LAIR – PS3

Lair, the latest game from Factor 5, the developers of the fantastic Star Wars: Rogue Leader, seeks to finally give gamers an answer to the age-old conundrum: Dragons, mythical, fire-spewing, man-eaters? Or merely misunderstood cuddly flying sheep?

Lair strives to recreate the mythos and depth of the great fantasy epics like The Lord of The Rings or more closely The Dragonriders of Pern series, with a grand and sweeping introduction that would have been impressive if not for far greater introductions in the likes of Heavenly Sword.

Following a rather brief tutorial, Lair jumps straight into a storyline that offers little variation from what you might expect. Players are thrown into a gigantic battle with only the scantest of idea what to do and attempt to take down the evil Mokai forces that threaten to overwhelm your fellow riders.

What Factor 5 is attempting to do with Lair must be applauded, the games scope and aim is, at times, thrilling; yet Lair has one fundamental flaw that will forever see it labeled with "what-could-have-been:" The controls.

Flying around on a dragon is supposed to be effortless and fun, but Lair has been lumped with motion controls so unresponsive and clumsy they make the game almost unplayable at times. Couple this with arate that jumps around all over the place and combat that revolves around pressing circle a lot, Lair just isn't as fun as a game with DRAGONS should be.