I really wanted to like The Falconeer. It was my first next-gen game to review, although I played it on my current console. I had enjoyed several other games from the publisher, Wired Productions, recently. I miss my younger days of playing flight Sims-like Crimson Skies and Secret Weapons Over Normandy. Unfortunately, The Falconeer was not for me.
The game’s setting is an interesting mix of sci-fi weapons and imperial military doctrine, leading to an almost steampunk or dieselpunk world. Maybe call it falcon punk? You play as a military cadet entering service as a falconeer that commands a giant bird. Other characters include your superior officers. Your weapons are charged by lightning, so in order to resupply, you must fly into a stormcloud. Be careful though, your magazines can be overcharged and explode!
The gameplay is what you would expect. Levels are military operations with briefings before starting. Controls are typical of flight Sims with dives, rolls, and boosts. They feel fluid and intuitive for fans of the genre. Missions have checkpoints to fly to and goals to accomplish. An example is bombing a specified location or enemy.
The art style is what got to me. While it looks good visually, there isn’t a lot of contrast between the sky, water, and storm clouds which lead to me being lost and unable to see where to go, crashing, or staying in a storm cloud too long. It was the worst trying to bomb an enemy that blended into the water. The one time I was successful, I was too close and got caught in the blast and had to restart the whole mission.
I know this is short and not very informative, but I did want to write something. This is the third game recently that I couldn’t see well enough to play, unfortunately. Maybe my eyesight is getting worse? Maybe I should get a new TV? Hopefully, I can write another good review for a game soon!
Some of this was said before, but I will condense everything here for the ethics statement. I received an Xbox code for the game for free from the publisher with the expectation for a review of some kind. Although the game is available on next-gen consoles, I played it on my Xbox One S for about an hour. I’m mostly blind, so some things I have trouble with may not affect your experience. The Falconeer is available for purchase now.
*Editor’s Note: This review is from the perspective of someone who is registered blind, a further opinion will be linked when available.
