Haze. My personal most anticipated game of the year. It's good, don't
get me wrong, it's a very capable shooter, but it is just so
undoubtedly average and inconsistent, that it disappoints beyond
belief. I could have easily given Haze big points off for letting me
down so horribly, as I write this review totally heartbroken, but I
decided to let it go. It does have reasonable merits, but I really have
to wonder where the hell the Free Radical shine and polish went, in
this shooter that could've honestly taken a lot more time in
development. Now I wonder what the hell were they doing during the
delay?
The guns in Haze are fun to shoot. There aren't a lot of them, but they
do feel right and the controls are smooth. It's easy to aim, and you'll
be able to kill enemies with just a few bullets. The weapons are
roughly the same on both sides, except for the snipers and rocket
launchers for the troopers, and the minigun for the rebels.
Nectar is something that you'll use regularly as a Mantel soldier. It
makes you faster, stronger, your aim is increased, and enemies glow in
the dark as if they'd rolled around in nuclear waste. You rarely run
out, and it's not such a gameplay mechanic as it is a simple gimmick.
Nectar is unique, don't get me wrong, but it could have been
implemented much better. Luckily, as a rebel, the idea of nectar
becomes much stronger. Instead of using it to your advantage, you try
to make it Mantel's disadvantage. By dipping your knife in nectar, you
can make enemies overdose (where they turn red, and don't have control
over their bodies) by stabbing them or throwing the blade at them. It's
cool and it's tactical, and I appreciate the idea. Nectar grenades are
made by strapping a nectar administrator to a normal grenade. When
these explode, a cloud of nectar fills the air, and any soldiers
standing in it will overdose. It's more of a run and gun Rambo
technique, that also works well. Nectar has its highs and lows, as most
drugs are.
Enemy AI is poor. Whether it's your allies or your enemies, they refuse
to take cover, stand in your way, miss where they're aiming, get
crushed by cars, fall off cliffs, don't evade grenades, and their
dialogue repeats over and over. It wrecks the immersion factor in Haze
that could've been so much better. The Ai isn't so bad that it'll
distract you, but these guys simply aren't very tough or smart at all.
What's worse, is that when you're on nectar, you feel as if you're
unstoppable, and that's what Free Radical was aiming for. However, when
you are a rebel, and you watch how stupid and predictable that Mantel
troopers are, you wonder if they even are on nectar at all. Again, it
just forces you to wonder if nectar is as deep as it could've been.
As a rebel, you have the ability to play dead. After you've taken a few
shots, you can pull L2, and just flop to the ground. This works both in
campaign and in single player, and almost always fools the enemy. When
they've left you alone, you can get up and silently kill them from
behind. In campaign, you rarely see your allies do this, but that's
just because of the simple AI. Playing dead is a unique gameplay
mechanic that works well, and is one of Haze's redeeming factors of
originality.
The story in Haze has you as Shane Carpenter, a man who can't make up
his mind. He joined Mantel after seeing an ad on TV, where Mantel
soldiers are helping women and children in distress, saving people from
flood, and stopping terrorists. He enlists, only to find out quickly
that Mantel is more of an evil corporation than a peace corps. He then
switches to the rebels after finding out that Mantel and nectar isn't
all it seems. The story is told through in game cutscenes, with
impressive facial animations, and decent voice acting. Overall, the
narrative in Haze is good, but with so much predictability, and a short
7 hour experience, I bet it isn't what the writer had in mind.
Graphically, Haze falls flat. Textures look ripped out of a
TimeSplitters game from the Ps2, character models are all the same, and
special effects aren't very strong. There are glitches such as clipping
as well. There are some times of great art, and the framerate is
smooth, but what game doesn't these days? As a Playstation 3 exclusive,
I was hoping Haze would have been a graphical showpiece for the system,
but that obviously isn't the case.
The sound effects in Haze are hit or miss. Guns sound amazing, and
voice acting is good. However, all the well voiced dialogue repeats
over and over the same lines, and all vehicles have the same generic
sound. At least the orchestral score is good, as it the overall
soundtrack. The sound quality in this game trumps graphics so harshly,
which is why I've given it a higher score than it deserves.
Aside from the short campaign, which you won't want to play more than
once, there is multiplayer for up to 16 people. You can play against
other humans, or AI controlled bots, or both. There are 6 maps, but
only 2 of them, Carrier and Shanty Town, are actually worth a look. All
the same gameplay aspects are in MP, and the balance between Mantel and
the Rebels is well done for the most part. If you can look past Haze's
flaws, the online multiplayer is very well done, and can take up hours
of your life, if not days.
So, is Haze any good? Yes, of course it is. Unfortunately, those of you
looking for a great shooter for the Playstation 3, you should look
elsewhere. A shallow campaign, poor production values, and utter
disappointment keep Haze from reaching any status higher than an okay
shooter with big drug issues. Free Radical needs an intervention before
continuing their careers.
