it is very frustrating, especially in the later levels where your tasks are of a more precise nature, but after a few hours of playing you should get to grips with the controls.

The gameplay does pose a few problems which getting used to the controls won’t fix, when fighting enemies for example, you can use the targeting system to lock onto them, however the problem is that you can’t choose what to lock on to and this occasionally means that the computer will choose to lock on things that aren’t even involved in the battle, for example, I was playing a level were you had to lock onto some rhinos who where attacking your allies on a bridge, however as I swooped down on them, the computer decided it was going to lock onto the tower instead, this then meant that I had to turn around and begin my assault again. If the developer had included a way for you to switch targets manually then it would have resolved this issue completely, but unfortunately they didn’t.

The only other problem with the gameplay involves the controls, this is because you are unable to turn sharply, therefore to restart an assault on an enemy you haven’t finished off, you will usually have to fly around and start again, however I have found that by braking and flicking the controller up you will usually turn in the direction you need to be going in, although that isn’t really an ideal way of doing things.

The combat in Lair is quite varied, you can land on the ground and literally eat enemies for breakfast, or when fighting enemy dragons you can battle against the opposing dragon riders. The last alternative combat move is when both dragons face the ground and the camera zooms in, this enables you to get a close up of the action as you decide how you are going to take down the enemy, this can be done by either biting, clawing or flaming the opposing dragon to its demise.

Graphically Lair is a very good looking game, although there is a lot happening on the screen at once, the game doesn’t really seem to suffer, there are a few issues occasionally such as some screen tearing, but this is a rare occurrence and didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the game. The sound compliments the graphics by including some great effects as well as some great voice acting during the game and cutscenes.

Although I have mentioned a few problems with this game, I actually like Lair, outwith my frustrations with the targeting system and the minor issues with the controls, I think the action and the presentation makes this a game worth considering. When you are in the heat of the battle and breathing fire at enemy dragons and troops, this is an incredibly fulfilling game, the combat can be extremely frantic but fun at the same time, sure it won’t win many awards but this is certainly a game that you should judge for yourself.

Rating : 8/10