The Falconeer is a resounding success in every major area. It’s a gorgeous game that plays like a dream and has more ambition than most games of its type. It has a nice, fair challenge to it and helps ease players into the action by wisely teaching you without going out of its way hold your hand beyond the early going. It’s got an intuitive design and is a must for anyone who loves games like Panzer Dragoon Orta or Crimson Skies. Anyone in the mood for a new dogfighting-style game will instantly fall in love with The Falconeer.

The Falconeer is one of those games that forgets that it can be more than just a game, giving more importance to its mechanical elements than to the experience itself. However, even with its design flaws, Tomas Sala still manages to create a great title that can be fun, beautiful and really human, thus becoming one of the most singular products of this year.

The Falconeer absolutely has its high points, and all of the elements of a great game are there. It’s just disappointing that they don’t gel enough to be wholly satisfying. Visually, the game is stunning, without caveat. The combat can be exhilarating … at its best. The story can be interesting, even fascinating … sometimes. The game’s heights are extreme, but so are its lulls.

I find myself a little perplexed by The Falconeer. I still thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game, but it almost felt like I was doing so in spite of how I felt about the gameplay. I do think The Falconeer is going to find an audience that loves it wholeheartedly, but also that there will be plenty of others for whom this falls a bit flat too.

The biggest flaw in The Falconeer is trying to be an aerial action RPG. While this isn't going to be your type of game if you are looking for a more traditional RPG, The Falconeer invites you to disconnect and start flying without any limits, an experience that no one should miss.

It would be ungenerous to deny the good basic qualities of Tomas Sala's work, such as to ensure that this peculiar "bird's eye" combat simulator has a certain solidity, at least on the technical-artistic front. What emerges after a few hours strolling through the skies of the Ursee, however, is that The Falconeer is a product that shines more for aesthetics than for the actual ability to involve the player within the wet world that he chooses to tell.

Falconeer shoutouts get boring way too easy and no matter how well crafted are the basic game mechanics, it simply lacks anything special or fun in the long run. [Issue#308]