PS3 Hands-On Preview: Lair

Are things dragon' on a bit? Lair's find out! (Sorry).

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One of the biggest questions yet to be answered about the PlayStation 3 is whether trading rumble for tilt-sensing in the new Sixaxis controller leaves us poorer or not. It's a hard question to answer at the moment, not least because the few games that do tip their toes into the new control pool do it so begrudgingly as to be pointless. But there are those coming that make a better attempt at it. Lair is one of them.

Factor 5 made its name with its vehicle-heavy Star Wars games for Nintendo's last two consoles. Lair for the PlayStation 3 continues on this path, only this time hyperdrives have been swapped for reptilian wings. The taste I had of it recently did not win me over but I'm not at least interested in seeing how much can be done with the Sixaxis and whether the developer can turn this idea into an interesting game.

Our demo build was a short one, looking very much like the level that was shown off in Japan in September, even though the disc was dated from after that. The build contained two parts: a tutorial that sent you flying through rings in the way you've done in flight games before, and a battle where your army faced off against an opposing force on a bridge.

"It's quite spectacular to watch thanks to the cinematic angles."

The meat of that battle involved coming to terms with the tilt-controls by attacking enemy dragons. Performing attacks takes a paint-by-numbers approach that holds your hand throughout. You lock on to an enemy by pulling a trigger button. Next you press a face button to swoop in alongside it. Then you get to fling the controller about. Flying alongside the enemy, you thrust the controller at the enemy, which makes your dragon do a battering attack. After a few of these you're prompted to go in for the kill, either by pressing face buttons or again flicking the controller.

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Video Coverage
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PLEASE DO NOT DIRECT LINK TO ANY MEDIA FILE ON KIKIZO
DescriptionDur.SizeDetails
Lair
GC2006 Trailer HD 		0:54 32MB DF, HD, 16:9
1280x720p30
7.0Mbps
Lair
E3 2006 trailer		 00:48 21MB DF, ED, 16:9
852x480p60
4.2Mbps
Lair
TGS 2005 trailer		 1.01m 23MB HD, 60, CAM
800x448
3.5Mbps