Haze

Rather vague, says Richard...

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Haze was announced around two and a half years ago, and much excitement surrounded this new release from the creators of TimeSplitters, Free Radical. A near-future shooter promising a different take on war seemed like just what the doctor ordered for the next-generation of consoles.

The game kicks off with you playing a new recruit into the Mantel Corporation's army. Your new comrades are a gung-ho bunch, who seem very pleased to be off to war against some rebels. Turns out they are happy about this because they are all off their heads on Nectar, a drug that on the one hand enhances performance and on the other hand blocks certain unpleasant aspects of war from the mind.

Once you hit the ground from your helicopter, it is time to start unloading hot lead upon the rebel scum. The game from here on out is a fairly standard shooter, with the exception of the Nectar mechanic. You can hold down L2 to give yourself an injection of the drug. While under its effects, any enemies glow red and you shoot more accurately. You also take less damage and regenerate quicker. The longer you hold L2, the longer the effect will last, but if you give yourself too high a dose you lose control for a while as your character shoots randomly at shadows.

Haze also includes driving sections, where the control scheme is closer to a driving game than a standard FPS-vehicle mechanic. The vehicles are quite pleasant stylistically, but spin crazily out of control and are really too fragile.

As anyone who has seen the adverts on the TV will know, your guy ends up switching sides and joins the rebel resistance. Obviously the rebels don't have Nectar, so the main thing that makes this game different from other similar games is not actually applicable in the second half. As a rebel, your armour-free agility allows you to roll around and dodge in a Gears of War-style, and scavenge equipment from dead Mantel warriors. You can also pillage Nectar packs from dead Mantel troopers and strap them to your grenades. When these special grenades explode they cause any nearby troopers to overdose on Nectar and start shooting each other.

In each section you have a small squad following you around, but the AI of your team-mates is invariably amazingly stupid. Inexplicably, when they try to run through you they actually push you along in front of them, which can kindly push you out of cover or ruin your sniping. They also merrily run in front of your shots at every available opportunity and you end up feeling quite happy when they die. Unfortunately, another one soon warps in to take their place and add to your misery.

In the end, the rebel portion of the game is the larger of the two and pretty much plays like any other FPS out there. The weapons are really just machine-guns and the game isn't set far enough in the future for any energy-guns or similar excitement.

The graphics are attractive enough, but by the same token are nothing particularly mind-blowing. The game takes place in a lot of jungle and these environments have really not been made the most of we're sorry to report.

The sound is again acceptable, but not anything special. Your team-mates repeat the same few lines over and over and this soon gets old. Having said that, the voice-acting for the main characters is quite good compared to some other rival titles.

This brings me onto the final point which is the story. You grow to detest the main villains and like the main characters, so the game's plot does its job in this respect. The storyline is actually one of the best things about the game by quite some margin, a view to which some critics might take exception.

Overall, I would say Haze is worth PS3 owners considering as it is something a little new, and has an interesting plot. The main campaign is really very short but this actually works in its favour as you can enjoy the story without having the flaws in the game annoy you for too long. The gameplay itself doesn't really offer anything new but it is a refreshing change to have a futuristic shooter against humans rather than aliens. Haze is worth a look if you really enjoy your shooters and like a good old yarn but for anyone seeking the revolution some hoped Free Radical and Haze could deliver, there are definitely games already out that you will enjoy much more.

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By Richard Bright