Ok...played the first hour.....I'm at like the 5th stage or something..you're basically defending a bridge.
First things first...take that 4.9 IGN gave it and throw it out the window........secondly.....take the 9 it got from Play was it?....and throw that out the window.
After reading BSV mini review......I can honestly say...I agree a lot with him...but couldn't disagree more with others.
First things first...the graphics......most of it...damn right AWESOME!. When flying over the city everything looks amazing and truly feels like something out of LOTR. However other aspects just look ugly...ie shadows...they have a flicker to them that looks ridiculous...and some things look like they weren't AA at all.....but the biggest flaw is like BSV said....the framerate. it's not even 30fps...infact I swear at times it drops to the low teens.....but this seemed to only happen when fighting on the ground....while it the air.....I'd say it's around 20-25....game is definitly not smooth.....but overall..the graphics will please.
Storyline....yeah.....I'm with BSV.....they may aswell have not had one..well IMO so far...it jumps right in and you have no idea whats happening....and it seems it jumps from one thing to another.
Which brings me to gameplay.......it does the same thing....jumps from one thing to another.
Now I don't mind levels where you go from objective to objective......but not after like 10 seconds. you'll hear you general say..."Ok now take out those dragons"......and after you take out like 5...and seem to get in a rythmn......he then says "ok now take out those catapults"......and it also seems like every couple minutes there is an in game cutscene that interupts everything......so it always feels like you play for 2 min..watch 10 second cutscene...play for 3 min..repeat....I'm hoping this changes later.....not to mention that it's hard to tell exactly what to do....ie...on the level I stopped playing at.....you need to take some girl to a ledge)a in game cutscene shows this ledge) however.....this ledge is located on the bridge which is being atacked......so I fly down to the bridge(as i thought that was my objective)....but I can't land for some reason......and I start spraying fire everywhere...burning up red dudes......and then I get to to a certain point on the bridge and all of a sudden....in game cutscene...I drop this girl off onto the ledge......the dragon was holding this girl but you can't see her because of the camera angle.....oh and get this.....not only was I not doing the correct objective......those quards i was frying?..yup..good guys!!.....lol....but that could just as much be my error.
Ok...now controls...i REALLY like the flying controls..I don't know what BSV is talking about.....the only delay is when you're doing the quick evasive maneuvers like the 180..or the dash...actually just flying the dragon feels awesome....BUT...targeting is a bitch.....it autoaims for the most part..but locking on and trying to get in close for the kill can be a pain as you' can end up targeting a totally different target than you wanted..resulting in some crazy disorientation...not to mention the general guy will be like.."ok attack the ise dragon"...I take a coupple out..."ok now the guardian dragons".....ok the back to the rhinos on the bridge......and all of these things have different weaknesses that you need to remember from a BRIEF tutorial in which it tells you once how to do things(yes..I'l be busting out the manual)
And another complaint a lot of mags and sites had was the ground combat.....they complain about the camera....I've had ZERO camera issues so far...as you control it manually....the only complaint about the ground combat is that the frame rate drops a shitton when you start attacking a bunch of dudes.
I know most of this sounds bad..but really my number one complaint is pacing..as the game always seems to pull you out of the rythmn right wehn you're getting into it...with a dumb in game scene....and that the general is constantly changing objectives every 3 min or so...I mean..

dude....let me do whatever....which would add so much more since the battles are HUGE and there is so much going on......not being able to choose when you take out what, kind of takes you out of the moment(well you can do whatever you want...and ignore the general..but you'll likely fail the mission.
So again..a lot of this seems negative...but I'll say this...not one moment out of that hour was I bored. All i could think was....this shit is awesome....I'm flying a

ing dragon!!!! I'm setting things on fire....swating away dozens of soldiers at a time....eating them when i need health......raping other dragon riders on their own dragon(which i stil have no clue how I did that) I'm just going to say it.....so far the game is down right fun! Now this could change if the missions repeat themselves over and over again......and like BSV it'd be nice to be able to fly to different locations and be able to take in the whole city..instwad of jumping on your dragon and having some douche tell me what to do...lol.
So...final verdict on the first hour(I'll write a full review when I'm done the game) It made me realize how much better this game could have been if Factor 5 left out the Rogue Squadren mold and made the game more open world.
The story line isn't going to be anything special..and it's told terribly.........the gameplay jumps all over the place.......the graphics are both freakinf gorgeous and ugly at the same time......but holy shit has this game been fun so far....and I didn't want to stop..but I need to sleep.
Last words for the post(

this is long).....DEFINITLY not a 4.9(I can tell IGN focused too much on the technical flaws and concentrted too much on fussy control quirks and bad targeting system and let that get in the way of having fun) but it's not a 8 or 9 either. In the end......you still get that "Holy shit I'm flying a dragon and tearing shit up feeling....and that should be al that matters. Give it a rent if you'e not big on dragons.....but if you like dragons and that medievil flare.....i'd even go as far as say, buy this game....and don't let the technical shit bother you.