The Falconeer takes place in a unique
world that sits somewhere outside
our own, a world that slowly drew
me in as I progressed through the
story. A huge expanse of water
littered with islands controlled
by warring factions, the
tale that this place tells
is interesting enough to
prevent you from
skipping through the
NPC chatter that
precedes each mission.
As a falconeer, you’ll
dive to increase speed
and flap in place to
reduce it, stretching your falcon’s
wings out to turn when necessary.
The accompanying squawks, flaps,
and screeches work in tandem with
the wonderful animation to give a
convincing sense of being in control
of a bird. Or at least, a small/normal
sized person on top of one.
While the shooting would feel at
home in a WWII dogfighting game, it
feels perfectly natural here. Although
activities broadly fall into one of three
categories (attack, defence, delivery),
I never found myself getting bored ofthem. The Falconeer is a joy to control
no matter what you’re doing, and not
just because you’re rather amusingly
given a barrel roll evasion move.
Now, I ordinarily hate escort
missions, and there are several of
those here. Yet
accompanying a ship
on its slow but steady
journey doesn’t bother
me in the slightest.
Nothing going on for a
while? Who cares?
Have you seen those
graphics? This is a
gorgeous game, and I’ll
relish any opportunity to soak up its
vistas while enjoying the simple fun
of flying my falcon. Once combat
makes its inevitable appearance, it’s a
pleasing aerial dance between me
and, usually, just a few enemies
before we continue on our way.WING WING, HELLO?
However, there are no checkpoints,
and this is a big issue for these
missions. If I die partway through, I
need to start all over again. I then
find myself circling the ship inagitation, impatiently awaiting a fight
that I know is coming while the ship
merrily chugs along at what is now a
frustratingly slow pace.
One small but noticeable issue is
the cash awarded for completing
story or side missions (needed for
items such as weapon and falcon
upgrades), which often isn’t
proportionate to the effort involved.
An optional quest that takes just a
few minutes might pay as much as a
lengthy story mission, which doesn’t
make any sense. And while you’re
given clear direction for story
missions, you’re left to fend for
yourself when it comes to exploring
the open world outside of them, with
nothing but the names of locations
ever marked on your map.
Difficulty throughout the story is
all over the place, with no smooth
gradient. Significant difficulty spikes
are rare, but very annoying when they
hit, to the point where I eventually
kicked the difficulty down to Easy to
soften (but not negate) their effect.
Also, having an ally for most story
missions is a nice touch, and they
always pull their weight – but they
won’t always follow instructions
(limited to ‘hit this target’ or ‘get this
enemy off my back’).
Despite these criticisms – and
despite the absence of the option to
automatically target a chasing enemy- the game still, mostly, shines. It says
a lot that although optional missions
are hollow instructions along the
lines of ‘go here’ or ‘kill that’, I still
eagerly dived into them for the extra
cash. Any excuse to go back out into
this intriguing world, I’ll take.
The lack of direction outside of
the story is as much a blessing as it is
a curse, leaving long-term appeal up
for debate. Even so, this is a flight you
should take if you get the chance.
NEED TO KNOW
WHAT IS IT?
A game that gives you a
gun and a giant falcon
(or a tiny person)
EXPECT TO PAY
£25
DEVELOPER
Tomas Sala
PUBLISHER
Wired Productions
REVIEWED ON
GeForce GTX 1650,
Ryzen 5 3550H,
8 GB RAM
MULTIPLAYER
No
LINK
thefalconeer.com78
Despite a little
turbulence, The
Falconeer takes you on a
memorable ride as you
swoop through the sky.VERDICTThe Falconeer
is a joy to
control no
matter what
you’re doingD
espite all the dialogue and narration, I walked away from this
game with the most important question of all unanswered;
are they tiny people, or huge birds? I like riding on the back
of a falcon as much as the next person, but give me a sense of
perspective! This didn’t bother me during play, as I was too
busy gawping at the graphics and shooting down enemies; but it sat at the
back of my mind throughout the adventure.PRETTY FALCON GOOD
Talon stories of good vs eagle in the world of
THE FALCONEER. By Luke Kemp
WING AND A PRAYER
Decoding the UISUBHEADXXX
Xxxxcted dead bodies
axxxxx xx x x xxx xxxx x x x
xxx x stack up in
buildinags fanonchalant
about it. x xx x xxx1
This bar powers
boost and roll.
Refill with dives
and updrafts.2
Your health.
Don’t let this
disappear, or you’ll
be an ex-parrot.3
Keep this in the
centre, and you
know you’re on the
right track.4
Your minimap.
Bizarrely, it
doesn’t show
enemy locations.3 142The Falconeer
REVIEW