Words by Prateek Sanan & Rohit Loomba Rating: 3.5 out of 5.0
Ubisoft and Free Radical Design's new exclusive Playstation 3 title, "Haze," was geared to be one of the console's shining stars for 2008. So, how does it stack up to the competition? "Haze" is reminiscent of Al Pacino's "88 Minutes." Just as the Pacino film fails to live up to Pacino gems such as "The Godfather" and "Scarface," "Haze" fails to deliver to its expectations. Regardless of falling short of the hype, both are good if you're looking for some quick entertainment. Although "Haze" will probably not be receiving any nominations for Game of the Year, it does provide an interesting premise to a sound first person shooter experience.
It is a story about Shane Carpenter, a young soldier dispatched to a region of South America by Mantel, a private military corporation. Mantel provides its soldiers with the most enhanced weapons and machinery known to mankind. Furthermore, Mantel soldiers are given Nectar, a drug that further boosts the soldiers' awareness and effectiveness. Mantel is attempting to pacify the region by defeating the Promise Hand, a militant group of rebels, headed by Skin Coat. The kicker, of course, is when Carpenter realizes that his cause for Mantel is not exactly what it seems to be, and he switches sides to fight for the rebel cause.
While the actual story often seems forced during gameplay, the use of Nectar is a brilliant addition. Administering doses of Nectar (think of it as soldier's version of lean) gives your character enhanced perception of enemies, increased focus, and better resilience against enemy attacks. Killing more and more enemies enhances a soldiers' "high" with the drug. Be careful, though, because overdosing on Nectar can happen and causes Mantel soldiers to fire blindly away without distinguishing friend or foe (perhaps Ubisoft's warning to Lil Wayne!?). Another downside of Nectar is that it can make the game a little easy at times when playing on the Mantel side. Overall, the addition of Nectar and its various side effects to both sides, adds an interesting and useful aspect to gameplay that makes "Haze" a unique FPS.
The artificial intelligence brings the game down a few notches. Soldiers on both sides tend to be predictable and easy to defeat. Computer players end up doing a variety of stupid things such as not taking cover during a battle or not shooting at you until you shoot at them.
The "Haze" multi-player mode is entertaining, as well as up to 16 people can play against or with each other in a variety of different situations.
The visuals, unfortunately, are amongst the weakest points of "Haze." Outside of the swamp level, which is brilliant in its detail and lighting effects, it does not provide any solid environmental textures or attention to detail. The character models are borderline disastrous, ruining some of the cut-scenes and taking away from the story. PS2 graphics, weak battle scenes, and awkward dialogue detract from the overall story.
"Haze" comes from a pedigree of first person shooter success and there are some appealing additions to solid gameplay mechanics to go along with an interesting story, attempting to delve deep into the emotions of a soldier torn at war. However, underwhelming visuals and a lack of consistency and flow to the story, which is rather short at 10-12 hours, coupled with a lack of attention to underlying detail prevent "Haze" from attaining the point of fully immersing the gamer into the game and detract from what is really a fundamentally well built FPS.
Playing with friends is enjoyable and the multiplayer aspects of "Haze" do add to the gameplay experience and make up for the short campaign. The bottom line is that with the lofty expectations and all the hype that came with "Haze," it was extremely difficult for the game to achieve greatness. However, very much like "88 Minutes," "Haze" might not be one of the best games in the genre, but it still provides gamers with a FPS that has fun, solid gameplay mechanics and is worth the price of admission.
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