I was trying to play it like Tekken, DOA or even Ninja Gaiden, but the game play is totally different.

It plays more like the Rogue in WoW!

Basically the combo buttons square and triangle need to be pressed as they need to occur, not in succession and then wait for the combo to play out.

Pressing square is like Sinister Strike.

When you pull off combos you will hear a ding as you get a combo point like in WoW, now you can perform a finishing move by pressing circle, this is like the eviscerate, the more combo points you add before doing the finishing move, the more powerful the finishing move.

When you see a bad guy get the blue or gold outline you need to wait for the block to happen, just let go if it is blue, or hold the power modifier R1 if it is gold, and after the block you can basically riposte by hitting triangle.

Playing like this I had time to pick up swords off dead guys and throw them, and the shields can be frisbee’d for miles into the distance. There’s a heap of moves and based on where the guys are around you, you might need to do the light but wide range attack by holding L1 or if you have time you can really hit someone hard by holding R1, the power modifier.

I really enjoyed it playing this way and was now standing waiting with a barrell when the doors open at the end and the demo finishes instead of caught unaware mid fight.

At certain points you can use the Sixaxis to make Nariko then perform a combo mid air, I haven’t mastered this yet, but some of the moves are pretty spectacular, also if you get knocked into the air you can use the Sixaxis to recover and land back on your feet.

Whilst you are listening for the dings of the combo points you start to notice all the comments the guys make and all the other sounds, they complain about having to get the sword off you and say you look possesed and all sorts of stuff, I really enjoyed it last night, more than Ninja Gaiden, and figure I will definately be getting it now.

Possibly the best action/adventure game this year! Can’t wait!

These episodes are so beautiful…….
love this treatment

the graphics are, naturally gorgeous (i’m playing it on my Samsung 40″ 720p LCD), and the flight controls take a bit to get used to, but they aren’t broken.

i think the option to use analog sticks would have immensely helped the game, and reviews of the game.

it’s always possible that Factor 5 could issue an update via the PSN to address this issue.

what’s really interesting, is if you have a PC game pad (like a Logitech), and you plug it into the PS3, you can play Lair, and *WITH the analog sticks. it’s certainly more precise, but you lose out on the motion controls, which are *VITAL to beating certain objectives and enemies (there are these large, almost AT-AT type creatures that you have to rope, then jerk the controller forward to pull them down to earth; lol, very battle of Hoth like).

in either case, Lair is a solid rental, but i bought it anyway. i don’t regret it. it’s a fun game, but far from perfect, at least to *ME. personal preference *WILL vary.

don’t base your buying decisions off of *OTHER PEOPLE’S opinions. that just…well, that makes no damn sense to me at all, really.

i *YOU want it, get it.

i was looking forward to Lair, so i picked it up, and i’m enjoying myself, damn what the reviews say.