Haze Review

20 Jun 2008 at 13:43:59 by Jim Diaz
Systems used to review this title: (PS3)

The exclusive PlayStation 3 first-person shooter, Haze has a storied history with its pre-release hype and multiple delays. Now with its official release, the haze (pun intended) can no longer hide how disappointing this shooter is. I’m not sure how a developer such as Free Radical, known for its highly regarded TimeSplitters franchise, could have failed so miserably with this uninspired FPS but they have.

Haze has you playing as Shane Carpenter, a trooper for the conglomerate, Mantel Global Industries in the year 2048. Your mission is track down and kill Skin Coat, the leader of a South American rebel group that goes by the name of Promised Hand (yes, these are actual names used in the game). You soon find out Shane has a conscious that doesn’t jive too well with the gung-ho antics of your other nectar-high comrades. You see, nectar gives Mantel troopers an edge when they’re in the field of combat through increased perception, melee strength, resiliency to bullets, better focus (sniper aiming) and foresight (pre-warning to an enemy attack). The downside is that you can temporarily overdose on nectar, which disorients you and makes you much more vulnerable to enemy attacks. I will discuss how well this works further along in my review.

The storyline’s conscientious angle and the political message of understanding both sides of a conflict lay down a nice foundation for questioning the lack of morality behind military aggression. Unfortunately, it’s locked into the storyline and is never utilized as a gameplay element such as offering you a choice of whether you want to continue to play as a soldier for the corrupt corporation, Mantel or if you’d rather be a rebel sympathizer. The decision is already made for you in the game so it just ends up being a pre-determined outcome for changing roles. It’s somewhat of a bummer but doesn’t come close to what’s next.

First off, let me get the easy stuff out of the way, which are the few positives in Haze (emphasis on few). These might sound like I’m grasping at straws but I kid you not, these are the only positive parts of the game that I could find. The first is the cool design of the Mantel troopers with their nectar administrators on the back of their suits. The black and yellow suits are perfect for the portrayal of a powerful and ultimately, evil trooper. This really shows through when you go online and play against rag-tag rebels who would look more at home sleeping on a New York City street. The nectar nozzle on the back of the Mantel trooper suits is important since you can get additional doses of nectar with a button press when you’re close to the back of a fellow trooper. But there is a downside to the nectar administrator since if the nozzle gets shot, it will rupture and spew nectar all over the place. This is trouble for the damaged trooper since they will turn red and start firing indiscriminately at anyone near them, which is usually a fellow trooper. The classic part is sometimes a nectar-deficient trooper will go suicidal and blow themselves up and everyone around them. This is great stuff but is really the only bright spot of a very dismal game.

Now on to the bad stuff – oh, where to start? I know, how about the first thing that’s wrong with the game – the voice acting and dialogue! Please no more sophomoric dialogue spewed from voice actors who need to go back to waiting tables for their primary work. In Haze, you get the testosterone-fueled voice acting that is so bloody old that the industry should create some type of signed treaty that relieves gamers from dialogue that sounds like it is written by stoned high-school freshman. Please spare the gamer nation from “dudes”, “mother-f**ker” and other sophomoric drivel that action game characters always seem to spew out. Besides the banal dialogue, the repetition is another problem especially when you play as a Rebel. Jesus, we know we are fighting for the Promised Hand leader, Merino so why do we have to hear it every 3 minutes. There are other problems with the game’s sound such as squealing tires sounding like you are driving aggressively on asphalt, but there’s a slight problem – you’re driving on dirt most of the time! Whoops!

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