The Falconeer: Warrior Edition
A falcon good-looking game
The mighty falcon. Long has man looked upon this majestic feathery predator, and dreamed of riding it through the air while shooting gigantic beetles out of the sky. Or is that just us? Either way, that’s just one thing that is possible here, in a flooded world where getting from place to place involves sailing boats (not what you do) or riding an enormous winged beast (exactly what you do).
The game was first released on PC last year, and so PlayStation owners benefit from all the updates from day one. Those have smoothed most of the edges from what was already a pretty good game. One element that hasn’t been improved – because it’s hard to imagine how, really – is the graphics. This is a gorgeous game, the procedurally generated environment throwing out a deep and angry sunset here, a cool and cloudy night there. It practically begs you to take a screenshot during every moment of play. There’s a photo mode, but you don’t have to use it to get an impressive shot.
You never leave your falcon’s saddle, so we’re happy to report that it’s a joy to control. With movement on the left stick and the camera on the right, you dive to refill stamina (used for acceleration and barrel rolls), and quickly sap it by rising higher. The great bird flaps its wings to speed up, scoops them forwards to slow down, and cries and squawks when exerting itself or taking a hit. While the two other types of mount – essentially a dragon(!) or pterodactyl – handle identically, there’s always the sense that you’re flying a living thing rather than a soulless vehicle.
TALON SCOUT
The story, told with a somewhat inconsistent quality of voice acting, is a fantasy tale of warring factions. You jump between these factions from chapter to chapter, but what you do essentially remains the same.
There’s a lot of escorting boats, but this isn’t as tedious as it easily could have been. Pretty graphics aside, there will always be rival falconeers and sailors to kill, and combat is great. Attacking ground targets can be a little clunky, but aerial fights are a deadly dance of swoops, dodges, target-switching, and counterattacks. Chunky boss-like enemies aren’t nearly so graceful, but taking them down results in a satisfying close-up of the explosion.
Side-missions, although drawing from a small template pool, are enjoyable enough to inflate your wallet without ruffling your feathers (sorry).
It practically begs you to take a screenshot during every moment of play.
The Falconeer’s greatest crime is the absolutely terrible placement of a vital object in the penultimate mission, an annoying yet ultimately forgivable blip (though one that should have been fixed within the updates). Overall, though, it’s pretty fly.