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Excellent buy for FPS fans

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 24 / 26
Date: May 22, 2008
Author: Amazon User

(I would have given this game a 4.25 or 4.5 stars if Amazon allowed it)

First off, let me state the ratings of the IGN review of this game:
Presentation: 4.5
Graphics: 4.0
Sound: 5.0
Gameplay: 4.5
Lasting Appeal: 4.5
Overall: 4.5

Now my response:
Are you kidding me?! IGN gave GTAIV a 10 in graphics, when I get pop-ins and texture tears occasionally (but I still love GTAIV), and a 4.5 to HAZE?! The gameplay is no where near a 4.5, it is more of a 9.0. This review lowered the credibility of IGN after I played HAZE.

That being said, HAZE is fantastic! The graphics are stunning, and the gameplay has well balanced mechanics in shooting, physics, and speed.

Now let me state my ratings for HAZE(in IGN's categories):

Presentation: 7. The storyline could have used a little more creativity,but was enough to keep me satisfied and interested.

Graphics: 8.5. Stunning environments, smooth framerate, and very nice explosions.

Sound: 8.0 Have to agree a little with IGN on this one. The dialogue could have used a little more development. On the other note, sound effects, such as gunfire, explosions, etc..., sounded just right.

Gameplay: 9.0. This is where the game shines. Gameplay is fantastic! The idea behind Nectar fit perfectly with the gameplay. This game has excellent FPS mechanics, and every FPS fan will enjoy the gameplay.

Lasting Appeal: 9.0. After the single player, its on to multiplayer! Multiplayer is another aspect of this game that shines. The Online-Coop is 100 times better than the demo, and regular multiplayer is so much fun as well.

Overall: 8.5 (which is equivalent to 4.25 stars on Amazon)

If you played the demo, and the actual game, you will notice that there is a HUGE difference. The actual game is way better than the demo by a wide margin.

Final words: Don't judge this game based on online reviews such as IGN, Gamespot, Amazon reviews (including mine), etc.... Just go out and buy the game, and see for yourself. If you like it, keep it, and if you don't, sell it at Gamestop, GameCrazy, ebay, or even Amazon. Remember, a review is the opinion of one person.

Very disappointing

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 21 / 26
Date: May 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Haze has had a good bit of hype surrounding it, especially considering its a PS3 exclusive FPS that seemed to be loaded with potential. Playing as a futuristic soldier with the ability to supe themselves up to almost superhuman capability thanks to a drug called Nectar. While this little feature does manage to add a bit of spice to the overall gameplay aspects of Haze, as a whole the game doesn't offer up anything that hasn't been seen a million times before in a million other first person shooter's, or for that matter, do much of anything particularly well either. There are some moments of spectacular action that show off the kind of potential that Haze had to be a great game, but these moments are few and far between. Where Haze really falters is with the game's presentation: the storyline, dialogue, and voice acting are all deliriously bad, and the game's AI doesn't fare much better either. Four-player co-op and multiplayer are bland but decent enough, and the game looks good and offers a decent selection of weapons. However, the overall core of Haze is disappointingly shallow despite the game's interesting premise, and PS3 owning FPS fans are better off giving this a rental and holding out for Resistance 2.

Lots of Potential. Doesn't Use it.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 18 / 21
Date: May 23, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The way over-hyped game Haze is worth checking out. It is similar to Halo. If you enjoy Halo you will probably like Haze. The co-op option of the game is fun. My biggest gripe about this game is it gets quite repetitive very fast. The dialog and little in-game movies are stupid and get annoying within the first few minutes.

I was looking forward to this game and was disappointed. Graphics are good, but not as amazing or quick as I expected for a high-def PS3 only game. Here are the pros and cons...

PROS:
-Sound is pretty good.

-Control isn't bad once you get used to it.

-Graphics are pretty good, but not as great as expected.

CONS:
-Graphics are just ok. For what else is out right now, these graphics are a little plain and not very creative.

-Maps are boring, repetitive and plain.

-Game play has been done over and over again.

-Nectar is a cool touch, but not used to the extent or creativity that it could have been.

-The game gets very repetitive very fast.

-Teammates are idiot jocks that get annoying real quick. And they swear a lot.

-No sprint option. Really really stupid. It is 2008 and we can't run in a game. What the heck.

Over-all this FPS game is worth checking out. It is entertaining at parts but Haze does not use its full potential. If you are used to good games like Half-Life 2, Uncharted, Resistance or Gears of War you will probably be disappointed. Not a horrible game but don't expect to be blown away.

HAZE delays worth it?!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: May 22, 2008
Author: Amazon User

After following this game and all the delays over the last year I was very excited to see it's final release! The graphics are not COD 4 quality but above GTA 4 quality. I played though what I believe to be the first half of story mode and then played about 2 hours online. I was really excited about the online battles but with only 6 maps and only 3 modes it's pretty limited. On one map there is no way to get to the highest part (to get sniper rifle) unless you spawn up there. No ladders??? Jumping seems rather flat and if your playing as a rebel you glow in the dark (to the Mantel troopers) but have no run option! Just left to a slow trot... It's fun to pretend to be dead till troopers run by but that gets old fast and didn't end up as much a next gen game as I had hoped for! They tried some new ideas and for that I'm going to give them a bit of credit but it falls way short of what we were all hoping for. I have yet to try the 4 player coop story mode and to be honest I think thats probably the best feature this game has. 4 friends having fun during coop mode is probably the most fun you'll have with this game... Online is a big disappointment for me! I know I'm not alone when I say that for FPS COD 4 has set the standard for next gen FPS's and this title disappoints to live up..... On a side note I'm also a little tired of next gen games that force you down one path. Isn't it time for more sandbox games with changeable outcomes?! We had one on the PS 2 called Deus Ex The Conspiracy (sleeper hit/must play) so why not the PS 3. This game has next gen thought just not next gen gameplay! 3 out of 5 but I'm going to award it 4 out of 5 for being progressive in theory...

Dashed Expectations

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: May 30, 2008
Author: Amazon User

In the year 2048, The Mantel Corporation is waging an all out war for the freedom of civilization. At least that is the company line they are putting forth as they send legions of drug enhanced soldiers into the jungles of South America to bring down the rebel opposition.
In the new game HAZE, players take on the role of a Sgt Shane Carpenter who is tasked with leading a squad against the rebel leader, a man dubious named Skin Coat. I want to say at the outset that the game's publisher, Ubisoft, did not return several calls and e-mails for more information and review materials for the game. We were able to get a pre-release interview for the game, but since then, no further information was passed along, so I had to rely on Gamefly to provide the game for review and did not have an outlet to get explanations or clarifications for questions I had with the game and its performance.
Carpenter was a college student who decided to make a difference in the world and at the start of the game, finds himself launching with his new squad to recover pilots from a downed aircraft. Carpenter like all of his fellow soldiers, are enhanced by a drug called Nectar which grants them greater abilities in combat and is administered by the combat armor they wear.
The first few missions are fairly standard shooter missions where players mow down generic baddies in a dense jungle before they undertake an urgent mission to capture the rebel leader who has been located in a smelting plant.
As the mission unfolds, Carpenter begins to have doubts about his role thanks in large part to a malfunctioning Nectar administrator. In short order, Carpenter soon finds himself involved in the rebellion and seeking to find the truth behind Nectar and the real agenda of the Mantel Corporation.
The game has a good setup and premise, but sadly the best moments of the game come in the early stages of the game. Aside from the abundance of generic units as both enemies and NPC characters, there are roughly a dozen lines of dialogue that are spouted in the heat of battle by your opponents and comrades. While this is an attempt to add depth to the game, it comes across badly, as many times the lines are not always appropriate to the situation, and rapidly become redundant after you hear them for the fifth time in a mission. There were also a few moments were the audio portion of the game dropped out.
Another issue with the game is the very bad A.I. that aside from rolling from side to side, limits your enemies to straight on attacks for the most part. On more than one occasion I was able to shoot an enemy only to have him take a shot at me and then turn his back to me and ignore me until I attacked him again. The game attempts to explain this during a load screen with text that informs you that soldiers on Nectar become impervious to much of what is around them. While this may be the case, it tends to make for some very dull and uninspired enemies and gameplay.
Another issue I had with the game was the level design missions. Many missions involved simply getting to a point and then getting back from a point and surviving the combat in between. There were few distractions in the plot and little twists to give the game a sense of suspense or mystery, and to explain Carpenter's motivations. A so called reveal hinted at things, but there was never a big payoff or confirmation, so I was left to accept that Carpenter had a change of heart based on what was largely circumstantial evidence and the word of another person.
The game does get some things right, and that is the solid selection of weapons and the ability to administer Nectar to yourself in combat. Gamers who want a bit of perverse fun may want to give themselves an intentional overdose and watch what happens next.
The finale was a big disappointment as there was no ultimate bad guy for me to content with nor were any of the real mysteries of Mantel fully explained. I had thought that this might be explored in a future sequel but since Ubisoft did not respond to my requests, I have to assume that this is not the case. The final conflict was so uninspired, that two quick bursts from my rifle and a grenade ended the conflict. I did not even need to use the special Nectar grenades that my character learned to create later in the game.
Another issue with the game is the inconsistent graphics in the game. At times the game really shines and at other times, the textures seem on par with PS 2 graphics and do not live up to the potential the PS 3 offers.
The voice acting, music, and sound effects in the game are average and do not really stand out, but the multiplay does offer some interesting options. While I had problems staying connected to many ranked games, there were some great options such as a co-op mode and a multiplay game where I could either be a guard or a prisoner trying to escape from a compound.
I also enjoyed the use of vehicles in the game as being able to drive or ride in certain vehicles both in the solo and online portion of the game were actually some of the best moments in the game.
Using the Dualshock 3 control did help somewhat as the vibration effects did allow for some added immersion into the game, but sadly did not allow me to steer the vehicles with the control via motion sensing as some other PS 3 titles do.
In short, Haze is a great concept that sadly fails to live up to the promise that was so evident when I first previewed the game at the PAX Expo in Seattle last summer.
6 stars out of 10
Creativity 3 Good concept but falls apart after early missions.
Graphics 3 Some are good but most are not up to the potential of the PS 3
Sound 3 Some audio issues, music is nothing special
Longevity 3 Finished the game in about 6 hours
Fun Factor 3 Had some good moments, just not enough

This game is far better than the demo

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: May 21, 2008
Author: Amazon User

A lot of people are panning the demo for it's lackluster presentation of the game, and I guess I have to agree with that. But I did find the demo intriguing enough to try the full game. Well, I gotta say that the real deal beats the demo's brains in, hands down! You really have to play past the first level or two to get a full understanding of how well this game plays and how much of a blast it is. Don't worry about the demo, forget the demo! Just go try this game, I would have given it a 4.5 if we were allowed to select half stars.

Well Rounded game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: May 22, 2008
Author: Amazon User

First off I am going to say I have been anxiously waiting for the release of this game. I am a big COD4 fan. On the PS3, it sets the stage for all FPS games. Haze, is right up there. They both have their strengths. COD4 is an awesome game because it is very realistic with the missions, real weapons, & warfare. Haze's strength is that it is not as realistic, but more fun because of the science fiction aspect of it. The weapons that you use actually have the cartridge gauge on them which makes the weapons appear futuristic. Really cool... The reload time is good & realistic just like COD4. The load time for the shotgun for example is realistic on both games. The explosions are very rich in detail in Haze as you can actually see a lot of fire & smoke, & even when you are in Nectar mode you can see the shockwaves from grenade blasts. For some reason this really impressed me.. I guess it's the detail. The graphics in COD4 are sharper than Haze. To be honest I will be surprised to see any game that has equal sharpness in the graphics like COD4. I'm not sure but it appears like COD4 has 1080 resolution, but I could be wrong. Haze's graphics appear a little, well lets say Hazy LOL. But it's done well & it looks like the developer's did it intentionally as I have seen games with graphics that are so sharp until the game looks fake. Haze is perfect.. The animations are great. There is a lot of detail in the backgrounds. In the first level the butterfly animations are an added plus for detail. Like I said Haze is fun in the fact that it isn't as realistic as COD4. The premise of the performance drug Nectar is great & is written in good with the storyline. I say this because the soldiers for Mantel are no more that drug seeking killing machines. It is written well because they are supposed to be the good guys but in fact they are cocky arrogant drug addicts. During the game even when not in battle you can hear the sound of nectar being pumped into members of your team. When in nectar mode your character has superhuman reflexes & perception & strength. COD4 can't mess with that. Also, you get to use vehicles. It is very similar to Resistance Fall of Man in that aspect because some levels you drove tanks & jeeps which made that game really fun. I haven't had the game but a day, but I can see myself wanting to play over & over again because it's just plain fun... Buy this title, you wont regret it..

Good Idea - Not Great Execution

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: July 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The first-person shooter - and especially the "futuristic" first-person shooter - has been done, over and over, with little to no changes in gameplay, since almost the beginning of gaming itself. With that said, games like Haze occasionally try to mix things up a little, and while the idea is good, the execution ends up dragging it down a lot.

The underlying plot of the game, both single-player and multiplayer, is that, in the future, a company/organization called Mantel uses a drug called Nectar to produce a generation of drugged-up super soldiers to fight for them in the third world. Multiplayer battles consist of skirmishes between Mantel troopers and rebels, while in singleplayer you start as a trooper and switch sides later on.

The two sides have the same basic first-person gameplay, with some key abilities that are different. Mantel troopers inject themselves with Nectar, which enhances their perception (scopes can zoom in farther, enemies are rendered as glowing objects) and strength (soldiers move faster, hit harder, and regenerate health) as well as providing a hallucinogenic "high". There is a limited supply of Nectar that each soldier has, but it regenerates over time; the supply is counted in "shots" or "injections". Holding the L2 button down injects Nectar into your bloodstream, represented by a gauge. Release the button too soon, and you won't feel the effects of it for long. If you hold it down for too long, though, you can overdose, which renders you unable to tell between friend and foe. In many cases, when you are overdosed, you are unable to control yourself even to the point of randomly firing weapons or arming grenades (which you must shake the controller to throw away before it detonates). If you run out of Nectar, you are highly vulnerable; for this reason, you can usually siphon Nectar off of one of your teammates, if they have enough.

On the other side, the rebels are as weak in combat as a Mantel trooper without his nectar. They make up for this with various ingenious techniques. Some rebel weapons are coated with Nectar, specifically knives and grenades that are made from Nectar-packs taken from dead troopers. Both of these weapons can cause Nectar overloads in enemies, causing the aforementioned self-damaging effects. Playing off of Nectar's effect of making dead bodies "invisible" (bodies fade almost instantly when playing as a trooper, but remain for a long time when playing as a rebel), rebel soldiers can "play dead" when hit, and then "revive" after the troopers have left. Rebels can also do various mechanical improvisations, such as taking ammo from dropped weapons and converting it to ammo for the weapon they are currently using, as well as turning grenades into proximity mines. Finally, they're generally faster and more agile than their trooper counterparts, capable of dodging and in some cases stealing an enemy's weapon.

The single-player storyline is laughable, for the most part, with some interesting parts. You play as Shane Carpenter, wide-eyed idealist youth, who joins Mantel to make a difference and stop the unspecified mass murders and ethnic cleansings that the rebels are carrying out. The story starts on a carrier, where Carpenter meets his teammates - gung-ho, drug-fueled murderers in the finest traditions of sci-fi and war movies everywhere. Only, the difference here is that it makes sense - it's plain to see that Nectar screws with your mind just by the effects that show up when you use it in-game; the blurring, the sudden shifts of motion, and so on. Carpenter's injection system malfunctions several times, which (a) leaves the player unable to use Nectar's beneficial effects, and (b) causes Carpenter to see things that his fellow troopers don't see; a dying comrade, screams of pain, massive piles of bodies, and so on. Carpenter questions his mission more and more, eventually leading to his switch to the rebel side midway through the game. Most of the story is ham-handed dialogue, though there are some good atmospheric moments; walking through one burnt-down village, or trying to find your way through a swamp, for example. These moments tend to only use dialogue as background noise - the heavy-handed boasting of the Mantel troopers contrasts against the quiet of the jungle's ambient noises. The use of camera in cutscenes is interesting, but not really new; the view is always from Carpenter's first-person perspective, though in some scenes his visor will slide away so that the HUD doesn't block your view. In most cutscenes, you can look around but not move, lending at least some feeling of interactivity to the scenes.

As a whole, the gameplay - as mentioned - tries some interesting things, but ultimately falls short. A lot of it makes sense as a Mantel trooper - the poor control, for example, or the lack of solid feeling to movement and aiming - but when you're a rebel and you're supposed to be free of the hallucinatory drug, it's just bad. The guns are the most generic first-person guns ever - a pistol, an assault rifle, a shotgun, a sniper rifle, a chaingun, a flamethrower, and a rocket launcher. None of them handle well, and none of them are particularly fun or interesting, either. Grenades are pretty much worthless, and even in single player I've never managed to kill a person with one even when it exploded right underneath him. The vehicles handle incredibly poorly, often flipping with little to no provocation. On that note, your AI buddies all have roughly the same abilities as yourself, but if they die they are gone forever, and finding new allies is incredibly rare. With that said, most of the times I had allies die (counting times I reloaded afterwards) was in vehicle crashes, when I'd take too much of an angle, my buggy would flip, and my gunner would die. Other than that, the AI soldiers are reasonably helpful, though the troopers and their Nectar injections are much tougher and more helpful than the rebel allies, who lack both the strength of the troopers and the ingenuity of the player and are left with pretty much nothing.

The graphics are nice in some ways and terrible in others. For example, they load slowly, leading to that awkward phase where you watch a person's resolution increase in front of you. In other places, animation is jerky, or edges are jagged, or some other flaw exists that prevents the on-the-surface good graphics from actually being good. Furthermore, the designs are both silly and generic, especially the Mantel vehicles and their bright yellow glass. The voice acting is generic, too; not bad, but by no means actually good, and the ridiculousness of the lines makes up for whatever points good voice acting might have gained.

This game has some good ideas, but the underlying genre of futuristic first-person shooter and the incredibly poor execution of graphics and gameplay render this game unbearable. For PS3 shooters, Resistance was better; for shooters in general, pretty much anything is better. This game doesn't deserve anything higher than a 4/10.

Could have been a lot better...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: May 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I had been waiting rather impatiently for 'Haze' to finally hit the shelves, but I was hoping for a little more. That being said, this isn't a complete waste of time...or money.
Essentially, the idea behind 'Haze' was really quite good but the developers put the "Finished" stamp on it too quickly.

PROS:
Gameplay - Like I said, it was a unique idea. The game was pretty fun.

Co-op - Four player co-op (2 via split screen, 2 via LAN or Playstation Network.) More games need to have co-op and Ubisoft knows it. It would have been nice to have 4 player split screen co-op, but this is a start.

Multi-player - Fun, unique levels and gameplay. Uses the same in-game options and gameplay feel as the campaign mode.

CONS:
Story - Not very good, but enough of a basic plot to keep you interested.

Script/Dialog - Really, really needed some help. One of the weakest parts of the game, even bordering on laughable at times. The voiceovers were also really annoying, particularly for the Mantel troops.

AI - Not too smart. Often they seem to be daydreaming, even when they should be looking right at you. Another thing is they are all programed with identical movements, at least at times. For example, if you throw a grenade into a group of enemies, they will most likely all dive the same direction at the same time, do the same tuck and roll and stand up at the same time.

Graphics - Generally speaking, not too bad but I would expect more from a next-gen game. Parts of it were decent but there were parts of the game that were obviously rushed through.

All in all, 'Haze' is decent. It is not as bad as the critics say, but not as good as the fanboys claim. It could have been a really great game but simply put, Ubisoft really needed to have polished a few things up to make 'Haze' shine.

It's alot of fun, judge for yourself

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: May 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have never trusted sites like IGN, or any that review video games. I don't trust ANY reviews. I try a game out for myself and if I like it, I like it. How is a reviewer ever going to know my tastes? What gives them the power to make or break a good game?

Having said that, I thought this game was alot of fun and am very glad I purchased it. There are tons of moments of extreme action all around you, the story is great, graphics are excellent, the soundtrack is awesome, Online Coop is excellent, framerates are very smooth, this is a winner in my book. As I said, do yourself a favor in the gaming world and forget the gaming website reviews, have some originality and judge for yourself, you may find many games you love that the "reviewers" never did. I sure have.

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