#XBOX ONE THE FALCONEER FULL#

#XBOX ONE THE FALCONEER FULL#

You can improve your falcon’s stats by injecting them with mutagens purchased from settlements, but these minor buffs form the full extent of falcon customization. But the lack of different weapon types or firing modes-staples in many other games in the genre-left me yearning for more variety in moment-to-moment gameplay. That lets you save your money for more important items, like upgrading your weapon, which permanently increases your damage, or buying a new falcon with better base stats. Furthermore, the standard ammo is the easiest to refill, as you can restore it by flying through one of the many thunderstorms scattered around the game world.

These are nice to have, but hardly critical your standard ammo inflicts sufficient damage against all but the largest of foes, and the nimblest enemies go down in only a few hits anyway. The closest thing you get to any sort of weapon customization is the ability to purchase special ammo that either deals extra damage or slows enemies down. The right trigger fires your energy cannon, you can pick up floating mines-assuming there are any in your current location-to drop onto ships, and…that’s it. The combat mechanics prove rather barebones, however. Navigating through the air feels responsive and buttery smooth, and while adjusting the camera with the right stick can be finicky at times-the sensitivity seems way too high, and there’s no way to change it-you can track a highlighted enemy by holding a single button, which makes it easy to relocate your opponents when you lose sight of them. Nailing the controls is the most important element here, and fortunately the game does just that. One of the game’s chapters cannot be completed, as a mission requires you to eliminate ground forces in a place on the map where there is no ground! Thankfully you can still access and complete the later chapters, including the one that lets you see the epilogue and its final-underwhelming-reveal, as finishing the last chapter dumps you back into the menu and unlocks the previously inaccessible conclusion.Īerial traversal and combat comprise the vast majority of The Falconeer’s experience. But beyond all that, a technical glitch mars the experience and almost completely derails the storytelling. While the differing perspectives give you a broader understanding of why each faction acts the way it does, this is undermined by the characters themselves, who are manipulative jerks willing to put people in harm’s way for their own ends.

Since you shift between the competing factions, you cannot settle into any one role. First, the game never gives you a reason to care about any of the characters involved.

Unfortunately, this attempt at a grand narrative falls flat in numerous ways. Over the course of the brief campaign, you play as different Falconeers-people trained to ride giant falcons for the purpose of scouting, transport, and combat-for each of the various factions, all while a mysterious narrator puts the disparate pieces of the overarching story together. Various factions wrestle for control of this barren land, engaging in acts of political manipulation, skullduggery, and brute force to achieve their goals. The Falconeer’s story takes place in a fictional world covered almost entirely by the ocean, with small rock formations scattered across the seas serving as mankind’s only refuge. While some express reservations about these tactics, none condemn them, and you as a player must serve as a participant. Other Negative Themes: Most of the characters and factions resort to subterfuge and manipulation, even to the point of putting innocent people in the crossfire. For the record, despite the fantastical nature of your weaponry, you are not technically using magic, as your ammo containers store lighting energy. Your falcon often bleeds when it takes damage, and everything explodes into nothingness upon destruction.

Violence: As The Falconeer centers around aerial combat, you spend most of the game shooting adversaries out of the sky and sinking enemy warships with your energy cannon. The question is: does it capitalize on this golden opportunity? The Falconeer has a chance to stand out right now, as it not only has released at the launch of a new console generation but also serves as one of the few exclusives in Xbox’s anemic exclusive launch lineup. This year, developer Thomas Sala tries his hand at game-making with The Falconeer, an open world flight/action game. Still, passion projects made by solo developers can turn into beloved treasures, as evidenced by games like Stardew Valley and Undertale. Not many people take on the challenge of developing a video game all by themselves you have to wear a lot of hats and cover a lot of bases that other studios would tackle with lots of people.

Xbox one the falconeer