Haze (PS3)

Early previews of Haze, (the once promising but heavily delayed PS3 exclusive) seemed to give away all its secrets. Sadly there are no twists or surprises for anyone that has paid attention to Hazes excessive previews. The much publicised defection to the rebels; Promise Hand would have been far more enjoyable without prior knowledge. The twists following are non-existent, with only a discovery in a cargo container providing any highlight for lead Shane Carpenter.

From the opening moment, Hazes visuals are disappointingly shoddy; the jungles look weak, especially when compared to Uncharted: Drakes Fortune. Its laughable this is the best Free Radical could manage. There is nothing here, apart from a few fancy, ultimately pointless effects that couldn't have been done on the previous generation. Animation is also a joke, especially when reviving a fallen comrade. Bodies also levitate in mid air. Vehicle sections are just awful, so broken they should have been left out entirely. In fact only the shooting is solid throughout; and in parts above average. But surely this is to be expected from the makers of TimeSplitters. Strangely, Haze doesent have a very large weapon selection.

The whole game would be seamless if it wasn't for split second blackouts that occur after every "cut scene". This is one of Hazes most frustrating elements and clearly used to hide loading times. Rather than use cut scenes to set up the story, Haze insists on telling every scrap of narrative from Shane Carpenters eyes. This can work, as Half Life 2 proved. But the plot is clunky and amateurish at best, the half second blackouts completely ruining any immersion this approach so desperately tries to create. There are too many moments where a cut scene would have worked better. And they can't be skipped, much like Assassins Creed. In the days of Call of Duty 4 and Bioshock, where so much is experienced by the player, these forced "cut scenes" feel prehistoric.

The voice acting and sound is also a major failing. Carpenter has a different accent in-game to the demo video shown. The same, quotes are used every couple of seconds. "This way", and "No surrender" are heavily overused. By far the most cringe worthy however:
"Is there a medal for being the most bad ass gangster, cause that me".
Even worse is the fact many quotes are used by both Mantel and Promise Hand. It's only a small point, but when both sides are spouting the same macho cliché, it's difficult to believe they are fighting for anything different. Music is average at best.

In the early levels whilst fighting for Mantel, it's even obvious when there are no enemies, as the gun disappears from screen. For me this ruined any tension or suspense. Early previews also suggested that overusing Nectar can lead to hallucinations and side effects, with Carpenter struggling to separate friend from foe. This does sound exciting, yet my first overdose happened without having used Nectar?? This section was even played twice, with it happening at EXACTLY the same point. So nowhere near as subtle or refined as Free Radical have suggested. Nectar is even too scripted to be considered a game-play mechanic. Its also a massive disappointment. The yellow glow caused by this drug is essential to even see the enemy. There are some nice touches, like when on Nectar; the sniper aim is much steadier. Landmines are very well designed. The levels, most notably the cargo ship have flashes of brilliance. But sadly this is too little, far too late for such a high profile game.

Switching sides thankfully provide new gameplay options, but Haze remains a mediocre experience. New options include the ability to play dead. Nectar grenades can also be removed from Mantel soldiers and used as a chemical weapon.
The games climax (aboard the Mantel Land Carrier) had the potential, in spite of everything to give Haze a memorable climax. Yet, much like the rest of the game, it disappoints in a big way. Once aboard, the level involves lots of backtracking, with atrocious signposting and design. Example; wandering back to the start of the level, and finding (purely by chance) that a door has now opened. The ending is also abrupt and unsatisfying for such a narrative driven game. In fact, many levels end suddenly, leaving the impression large chunks have been cut to finally get this game on the shelves.

Haze would have been a terrible game if it'd arrived suddenly and without hype. It just hurts when such a big game fails to deliver, once again.

Okay so hugely disappointing for so many reasons. The game starts off reasonably well but the first thing that stands out for me is that the three typical visual effects (cinematics, cutscenes and in game play) are massivley different in quality. The cinematics are exceptional and much like in Army of Two they are so far beyond the in game play graphics - photo film quality. Then there is the middle ground of cutscences, which look basic and blocky. Why oh why do developers do this?

The game itself is based on you starting life as a Mantel Trooper but unlike the other members of your army, you have broken the hold of the nectar drug and have started thinking for yourself. You then defect to fight for the rebels. thats the plot in a nut shell and it should have been far more interesting as you apparently gain all these different skills as you defect to being a a rebel.

The problem with the game is it just doesnt do itself justice in anyway shape or form. As a Mantel Trooper, you can use a pistol, assault rifle, sniper rifle, flame thrower, shot gun etc which have yellow bits on them so you know which army they belong to. As a rebel you get all of the above with red bits on. Given that the rebels are rag tag and were formed only to fight Mantel, you wonder how and why they have the same kind of fire power and why there arent variations on the theme. hand made weapons etc. A Mantel trooper uses nectare to highten senses and this literally highlights the rebels for easier kills. (should be cool but it isnt) Rebels can use nectare bombs to OD the troopers so they kill each other (should be cool but guess what - it isnt).

As opponents, Mantel Troopers have big yellow helmets (deerrrr look at the cover) and may as well have a target painted on them as well or a big sign saying ''shoot me''. if that wasnt bad enough, troopers take a hit of nectar just before any bit of action, so whether you have engaged the troopers or not, you hear a distinct ''hit'' of nectare being taken so you know the troopers are there before you enter a room. Is this cutting edge AI? Next hitch is the constant use of vocals which are repetitive and boring. Then there are the vehicle levels which are hugely crap. You wreck your quad bike or buggy - dont worry - there is another fresh one just around the corner which appears from no-where. This means you doint value the vehicle you have at all as you know another is coming if you trash it.

I wont go into all the glitches and stalling problems I had with the game.

The game generally feels like elements of other similar games but doing none of them well or better, and with this nectar factor thrown in. In terms of rating amongst other FPS on PS3, I'd put it above FEAR for entertainment but below Turok as that at least had a bit of a challenge to it.

One thing we can all agree on is that the bar has been set by COD4. That means anything that isnt quite as defining needs to be different, but still very good. HAZE is neither - but it is yellow.

I cant believe this is a title that Sony want to market as a PS3 saviour.

I completed this game within a few hours, it's very short...and very dull.
The actual premise seems quite a good one and I do like story based FPS, but this undelivers in so many ways.
Having recently bought a PS3 after selling my 360, I was looking forward to the exclusive titles due out soon. Drakes Fortune was amazing, so I thought that Haze would be visually stunning with a firm story and a solid multiplayer too.
I had watched a programme about Haze on satellite a while back and thought it was going to be immense. I steered clear of any reviews and I was aware of the previous titles the programmers had been involved in.
Once I started playing, I was completely underwhelmed by the graphics, they were simply dull. Textures were uninteresting; the passing jungle was blurry with no definition... it looked very shabby.
The gameplay wasnt up to much either; enemies seemed to be just sitting and waiting for you; your own team gets in the way all the time; if you leave them behind they miraculously appear from midair right infront of you! How very amatuerish for a game with this much investment.
Quite often when I got killed by Mantel the last save would loadup placing my character suspended in midair as the ground had disappeared.
When playing against Mantel the rebels shout the same annoying phrase every couple of seconds "remember your promise to Merrino" god it was infuriating!
Even the set pieces were uninspiring. A waste of good money.
It gets 2 stars because hidden behind all the shabby programming a half decent game exists, but in no way shape or form is this a next generation game. Save your money, no doubt the shops will already be flooded by second hand games, but certainly dont pay full price for it.
Lets hope MGS takes advantage of the power available inside the PS3.