The premise of the game takes place in a fantasy world that is being torn apart by a massive number of volcanoes that are destroying the land and polluting the air. Two rival countries battle over which will take control over the remaining inhabitable areas.
The game takes place over a series of stages that have you accomplishing various objectives. Common to the genre, these objectives usually involve protecting your allies and destroying the enemies. Some levels take place in the midst of giant battles with your dragon and warrior influencing the progression of the overall fight.
Factor 5 makes extensive use out of the SIXAXIS controller using the motion sensing capabilities to handle all of the dragon's flying controls. At the touch of a button the dragon can land on the ground where control moves to the left analog stick. Combat comes in three forms: air-to-air, air-to-ground, and ground-to-ground. In each form of combat both ranged and melee attacks are available.
Ranged attacks take the form of fire balls and other fire attacks using a lock on mechanism. The more fire you shoot out the less powerful the attacks become, so waiting for your power to recharge results in more powerful attacks. In the air close combat attacks result in a mini-game being triggered where you bash the opposing dragon by jolting the controller, killing the enemy using a fancy finishing move.
Originally slated for release in August 2007, Sony delayed Lair to incorporate basic online capabilities in the form of stat tracking leaderboards.
