In the heat of the console war, gamers rely upon exclusive titles that set their gaming platform apart from the others, all the while instilling confidence in the decision to buy one console over another. With only a few of A-list exclusive titles available for the PlayStation 3, owners of the console have been chomping at the bit for more new IPs that are created solely for the PS3. Enter Haze, a sci-fi first person shooter from video game developer Free Radical.
Like many games, Haze had its share of promised release dates and delays to follow. Thanks to Free Radical's viral marketing scheme in the form of a faux corporate website, those awaiting the game's eventual release could learn about Mantel Global Industries for whom you play as a soldier in the game. On May 22nd, PS3 owners could finally get a taste of an A-list hopeful that could possibly add a bit more value to their console purchase.
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In Haze, you play as Shane Carpenter, a college dropout whose desire to succeed led him into the clutches of the aforementioned Mantel Global Industries, a private military outfit whose soldiers benefit from the use of its revolutionary new drug called Nectar. Mantel's presence is to "fight the good fight" and to eliminate those who pose a threat to world peace. As a member of Mantel's private army, Carpenter's combat abilities are enhanced by Nectar, enabling him to join the ranks of the corporation's super soldiers. When the game begins, Shane and the members of his squad, each with a severe God complex, are ordered to track down Skin Coat, the leader of an extremist group known as The Promised Hand.
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shabby - Monday, May 26, 2008 - link
I see you guys missed that haze actually runs at 576p rather than 720p, would of been nice to mention.JarredWalton - Monday, May 26, 2008 - link
Not owning a PS3, I can't really say either way, but would rendering at 1024x576 and then stretching to 1280x720 result in a sort of "anti-aliasing"?Furen - Monday, May 26, 2008 - link
A simple strech would actually amplify aliasing, since you would stretch the edges even more. I'm pretty sure that the upscaling algorithms used probably are the equivalent of some of the higher-quality upscaling methods we see in DVD players, so the effect may actually be decent--but nowhere near what it would be if you rendered in HD natively. So much for Sony's "every game will run at 1080p" BS...mmntech - Monday, May 26, 2008 - link
Keep in mind that this is a third party title, being distributed by UBIsoft, a company who has earned my ire many times over on many different platforms. The developer takes the blame for this one since the graphics in Haze aren't exactly going to tax the system. Given that it's a PS3 exclusive built from the ground up, that's particularly disgraceful. If nobody at the company can program for the Cell (I assume this will be their excuse), fire them and hire someone who can. All other PS3 games run fine at 720p or 1080p. Sony does take some blame though since in the PS blog they said Haze would run at 720p when in reality it's only being upscaled to 720p. That is deceitful. If you're using a display with non-standard resolutions higher than 720p (say a 16:10 computer monitor like I do), the image quality further deteriorates since it's being upscaled twice.Technicals aside, Haze seemed like a pretty generic dystopian future first person shooter to me after I played the demo. There's nothing spectacular about it. You go around shooting terrorists while doing drugs. It's like Vietnam except with fancy yellow and black suits. It's not a bad game but it's not great. Over hyped and under substance. I'd rent it but I wouldn't fork out $60 to buy it.
ats - Thursday, May 29, 2008 - link
Very Very few games for either PS3 or XB360 actually render to 720P let alone 1080P.Neither of the consoles have either the graphics power or memory to really support heavy shading and textures at real HD resolutions.
Slash3 - Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - link
No other comment on what you've already said, but here are a few other titles that do not run at 720p or higher resolution on the PS3:Lair: 800x1080 (no, really)
COD4: 1024x600
Dark Sector: 1152x640
Metal Gear Online: 1024x768
Haze is 1024x576
MGS4 is rumored to be 1024x768 as well.
The downside is that through the low rendered resolution + upscaling, you lose a lot of fine detail. It still looks great in motion, since you retain the modern particles, lighting and rendering passes for effects such as depth of field, HDR lighting and such, but you lose definition - literally.
I honestly don't think it would be such a big deal if people hadn't been force fed the notion that this console generation would deliver all content in 720p or 1080p format when it's simply not the case.
slashbinslashbash - Monday, May 26, 2008 - link
Reading the review, the game sounds a lot like Halo, although it seems Halo has a better weapons selection and a better multiplayer experience. I would have liked to see more explicit comparisions of each mode: single-player, multiplayer, and coop. Also comparisons of graphics, sound, etc. Halo 3, like it or not, is the standard-bearer of console sci-fi FPS gaming (distinguishing from historical or more-or-less realistic depictions like CoD). Not to mention, Halo 3 is exclusive to Xbox 360 and thus seems to form the most perfect competitor to Haze (bring on the "Hazo" comments). I, being mostly happy with Halo 3 and the 360, and not owning a PS3, would like to know how Haze fares in comparison.I'm not trying to be snide or anything, it just seems that this game is squarely aimed at the same niche that Halo 3 occupies.... like probably someone at Sony decided to come up with a Halo competitor. Nothing wrong with that, but since the comparison seems so obvious, I would like to see someone actually do the comparison in a review, despite the flak they will take from fanboys on both sides. I know that I will own a PS3 eventually, and I owned all 3 (4, if you count the Dreamcast) of the last-gen systems.
EddieTurner - Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - link
Aside from being a FPS and having a four letter title beginning with the letters H and A. there is really no similarity between the two. Haze is a story about conflict between humans and just doesn't give off that Halo vibe at all. I don't think that was the direction the devs were going with this. But I agree, Halo is a fine game that has set some standards in console FPS's.