Lair (PS3)
Picture standing on top of a huge medieval fantasy bridge, staring at a sprawling metropolis underneath you. The sunshine is setting on the far west, ready to sink into the ocean and flocks of seagulls are dotting the horizon. As you watch a huge fleet of battleships sail towards the harbour you realize that the seagulls are surprisingly easy to spot for being so far away. Watching them makes you come to the sudden realization that the flying creatures you have been observing are not seagulls after all, but blood thirsty dragons on their way to torch the city and do their best to leave no survivors behind. This is the land of dragon raiders – this is Lair!
Gameplay & Controls Trailer It’s all about the musicThe land of Lair is a land of suffering and strife. Volcanoes have torn the land apart, splitting a once united civilization into two separate factions. The Asylians, a peaceful nation living on the lush south have spent most of the time finding ways to bend nature to their cause. As a result the entire land is filled with water mills and other man made machines designed to exploit natural forces. The Mokai on the other hand chose the cold north as their homeland. Frowned upon as a barbaric nation, the Mokai don’t so much use nature to their advantage as work with it, taming beasts to help their cause. But regardless of their background both nations know that controlling the skies is key to controlling the land. Fierce dragon riders fill the ranks of both sides, aiding conventional medieval warfare engines such as catapults and trebuchets in their fight against enemy forces.
You play as Rohn, a member of an elite dragon riding force in the service of the Asylian nation. Sworn to obey every command he gladly follows his commander to battle, knowing that all he does is for the greater good. As the story progresses Rohn’s dedication and faith are put to the test and his internal struggle makes him commit things he never dreamed possible. All of the story sequences are presented in-engine, with high detail characters filling the screen. While all of the actors are obviously digital, it is sometimes hard to believe it. The way they move and express their feelings is incredible, especially when coupled with the fact that the camera often jumps between close ups where every last pore is visible and far away shots where thousands of units can be seen. Because of the huge amount of work that was put into the characters you’ll have no problem relating to Rohn and his plight. As a result the story isn’t just a shallow fantasy war drama, but is instead a work that can easily match screen adaptations of fantasy books, such as Lord of the Rings (well, I might be stretching it a bit here).
Speaking of Lord of the Rings, you can’t play Lair without noticing a certain correlation between the music of the two titles. The music in Lair is without doubt its strongest attribute, overshadowing everything else including the amazing graphics. Just like with Lord of the Rings or Star Wars, where the musical score gave life to every single scene the music in Lair helps set the mood and gives you an amazing amount of feedback. The theme of each individual song sets the dynamic of the whole scene, be it a battle over a city or negotiations in a tent. Just to prove my point I went ahead and tried playing the game with the music volume set to zero – while the game was still enjoyable the mood of the game was completely ruined.
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