HAZE Review (PS3)

If you were expecting a Timesplitters game, prepare to be disappointed

Many Playstation 3 exclusive First-Person Shooters such as Killzone and Resistance raised the bar for the genre and just last year, many people were looking forward to a game called HAZE. Most gamers know that this game was made by Free Radical, developers of the Timesplitters series, and most fans (including me) thought that there was going to be a Timesplitters 4 on the PS3. However, Free Radical decided to create a different franchise for the Playstation 3.

HAZEHAZE takes place in the distant future of Latin America. Shane Carpenter, a young Mantel soldier and his squad are dispatched to the Boa Region of South America. The largest PMC in the world, Mantel has an army of enhanced warriors boosted with their specialized “supplement” known as Nectar. With a large force at its disposal, Mantel has been asked to go in and pacify the region from the “Promise Hand”, a militant group of rebels headed up by the villainous Skin Coat (so named because he enjoys skinning his victims and wearing them).

However, Carpenter finds that his mission to “liberate the hearts and minds” of the indigenous people is not what it appears to be, and after one objective takes an unexpected turn, he finds himself defecting to the rebel cause and fighting against his former. At first glance, this appears to be an interesting premise for a title, giving players a sense of both sides of conflict. But unfortunately the story for HAZE isn’t that great and starts losing its plot through the game.

Gameplay: Like other First-Person shooters, controls are easy to get used to if you’ve played other shooting games. Most weapons in HAZE are similar to other weapons in shooting games. You have a rifle, shot gun, sniper rifle, pistol gun and a few other type of guns too. During the first half of the game you can use Nectar to restore health which also heightens your senses and causes all enemies to glow. While you are high on the stuff, you are also more resistant to damage, can detect mines more easily, and have better aiming skills.

The characters in HAZE try being bad-asses but end up sounding dumb and acting tough.

Most vehicles in HAZE are mostly ripped of from the Halo series on the Xbox. They’re practically the same vehicles as Halo but a different look on them. You can drive a Macho which is a Warthog look-a-like with a gun on the back of it. You can also play up to 4 player co-op on campaign mode or play online which is useful for those who want to complete the game on harder difficulties.

There is Online Multiplayer for up to 16 players but it’s not as addictive to what you would have seen in Timesplitters 2 and 3. You’ve got your basic Death match and Team Death match and Team Assault.

Graphics and Sound: Ok let’s talk about the graphics for HAZE, probably the worst thing for a Playstation 3 game. The game has a lot of visual issues, making it a problem to see what you are aiming at when you’re using normal or Nectar visuals and can get a little fuzzy. Textures and non-descript environments seem to pop-in and out of nowhere and there are odd animation problems during cut-scenes and gameplay where sometimes characters in the game can just freeze.

HAZEAnother bad thing about the game is the awful voice acting. The dialogue is weak as most of the characters in HAZE try being bad-asses but end up sounding dumb and acting tough. Sound effects are good, but that’s not enough to make you turn the volume up once you’ve hit the mute button on your TV remote due to the voices, and music isn’t that great.

Overall: A big disappointment to most fans and gamers who’ve enjoyed games from Free Radical. The good news is that there won’t be a sequel. The bad news is that Free Radical was bust just before Christmas at the end of 2008 meaning that there won’t be a Timesplitters 4 or Star Wars Battlefront 3 which is a shame.

If you want to play HAZE, I would recommend renting it or making a purchase if you see it for under �5 because the campaign mode is short and pretty similar to what you would have seen in Call of Duty. Not even Multiplayer can save it as no one plays it online HAZE anymore. If Free Radical had more time before they went bust they could have least held the game back and fixed the problems for it. If this happened then HAZE would have been a success for the PS3 and gamers alike.

The Good: Co-op support for up to four players makes the campaign more entertaining, Most of the weapons feel right.
The Bad: Abysmal storytelling and voice acting squander the interesting premise, Stupid artificial “intelligence”, Bad visuals and textures, Multiplayer is uninspiring and unbalanced.


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2 2 / 5

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