The Falconeer, developed by Tomas Sala and published by Wired Productions, has been one of the most lackluster games that I’ve played this year. The game is incredible on paper, boasting an expansive and beautiful open fantasy world that sees the player taking on the role of various falconeers with different abilities and traits as they are pitted against the many factions which wrestle for power in the Great Ursee. The player can use various mutagens or chants to develop their falcon as they seek the treasures of the world and fight to complete the multitude of quests which may be given to them by citizens of the Great Ursee.
Starting on a positive note regarding The Falconeer, I would like to complement its excellent use of atmosphere in this game. The aesthetic of the game is breathtaking with the beautifully colored landscape providing an environment that encourages exploration of the vast Great Ursee. The islands spread throughout the world contain a multitude of different cities, clans, and empires, which are strengthened by a broad range of enemies and defenses that challenge the player’s combat abilities. The rich colors of the environment make for a picturesque experience as you soar through the skies looking for new treasures to discover and new enemies to engage in dogfights with. The animation style of the game itself was also very well done with the perfect amount of detail that retained the beauty and elegance that was intended while still seeming somewhat arcade-like in nature.
Now going into some of my issues with the game. The game becomes boring after approximately 20 minutes of playing. I found myself getting tired of the monotonous combat, which could have been more fun on mouse and keyboard but was simply atrocious on controller. The physical mechanics of The Falconeer seemed to try its best at being precise and smooth like War Thunder or Combat Ace, but felt absurdly clunky and simplistic with the dodging and dashing motions generally requiring multiple presses of the button before working, leading my falcon to get slapped with multiple projectiles as I frantically mashed the button to evade the incoming fire.
There is also a target-locking system and a sub-target locking system in the game, which allows the player to lock onto and keep track of different targets so that they can more easily lead their shots on enemies. I actually liked the lock-on system in the game, but it was so poorly implemented that I actually found myself better off just trying to freely track enemies through the sky as the target system causes the player’s POV to be confusingly whipped around.
Another issue with the fact that tougher enemies generally just work as a bullet sponge. While there are a diverse set of enemies, the only real difference between all of them is that some take more damage or move faster than others. I really just felt like my ability to win fights had nothing to do with my fighting ability at all and had more to do with just how many shots I could spam at each enemy. The destruction animation on all of the enemies was even the same and the health bar on enemies was so difficult to see that, when coupled with the abhorrent hit-reg system, I could rarely even tell how much damage I was doing to my enemies or if I was even hitting them at all.
I am mostly confused as to why this game was even made and who exactly this game was made for. I would guess that it was made for people who enjoy air-combat games, but I think that The Falconeer missed the fast-paced gameplay and necessary precision of those types of games and, instead, gave us a repetitive and poorly optimized flight-based game, which never remotely gave me the feeling of rushing through the air and zooming among the clouds. In fact, I felt like I was barely moving through the air at all, and the vast spaces of open ocean made it incredibly boring to travel through a beautiful but empty-feeling world.
As much as I’ve criticized this game, I will say that it is primarily due to the price at which it is currently being sold ($30). Were The Falconeer $5 or possibly a free-to-play mobile game, I would have nothing but praise for it as it would be an outstanding deal considering the beauty of the game. However, if the game remains at this price then I cannot recommend purchasing it in good faith as you will likely only get one or two hours of enjoyment out of it at maximum.
Check Out The Falconeer Trailer:
For more information, please visit: https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/the-falconeer
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I've been playing video games since I got a Playstation 2 when I was about 5 or 6 years old. The original Star Wars: Battlefront series and the Spyro series initially ignited my interest in gaming, but it wasn't until I got older that I truly appreciated the subtle details that make video games such a unique form of entertainment. My favorite type of video game would have to be any lengthy and plot-driven open world game, with my favorite games of all time being Batman: Arkham City, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, and Firewatch.
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