Haze

Free Radical Design has been known to make great games. Sadly this isn't one of them. Even though this game had promise it falls flat on its face for many things.

You start off as a soldier named Shane Carpenter for a corporation named Mantel Global Industries. Mantel Global Industries is a multinational corporation with bio-medical expertise. This has led to the development of Nectar. Nectar is like steroids. It beefs up your character to run, jump, shoot and heal faster. In the game you'll be able to use Nectar to your advantage. But you'll have to be careful not to overdose. If you overdose your vision will go red and you'll randomly start shooting. Later on you'll see what exactly Nectar can actually do to your body and comrades. This will open your eyes and make you shift sides over to the Rebel side. You are then stripped of your Nectar and left with tricks instead of the latest equipment. When you're a Rebel you can take your enemies Nectar pack and slap in on a grenade. The grenade will explode with nectar in the air and fellow Mantel soldiers will overdose leading them to go suicidal or go on a rampage killing their own.

This all sounds fine and swell until you actually start to play the game. You'll get the sense that this was quickly rushed out the door. With lack luster visuals that will leave you wanting more from your PS3 to the horrid voice acting. You'll always find something that will nag you. Just like as soon as you put the disk into your PS3. You are forced to install the game. Sure it's only once but it's annoying. The game is also about 5 hours long. So you can beat this game in about two to one sitting if you wanted to.

The games story is something that was praised about through the whole time Haze was about to be released. There is nothing to be praised here. It's pretty much a lack luster conspiracy theory that was probably ripped from some web page out there. Add that with some stereotypical situations (Evil fellow soldier) and characters (Meat head and redneck soldiers) and you have yourself a horrible story.

With a under whelming story you think that Haze would try to blow you away with graphics. Well...it doesn't. It'll leave you scratching your head about why is everything so murky and bland. While forest areas can look decent everything else just looks like crap. Characters also don't look that great either. They all just seem really plastic.

Sounds are very important in a game. Sound makes or breaks the mood in a game. Every sound in the game breaks the mood. Mostly the horrid voice acting. It will have you cringe every time a word is uttered. Add that with repetitive sayings (Like "Remember your promise to Merino."), bad car and ATV sounds. Bland gunfire is also a problem. When you fire your gun it seems like your gun isn't powerful or working right. Another weird thing I ran into is that at one point they actually censor some words in this game. Yes with the *beep* sound and all. It'll leave you wondering why? This game already has an M rating for Strong Language so why not put it in?

One good thing about this game is that the controls are solid, except when driving. It's pretty much your standard shooter controls. R1 to fire, R2 to melee, R3 zoom, L1 throw grenade, L3 crouch, X jump, Square interact, Circle to go through your weapons and triangle to reload and pick up weapons. L2 is for your Nectar. The controls are smooth.

Multiplayer has three game modes Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Assault. The game also has six different maps. All can be played online and offline. Only Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch can have bots. When I was playing online I found that most servers only had about five to three people in them with the rest bots. The both teams have different skills just like in the game. It seemed pretty well balanced when I was playing. But while playing you get a feel like the whole multiplayer experience was rushed and half-assed.

All around this game just feels rushed. This game could have been so much more but it isn't. The thing is that this game isn't broken, it's just not well executed. So if you are really in some serious need for some FPS action on the PS3 just give this game a rent. Otherwise just skip it all together.