Haze

"So Much Unused Potential"

Haze had so much potential. I wasn't really looking forward to it that much but I still was interested in getting it. From what I saw of it before it got released it looked really good. Unfortunately, as it sometimes happens to games, Haze didn't live up to the hype.

The story was actually pretty original. Starting off in an army where all the soldiers are on drugs that enhance everything about them in a battle situation sounds amazing, and it is. The story could have stayed where it was as you playing as a Trooper but Ubisoft were stupid and after the first few levels they took your control out of the Mantel Troopers hands and into the Rebels hands. Playing as a Rebel sucks.

As a Trooper you have the Nectar which enhances you beyond belief. Your enemies shine, you can zoom in even better with any weapon, you can take more bullets, you regenerate health, your strength increases, and you can run faster. The negatives are that you can overdose on Nectar which causes you to lose control. To overdose you either administers too much Nectar, get shot on the Nectar administrator on your back, or to be near a Nectar Grenade when it blows. When you overdose all the people in the area turn black and you can't tell the difference on who is who. You start shooting randomly and at everyone and that don't wear off for about 45 seconds, more than enough time for someone to kill you.

Once you become a Rebel you lose the Nectar but gain other things, which in my opinion, makes the gameplay a lot worse. Instead of Nectar you get to plant mines, make Nectar Grenades which overdose Troopers, play dead, and convert ammo from any gun into ammo for the gun you are carrying.

The game has done some things well though. The campaign is completely multiplayer which makes it more bearable to play through. The controls are 100% customizable down to every button for normal and vehicle controls. There is a wide array of weapons ranging from the standard assault rifles and shotguns to flamethrowers and knives. Much like in the first Halo the pistol in this game is completely overpowered. It is basically a small sniper rifle and if you're a Trooper, which can zoom with any weapon, it is even more like a sniper rifle.

The online and local multiplayer is also pretty good and is the reason I am not trading this game in. You can bring a friend with you online to play (just one friend) or you can just add bots to play with. You can even bring bots online. Depending on the game type you can choose to be a Trooper or a Rebel which adds some interesting gameplay aspects. Unfortunately you must enter a lobby to find a game and it's not nearly as easy to find a good game as it is in Halo 3.

A major failure for this game is its horrible graphics. The PS3 is the ideal system for good graphics and this game does the PS3 no justice. The graphics are the equivalent of a mediocre Xbox 360 game. The character models are ugly with the exception of the Troopers. The environments are bland and the flamethrowers flam is really ugly. One thing that I did notice that annoyed the hell out of me is that all the bullets make the same bullet hole in all the material. There is no difference between the sniper bullet hole and an assault rifle round hole. Its just one small thing that annoyed me.

I can't even decide to say if this game is worth buying or just renting. If you have just one friend and that friend like FPS's I would recommend getting this game for the multiplayer. If you plan on using this game for mostly online play than it's also worth buying. If you have a lot of friends this isn't a good game to get because it's only up to 2 players, so you should just get Resistance: Fall of Man. If you must experience the story rent the game but make sure you have a friend to play it through because it gets pretty boring on your own.

My final score: 6.25/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/12/08

Game Release: Haze (US, 05/20/08)