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Factor 5, brainiacs behind one of the best flight-action series’ of all time (Rogue Squadron) have been hard at work over the last couple of years developing a new flight-action game for the PlayStation 3 that’s had fans excited since its initial announcement. Lair offers up some heated dragon-on-dragon action with unbelievable aesthetics and a musical score that could rival Star Wars’. While what appeared to be intense action in the trailers leading up to the game’s release didn’t entirely disappoint, Factor 5 decided that PlayStation fans would like to get some serious use out of the SIXAXIS motion controller. However, they didn’t consider putting in an option to switch to analog controls just in case if the SIXAXIS motion controls didn’t work—at all. This is most unfortunate considering the motion control is indeed entirely broken.

Lair was intended to be the showcase title for the PlayStation 3 and its motion control technology, but if you plan on focusing so hard on making it this display of incredible control, why is it the worst part of the gaming experience? Rather than controlling your dragon with the controller, you actually control the rider and his reigns. As such, the dragon responds sluggishly and behaves improperly, making missions that are in tighter, more cramped spaces almost impossible to navigate. The first four or five missions take place in vast, open areas which allows for very entertaining battles. The specific tasks are fairly broad to begin with, but as you progress you’ll find navigating your beast around a courtyard or a tight valley to be infuriating to the point of throwing your controller. Don’t do that though—the dragon will fly off course. In fact, don’t adjust how you sit, don’t grab a drink or a chip, don’t do anything. If you move at all your dragon is instantly set off course. I’ve failed countless missions by overshooting a target I needed to destroy and was not able to turn around in time before it obliterated all of my allies. If the 180 degree turn gesture (a lift-up of the controller) worked more than zero percent of the time, I might have been able to succeed in more missions. More often than not though, I’ll make an accidental gesture and veer off into the distance.

Aside from the seriously critical control issues, the in-game cinematics break up the action, and while they’re interesting and incredibly gorgeous, they really suck you out of the game. Sometimes I’ll put my controller down thinking that a cinematic might be more than a couple seconds long, but the game returns before I expect it to, my dragon now disoriented and flying off elsewhere. It’s brutally frustrating, and totally avoidable. If the missions continued to stay open ended and wide spread like the first batch it would be a little more tolerable, but throwing your huge beast in a confined area like a castle courtyard doesn’t really fare for the better. Ground combat switches from motion to analog control which makes things confusing as well, but at least it mixes things up. Also available to change up the aerial action are dragon fights, which equate to a boxing match that you really can’t lose, but are fun once in a while anyway. It’s frustrating when dragons bump in to you and you immediately go in to this fight, or you line up side by side and try to ram each other, which is also tainted by faulty controls.