Haze initial reviews are not promising

by Andrew Yoon { May 20th 2008 at 10:00AM }

Many PS3 gamers are excited for Haze, the PS3 "exclusive" FPS from Free Radical. Since the launch of the playable demo, opinions have been mixed: some loved the instant-action multiplayer offerings, while others were underwhelmed by the core gameplay mechanics of the game. While these initial reviews aren't necessarily representative of the critical mass, they do point towards a less-than-favorable outcome for this anticipated game.

IGN (45/100) - "While their previous work was quite excellent, Haze is anything but, coming across as a middling, generic first-person shooter with bland visuals, a weak plot and laughable characters."
GamersHell (65/100) - "Haze is still sitting in the wake of Call of Duty 4, and falls into that category of being just another FPS. The game tries to include different content with Nectar abilities and rebel dynamics, but a confused story, lacking gameplay elements and technical bugs bog the game down from being a stellar PS3 exclusive."
The A.V. Club (C+) - "More narratively cohesive than the Halo trilogy, but less inventive and compelling than Resistance: Fall Of Man ... too bad it's paired with one of the more pedestrian FPS games to come along in recent years."

[Thanks, blank!]

Tags: haze, metareview

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

frankym @ May 20th 2008 10:08AM

No surprise here.....this game is simply not very good. Nowhere near as bad as Lair, just not very good.

Just goes to show that delays do not necessarily make a game better.

catmanmatt @ May 20th 2008 10:24AM

i sure hope that the delays on home isnt going to turn out like this...

Lars @ May 20th 2008 10:42AM

Yeah, I wasn't the least bit interested in it from the get-go, but I'm still shocked that it's getting scores way below Halo. (IMO it's about on-par with the Halos.)

HektikLyfe @ May 20th 2008 11:59AM

I was only going to comment "No surprise here..." but saw your comment. So it really wasn't a surprise at all. I don't know anyone who doesn't feel the same way.

Sometimes I wish developers would just ask gamers what they want. I know its asking a lot, but if they ask enough people they could possibly save a lot of money.

"Hey how do you guys feel about another WWII shooter? Oh really? You mean you've had enough? We had no idea! No more of those then! Oh you mean this shooter looks uninspired and the character design looks boring and the colors are bland? Thanks for letting us know. Gimmicky you say?!?"

David @ May 20th 2008 12:25PM

@Lars
Halo got almost all 100s. It was innovative and expansive. I couldn't disagree with you more.

Paul (PSN: heypaul) @ May 20th 2008 12:58PM

"Just goes to show that delays do not necessarily make a game better."

I'm pretty sure delays do make a game better. They just don't necessarily make a game good.

BananaBoat @ May 20th 2008 1:13PM

There is a flame-war brewing on Joystiq as to whether or not the SDF and PS3fanboy had Haze on their "Exclusives that should make Xbox owners jealous" lists or not. Also, whether or not there was actually a large amount of hype and anticipation for Haze or not (before the demo, which I think most of us agree, did the game absolutely no favors).

What do you guys think? Was this game not on a ton of peoples lists? Was noone excited for this game? Personally I think the comments sections from Haze stories over the past year, tell the story of a game that had a ton of hype, but I'd like to know what you guys think. Or, rather, I'd like to hear some opinions here, instead of over at Joystiq where the comments section is quickly devolving into an argument of epic proportions

Eggy @ May 20th 2008 3:02PM

It was never hyped much, the delays took care of that. Anyone claiming the contrary is just lying. That said I no longer go on joystiq, it's filled with too many fanboys bitching at eachother. It scares me that a good majority of the people posting their are adults.

Eggy @ May 20th 2008 1:36PM

I was expecting more from Free Radical but no way deserves Haze as low as a 4.5. IGN proves again that they don't have a clue about games.

@ banana guy : please stick to Jostiq, the only people who use terms like SDF are either a Wii or Xbox 360 fanboy.

BananaBoat @ May 20th 2008 3:02PM

You'd be surprised how many people claim themselves to either be in the SDF (Sony Defense Force), NDF (Nintendo Defense Force), or the XDF (Xbox Defense Force, though noone is really a member of this last force).

Mein Bratwurst @ May 20th 2008 3:50PM

@ David

Please inform me of one of these "innovative features" of Halo. I've played all 3 and really saw nothing that made me say "Hey! That's never been done before". Well, plasma grenades maybe?

Jove @ May 20th 2008 5:42PM

@ frankym

i bet they all ^^^ flooded ur email add with unnesesary comments ...

dominic @ May 21st 2008 9:49AM

oh! Poor PS3 fan, you were expecting so much out of this game :-(
What a great title (joking). Huh, when is the PS3 really getting a shooter? huh?
Ever heard of Bioshock, Gears of War, Halo? Just to name a few...
So so sad

NATO_Duke @ May 21st 2008 10:54AM

Eggy, impressive, you are a liar and a blind tool. You were just on Joystiq talking smack to me.

How stupid does someone have to be to look at all bad reviews and still say that its fanboys who make it seem like a bad game. Your reading comprehension must be 0, so save the insults about mine next time.

ryan @ May 21st 2008 11:55AM

anybody else think Haze looks like a Sci Fi original picture? like a B standard movie? i do~

and thanks Frankym for letting us flood your email! (stupid fanboy sites and thier crappy reply system...)

Swamp Donkey @ May 20th 2008 10:16AM

Yeah I think everyone has been prepped to expect disappointment on this one.

James @ May 20th 2008 10:22AM

The demo really showed how bad it was going to be - very uninspired overall. If the demo is supposed to catch your attention, it did anything but. Seems more like a Crysis ripoff than anything else.

HektikLyfe @ May 20th 2008 12:00PM

Yeah I have always felt that if they combined Crysis, Haze and TimeShift, you might have a single complete game.

Gabriel @ May 20th 2008 10:34PM

Maybe they forgot to turn on the "best graphics" setting or something. :D

marauder800 @ May 20th 2008 10:25AM

Another swing and a miss for the PS3. This continues to be disheartening for those of us that want the PS3 to be a game console. All I can hope for is MGS4 lives up to the hype, Motorstorm 2 doesn't get delayed, and Little Big Planet offers something that will appeal to an adult gamer like me. There's not much else I'm looking forward to in 2008 on the Sony side of things.

Aozora @ May 20th 2008 11:11AM

PS3 IS a game console. You are obviously a XBOX fanboy, and If you don't like PS3 games then just sell your PS3 to someone who'll appreciate it more.

marauder800 @ May 20th 2008 11:32AM

Hoping and praying for good exclusives on my PS3 is fanboyism? What part of "I hope MGS4, Pacific Rift and Little Big Planet don't go the way of Haze" didn't you understand? Reading sh** into my comment that wasn't there shows who the real fanboy is.

evilJaze @ May 20th 2008 2:21PM

I'm with you on that one. My PS3 has been collecting dust since I finished Uncharted. I even bought GTA IV for my 360 (what the hell was I thinking?)

John McPoop @ May 20th 2008 9:48PM

Well I never turn on my 360 anymore ... Last game I played through on it was Army Of Two ... I play my PS3 on the daily ... I just love the console and the games regardless of what the haters say ... I liked Lair, alot actually! ... I never really considered myself a PS3 fanboy until recently when I realized I have all 3 consoles and am only interested in one of them ...

As for Haze ...

I will still pick it up used or on the cheap after I get done with MGS 4 and one of thwo 360 games I will buy this Ninja Gaiden II ...

My problem with Ninja Gaiden II is its not going to look or play better than Sigma on PS3 ... Its almost one of those "whats the point?" type of things for me and this game ...

I think the PS3 gets alot of unfair criticism for not having any games ... If you compare the titles of the the PS3 and 360 during the same time frame you will see they match up if not in favor of the PS3 ... Don't even get me started on the Wii who has a paltry lineup in comparison (IE No Multiplatform games) ... People always want to compare the PS3 to the current 360 in every respect but its not a fair comparison ...

Seriously remember the game Prey on the 360 or even Perfect Dark ... Not great by anyones judgement and yet Haze gets a 4.5????

It seems IGN is being unfair to Haze ... I can't even think of a game that deserves that low a score ... Just from the demo I would give Haze a 7.5 or 8.0 certainly nothing that re-invents the wheel but plenty of fun IMO

It just annoys the piss out of me to no end because its the best and most diverse video game console ever created ...

Because there was a handful of bad PS3 ports (mainly EA games) CONSOLE ZEALOTS like to generalize and say the PS3 always gets inferior ports which couldn't be further from the truth!

PhryeEngine anyone?
Nocturnal Project?

I wish we would have kept our console exclusives like GTA IV (I know we gave it up for 2 exclusive projects), Assassins Creed & Devil May Cry 4 (NOW Silent Hill!) ... I swear to Gawd if MGS 4 gets ported to the 360 I will go postal on Konami's HQ and Hideo Kojima!

I don't have a problem with everyone being able to enjoy games but the reason we have different consoles is for exclusive experiences ... you think the Halo fans want it on the PS3? How about Gears Of War or Splinter Cell? No, No and No!

/rant

sorry for the long post

stacy daniels @ May 20th 2008 10:28AM

kinda glad this isnt coming to 360 now!!.

Glad i didnt get on board the hype train for this title.

just waitting for the MGs4 on my ps3 then i be sorted.

Alex @ May 20th 2008 10:32AM

I bought then traded some lousy games for the EB sale. So I have 2 copies of haze i should be getting soon. I saved 60$

If the co op is good im sure it will be fun to play, and of course I would keep it.

Ill probably take up the One week of Haze thing, where I can trade it back in after I play it for a week.
Please dont tell me that that offer isnt valid anymore, and please please dont tell My local EB games about it, cuz they are still doing it, Ha

Greg @ May 20th 2008 10:33AM

This is sad but true... I completely lost interest for Haze after the demo (thx btw for making me try the game)... I agree, just another FPS, nothing fancy... nothing really new... too bad...

A.E. @ May 20th 2008 10:35AM

Well at least theres MGS4, FFXIII, Tekken 6, Soulcaliber 4, and Resistance 2....Haze what?

James @ May 20th 2008 12:21PM

Agreed. And I'm actually looking forward to GRiD, but I know a lot of other people aren't as much. I like my arcade racers though, and GT5 Prologue is just way too much sim for me.

JimmyD @ May 20th 2008 10:35AM

I do get the feeling this game has been one reviewers have wanted to slag off before even getting it a bit like how reviewers wanted to give gta4 and halo 3 great reviews no matter how they turned out.

GTA4 is good but not as good as they make out and it wouldn't suprise me if Haze turns to be a bit better than the reviews are making out. Lair was another which simple wasn't as bad as reviews made out and it is still fansionable to slag off the ps3. Had gta4 been a ps3 exclusive I doubt the reviews would have been quiet as good and I think mgs4 may also get lower ratings than it probably deserves.

MouseyC @ May 20th 2008 10:40AM

You pretty much hit the nail on the head with all that, they'd decided it was before picking up the controller.

Lars @ May 20th 2008 11:02AM

I actually played Lair last week for the first time (Gamefly), and you are right. Wow, people were saying the game was aweful and uncontrollable and whatnot. I thought the motion controls were superb! But to be fair, I'm used to them from the Wii. I may sound like a freak, but I'm really glad there was no radar and big arrows pointing at your target. Sometimes you get a more immersive feel without it, which I think is important in a game with such great storytelling.

That being said, the game wasn't great either; despite the fact that it had wonderful storytelling, a nice overall cinematic feel, and an amazingly beautiful musical score. For one thing visuals can get ugly, especially ground terrain. Also sometimes the animations looked crappy. Occasionally there were framerate issues (though not a huge deal). Distances were not visually obvious (no fog effect to give illusion of distance). The game didn't pose much of a challenge either (which some people like, but I don't--though it is more forgivable with good immersion), I never failed a single mission, though I did get some poor scores.

Lars @ May 20th 2008 11:03AM

Lars @ May 20th 2008 3:04PM

That being said, the game wasn't great either; despite the fact that it had wonderful storytelling, a nice overall cinematic feel, and an amazingly beautiful musical score. For one thing visuals can get ugly, especially ground terrain. Also sometimes the animations looked crappy. Occasionally there were framerate issues (though not a huge deal). Distances were not visually obvious (no fog effect to give illusion of distance). The game didn't pose much of a challenge either (which some people like, but I don't--though it is more forgivable with good immersion), I never failed a single mission, though I did get some poor scores.

Lars @ May 20th 2008 11:04AM

That being said, the game wasn't great either; despite the fact that it had wonderful storytelling, a nice overall cinematic feel, and an amazingly beautiful musical score. For one thing visuals can get ugly, especially ground terrain. Also sometimes the animations looked bad. Occasionally there were framerate issues. Distances were not visually obvious (no fog effect to give illusion of distance). The game didn't pose much of a challenge either (which some people like, but I don't--though it is more forgivable with good immersion), I never failed a single mission, though I did get some poor scores.

never$$hort @ May 20th 2008 2:55PM

This is very sad but very true...

MouseyC @ May 20th 2008 10:36AM

This is encouraging, it's probably quite a good game judging from those reviews. Review score is usual proportinal to Hype, and although Haze got a fair amount of that i think the constant delays has hurt its scores, had this come out when it was supposed to i think it would be getting 75/100.

And call my cynical or a fanboy if you must, but if this was multiplat form i think the scores would be higher.

I quite enjoyed the demo and ill be buying it for sure.

Supino @ May 20th 2008 11:29AM

I dropped in to call you a cynical fanboy! I just had to... :P

whistlepig @ May 20th 2008 10:36AM

yea after delay after delay i could have cared less and then when the demo hit id rather waste my money on some cheeseburgers and pizza

ka-ge @ May 20th 2008 10:40AM

I was hoping that the demo was either an old build, or the game like Halo - not a particularly good campaign, but with a good multiplayer. I'll have to try Haze some time somewhere, but I was never going to buy it anyway.

Robert @ May 20th 2008 10:48AM

I am still getting it, I liked the demo, it is not something revolutionary but what recent FPS is?

Offtopic.. anyone know a good US game store that is able to ship to southamerica without exorbitant shipping charges? I am currently using cduniverse.com but they removed the shipping method I liked and now is more expensive

TinyTim121 @ May 20th 2008 10:52AM

I remember being extremely pumped up for this game...then canceling my pre-order because i just knew it wasn't going to match the hype. I downloaded the demo and yeah, it wasn't anything special.

...roll on Timesplitters 4

LJ @ May 20th 2008 11:05AM

same here.. but i still think IGN just bashed at the game! Lets wait for others reviewers like gamepro, gamestop and of course 1up.

JimmyD @ May 20th 2008 10:57AM

According to this website http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=27769

Famitsu gave Haze 34/40 and Playstation Italy gave it 9/10.

Robert @ May 20th 2008 11:00AM

forget about that JimmyD, ps3fanboy editors will show only the worst reviews they can find

Kspraydad @ May 20th 2008 11:13AM

@Robert...

The point of the article would be that everything isn't turning up roses for the game....I don't think it is meant to be a metareview.

adolson @ May 20th 2008 2:20PM

@Kspraydad

Are you new here? Andrew is just doing a job, and not very well I would add.

The point of the article is to point out some of the initial reviews of Haze. He chose to only mention the bad reviews, and to use a misleading title. A more accurate article would include the favorable Famitsu and PSM scores, and the title would read "Initial Haze review are mixed" at the very least.

Of course, that would probably require him to put down his Xbox 360 controller, take a break from GTAIV, and actually do a small bit of research on the subject matter of his site, so I'm not surprised.

drdre74 @ May 20th 2008 11:02AM

generic first-person shooter in my opinion. I'm not even going to bother with it. This is the perfect example of a game that shouldn't have put out a demo. That demo is going to hurt sells big time. It got so much hype that now it cant stand up to the hype.