Haze (PS3) Review

Posted by Rod Oracheski on 07.01.2008

A new high-water mark for average games.

There are few things more risky than a developer moving away from the franchise that made it famous, especially when moving into another IP in the same genre of game.

That's the problem that faced Free Radical Design, developers of Haze, as they decided to do something different with their latest game. Free Radical broke away from the TimeSplitters franchise that both created and cemented their reputation as a top-tier FPS developer, going for a more gritty and realistic approach in their PS3-exclusive FPS.

Gameplay:
The phrase to remember with Haze is "the [x] is/are functional, though not outstanding," where [x] can be substituted for whatever topic is currently at hand: gameplay, controls, graphics, audio... Everything works, on the gameplay side of things at any rate, but just enough to get by. It's like the government service worker of video games - do what you have to, but nothing more.

The game's one big 'hook' mechanic is the use of Nectar, a wonder drug that deadens the user's perception of pain, increases healing, and increases vision and strength. You start the game as a Mantel soldier, popping Nectar in your fights against the rebels so they'll stand out against the jungle foliage. Not long into the game, you'll switch sides - not exactly a plot spoiler, as they mention it on the back of the box and in pretty much every ad - and use Nectar against the Mantel soldiers.

You see, Nectar has a downside - overdosing will make you go crazy, turning your yellow patches red and firing your gun. It's also supposed to make dead bodies disappear, to hide the 'horrors of war' from soldiers - though during my playthrough I routinely saw bodies that didn't disappear.

In the end, it doesn't really matter since the effects of Nectar don't seem to add up to much. At the outset, as a Mantel soldier, you'll run roughshod over the rebels with or without Nectar - the enemy AI is just that bad. I captured one sequence that shows an example - firing at rebels will make them roll away, but they then lose interest in shooting back and it takes a burst fired over their head to get their attention again.

When you switch to the rebel side, Mantel soldiers seem to lose the benefits of Nectar entirely, going from being a group of supersoldiers to idiots standing in a clearing, not responding to being shot in the head from 20-30 feet away - while your rebel friends gain a hitpoint increase and regenerative capabilities.

Whatever side you're on is virtually unstoppable, and while it makes for an easier game it really doesn't make for much of a challenge and totally neuters any impact the storyline might have had.

The writing does a good job of that all on its own, though. The basic plot of the game, looking at the use of drugs in the battlefield and controlling soldier's perceptions to control morale, was a solid one. Unfortunately the writing is as hamfisted as I've seen in a game to date, totally unable to convey any subtleties in the story at all. Mantel soldiers, especially in the big switch scene, are so over the top evil that they become caricatures of villains. The only way it would be more blatant is if there was a giant "HATE THIS GUY" neon sign over their head.

The one big exception in the "everything works" idea that I mentioned earlier is the vehicle controls. At best, vehicles control with a sort of loose feel that still works on a limited level. The Jeep-like vehicle, for example. It swings a bit when cornering, but you can get the hang of it fairly quickly. The ATV, on the other hand, is just a pointless vehicle. Cornering is horrible, with the vehicle swinging around wildly, and going in a straight line isn't all that fun either. It doesn't help that contacting parts of the environment will often bring you to a dead stop, or that precision steering is occasionally required.

The game features drop-in, drop-out co-op play, and though it's recently been patched to improve connection stability there's still enough 'drop-out' in the drop-in, drop-out gameplay to be frustrating. There's also competitive play for up to 16 players in Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Team Assault modes.

Graphics
Functional, but not outstanding - and in some cases, not all that functional. The graphics are OK on some levels and completely bland on others, but never really approach the visual punch of those pre-release screenshots. Even at their best the graphics are soft and seem more like a really good last-gen game than a PS3-exclusive. You'll also see countless examples of textures popping in, in some cases taking 10 seconds or more to appear. Weapon effects are generally decent, though the flamethrower is ridiculously bad.

The game was hyped as having no loading screens, which is technically true. What you get instead are cutscenes that you can't skip, with nearby soldiers running animation loops (often on an embarrassingly short cycle - one soldier checked his ammo repeatedly for 10-15 seconds, it was like watching Rain Man Goes to War) as the game loads.

Sound:
Weapon sounds are generally good, while the dialog is laughable at best. You'll be tired of hearing the oft-repeated "BOOSH" sound clip before the roughly two-hour trek as a Mantel soldier is done, and the rebels are just as annoyingly repetitive.

The whole 'feel' of the battles is generally good, with a lot of explosions, gunfire, and chatter going on. It's just a shame that those individual elements aren't better.

Lasting Appeal:
Once you're done the six-seven hour campaign, there's really not much inspiring a second playthrough. The co-op mode is a nice touch, but it needs to work more consistently before you'll make it through the game that way. Split-screen is a great option though, something more games should have. The competitive multiplayer is largely dead in the water.

Fun Factor:
If you like bad movies, maybe you'll get a kick out of Haze's straight-out-of-a-B-movie grade dialog. The fun is dampened somewhat by poor vehicle controls, though the regular gameplay is solid and smooth.

The 411:
There's really no reason to pick this one up over a title like Call of Duty 4 or Resistance - both will offer a far better experience and much more value for your money. The game had a lot of promise, but it's almost all unfulfilled.

Haze (PS3) 720p footage from Rod Oracheski on Vimeo.

Graphics	5.0	Some nice lighting, but the texture pop-in dooms it.
Gameplay	6.0	Solid controls for on-foot, but terrible driving mechanics. Pointless Nectar mechanic.
Sound	6.0	Weak-to-decent sounds combine into an OK atmosphere. Terrible dialog.
Lasting Appeal	4.0	Co-op needs more work. Little-to-no replay of single player campaign.
Fun Factor	6.0	Almost makes blowing things up not fun. Almost.
Overall	5.5   [ Not So Good ]

Screenshots
All 4 Haze Screenshots