The Falconeer is a dogfighting game with giant birds

The Falconeer is a dogfighting game set above an ocean world, but instead of jets or spaceships peppering each other with rockets and lasers, it's massive birds. The Gamescom teaser above gives us a brief look at some graceful avian combat, but the developer has also posted some more detailed footage. 

Gameplay from last year pits the falcon and its little human rider against a dragon—oh dear—in the middle of a storm. Honestly I'd rather be safely stuck inside a cockpit.

Along with fighting dragons and other airborne menaces, there are little islands and points of interest to explore, peppering the huge ocean, and multiple factions squabbling over some secrets hidden in the deep. I don't suppose birds are great at deep sea diving. 

It promises "classic dogfighting mechanics", though I'm not sure how they translate to riding a bird. Judging by the trailer, the birds are a lot more agile than jets, pulling off acrobatic manoeuvres and incredibly sharp turns that you're probably not going to find in more realistic dogfighters. 

As a falconeer, you'll work your way up from squire to legend, taking on jobs and quests for various benefactors or just helping out the little people. It looks like there's some light RPG stuff, too, and you'll be able to upgrade your big bird, unlock new abilities and find more weapons. 

If hurtling through the sky on the back of a giant falcon sounds like your thing, you'll need to wait until next year. 

Fraser Brown
Online Editor

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog. 

Latest in Action
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The First Berserker: Khazan review - Blade Phantom
How to claim The First Berserker: Khazan pre-order bonus and deluxe edition DLC
gta 6 trailer
Publishers 'don't want to be anywhere near' Grand Theft Auto 6 when it launches: 'It's proving to be very stressful'
An image of a Helldiver from Helldivers 2 shooting at a red dragon from Dungeons & Dragons.
'Ok, so dragon builds are a thing now': galaxy-brained Helldivers 2 player incinerates a bile titan with a hover pack and a flamethrower
Assassin's Creed Shadows promo image
Ubisoft scores a legendary ratio against Elon Musk on his own platform—which hopefully marks a final end to all the Assassin's Creed Shadows' culture war nonsense
Assassin's Creed Shadows immersive mode - Naoe holding a tanto in her hand as two guards fall to the ground behind her.
Assassin's Creed Shadows' first hotfix addresses stability issues and a photo mode crash
Latest in News
An Enshrouded player in a recreation of Erebor from The Lord of the Rings
Kings under the Mountain! 33 Enshrouded players spent 10,000 hours to recreate this iconic location from The Lord of the Rings
A mech awakens.
Mecha Break developer is considering unlocking all mechs following open beta feedback
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened