Haze (PS3 Preview)

Overview: Haze is a First Person Shooter which is developed by Free Radical, where some of their members were behind the famous Goldeneye 007 game for the N64. After suffering through countless delays on their release date, Free Radical decided to release a demo of Haze on the PS3. I decided to download the demo to give you guys my first impressions of the game. Keep in mind that it’s just a demo, and due to that, it won’t be a representation of the final product.

Plot: The game takes place in the near future, a chaotic future. You play as a man named Shane Carpenter, a member of the Mantel Global Industries Private Military. Shane and his group has been sent to a South American country to quell an uprising led by the “Promised Hand” rebel group. Nectar, the drug created by Mantel Global Industries, plays an important part in the Plot.

Gameplay: You have the option of playing the full single player by yourself or with up to 3 other friends. I personally chose to go it solo in the demo. The gunplay is extremely solid, all the guns feel useful and they pack a solid punch. Really satisfying, kudos to Free Radical! Also worth noting is the usage of Nectar. The game really encourages to use the Nectar to slaughter your foes. When using Nectar, you gain some new abilities/skills, such as a one hit kill melee attack, and the ability to view the enemy through thick foliage. It will also increase the overall damage that you dish out. Due to that, it changed my old tactical, wary play style to a reckless, dangerous play style. But there’s a catch to Nectar. If you overuse it, you’ll overdose and will proceed to lose control over your character & will automatically shoot at any humanoid creature (You can’t tell the difference between friend and foe during this). The enemy can also cause your buddies to OD and will cause them to turn on you and your other friends.

Graphics: Right now, the textures look merely average and bland. But in doing so, the overall frame rate stays at a consistent 30 FPS. Free Radical did some deliberate things in the game, like overdone bloom. If you hate that, don’t worry. The overdone bloom will be gone at the second half of the full game.

Sound: The guns and explosions provide a meaty sound. The voice work is also excellent. Again, Free Radical did some deliberate things in the game, like giving the Mantel Troopers gung-ho voices. You’ll understand why they did that in the full game.

Reviewer’s Final Opinion: Haze looks like it won’t disappoint and fall over from the hype. Also, wait for our upcoming review on the First Strike mod for Battlefield 2142!