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Haze (video game)
Encyclopedia
Haze is a first-person shooter
video game, developed by Free Radical Design
and published by Ubisoft
for the PlayStation 3
. It was released worldwide in May 2008. A demo for Haze was released on the PlayStation Network on May 6, 2008. Releases for Xbox 360
and Microsoft Windows
were canceled.
A multinational corporation
with bio-medical expertise developed a drug called Nova-Keto-Thyrazine - also called Nectar, a "nutritional supplement" that enables soldiers to fight harder and smarter, but also induces a hallucinogenic effect, where soldiers are no longer cognizant of the real battlefield around them, instead viewing an idyllic, painless environment.
The game takes place over a three day period as Mantel battles a group of rebels known as "The Promise Hand" which is led by Gabriel "Skin Coat" Merino, with the player assuming the role of Shane Carpenter, a 25-year-old Mantel soldier. After Carpenter witnesses the effect Nectar is having on his fellow soldiers, and after a twist in the storyline Shane then turns rogue and teams up with The Promise Hand to take on Mantel.
. Nectar also enhances the soldiers' fighting capabilities, allowing them to run faster and jump higher. They also receive a boost in reaction time. A Mantel soldier experiencing an overdose is shown by a change in their armor, changing in color from yellow to red.
As revealed in an E³ 2007 trailer, Rebel soldiers may go in to a "Play Dead" state just before they are killed, allowing them to regenerate health and disappear from the Mantel soldiers' sight, since they can't see dead people while on Nectar. In addition, they exploit Mantel's dependence on Nectar by attacking the Nectar injector, extracting Nectar to use on throwing knives from dead Mantel troopers, and using the injector to create Nectar grenades. These Nectar-enhanced weapons will cause a Mantel trooper to overdose on Nectar, as will attacking the Nectar injector. Later in the game players also encounter special forces and overdosed soldiers that cannot be affected by Nectar-based weaponry. They can also steal a Mantel trooper's gun, dodge, and bury grenades in the ground as mines.
, where Mantel troops have been dispatched to liberate the country from a rebel group known as "the Promise Hand" which is accused of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity by Mantel's mass media
. Shane meets his squadmates; Sergeant Morgan Duvall, who is the leader of the squad, Lance Corporal Teare, and Corporals' Peshy and "Watchstrap". Teare is quickly berated and dismissed by Duvall for not taking his requisite dose of Mantel's performance enhancing drug Nectar.
Over a series of missions fighting for Mantel, Shane's Nectar administrator fails to drug him on several occasions, causing him to witness a number of disturbing events: he hears screams (implied to be Duvall torturing someone) which Duvall dismisses as "just an animal", he has a conversation with a pilot that had received no wounds from the crash and died mysteriously, but for whom Duvall doesn't care about that, and he sees the dead bodies of civilian factory workers that Duvall's squad massacred in an earlier mission because as Duvall states to Shane "an empty hand is just a grip away from holding a weapon".
Eventually, Shane and his squad were sent to capture Gabriel "Skincoat" Merino, the leader of the Promise Hand who supposedly eats his enemies and wears a long coat made of their skins. Shane captures Merino only to find that he's an old man who's only wearing a sweatervest Merino states is "100% cotton". Merino debates with Shane about war and tells him "My Friend, there are two sides to every war. Are you sure you're on the right side?" Duvall arrives and begins torturing Merino, cutting off his finger. After entering the helicopter to return to base, Duvall brands Shane as a wuss and thinks he'll become a 'ape' like the rest of the rebels. When Duvall starts trying to cut off both of Merino's hands, Shane pulls a gun on him and the rest of his squad, leading to a shootout which causes the helicopter they're all on to crash. After crashing into a swamp, Shane tries to contact Mantel about the crash and his inability to administer Nectar but can't and starts going into severe withdrawals and experiences hallucinations from it. Mantel forces, realizing that Shane is not taking the proper levels of Nectar and thinking he's gone rogue, mark him for death by labeling him a "Code Haze" (Terminate with Extreme Prejudice) and send in their Black Ops (Mantel's professional soldiers, in contrast to Mantel's regular drug-fueled troopers) to kill him. However, Shane escapes death from the Black ops by a "Promise Hand" scout that leads him underground. However, in the underground, he loses consciousness due to Nectar withdrawal.
Shane is rescued by Merino and the Promise Hand, and realizes that everything he's been told about them has been false propaganda by Mantel. Shane is forced to kill Peshy and Watchstrap (who were also rescued from the crash by the Promise Hand) when they start shooting up the village. An insane Duvall, also alive, escapes after telling Shane he's "just an animal" just like the rebels. Having witnessed the unwilling atrocities committed by delusional Mantel's soldiers, Shane claims himself as a traitor but after Merino says he's on the right side, Shane swears allegiance to the Promise Hand in hope of doing the right thing and to undo the damage done by Mantel.
Answering a distress call from a wrecked Mantel cargo ship off a heavily fortified beach, Shane meets up with Teare. Teare, completely battered and wounded, reveals that when they first met, he sabotaged Shane's Nectar administrator to let him have "a taste of reality". Teare reveals the cargo ship is filled with the bodies of past Mantel troopers that Mantel was secretly disposing of; prolonged Nectar use has been proven to be eventually fatal, and Mantel has been concealing this fact by hiding all the bodies of Mantel troopers who have died from the drug, hiding the evidence. Teare also reveals that Mantel's stated humanitarian reasons for intervening in Boa are false propaganda and their real goal is the destruction of Nectar plants being grown by the local population, in order for Mantel to maintain its monopoly on Nectar production. After working on a plan to assault the observatory
Teare is then killed by Mantel's Black Ops soldiers, but Shane and his "Promise Hand" allies escape, having to detour and return to the village, due to an Mantel assault. The Mantel assault is repelled and the plan is recommenced.
Leading the Promise Hand forces, Shane succeeds in destroying Mantel's regional supply of Nectar and remote control network at the observatory control room, causing the Mantel troopers to suffer mental and physical breakdowns from the withdrawal's side effects (he also witnesses Mantel troopers committing suicide when their Nectar withdrawal causes them to realize the atrocities they've committed). Merino orders an assault on Mantel's Landcarrier HQ to finish the war, but Shane is reluctant because Mantel's troopers are now largely defenseless and with no ability to administer Nectar, they no longer pose as a threat. Nonetheless, they begin their attack. During the assault on the Landcarrier, Shane confronts Duvall, who has taken over the Landcarrier due to being the only one disciplined enough to remain sane after suffering Nectar withdrawal. After a shootout in the control room, in which the two argue about right and wrong and the nature of war, Shane kills Duvall and escapes from the exploding Landcarrier. The story ends with Merino describing Shane as a "hero" and revealing his plans to use Nectar, in combination with free will, to give his people some "confidence". Merino states that Mantel "mismanaged" Nectar and denounces them as being "just animals", which greatly disturbs Shane, as it appears that Merino has learned nothing about what Mantel has done and plans to use Nectar to his own advantage.
Haze was originally set to be released simultaneously on the PlayStation 3
, Xbox 360
, and PC
in Summer 2007. However, the release date was pushed back to Winter, and it was announced at Sony's E³ 2007 press conference that Haze would be exclusive to the PlayStation 3
. The game was then delayed further and eventually given a May 2008 release. Free Radical stated that the delays have allowed them to include several new features into the game.
On October 22, 2007 Ubisoft announced that metal band Korn
had written and recorded an original song inspired by Haze. The song, which is also entitled "Haze", was released as a digital single in the U.S. on April 22, 2008. On February 26, 2008 a new trailer called "Nectar trailer" was released and featured the song.
On April 15, 2008 Ubisoft announced a playable demo would be available on the PlayStation Store
in early May. The demo included the 4-player co-operative
mode that appears in the final game.
killer." However, upon release, critical reception for Haze was generally negative. As of March 2009 on Metacritic
, the game has an average score of 55 out of 100, based on 65 reviews. On the review aggregator Game Rankings
, the game has an average score of 57% based on 59 reviews.
Poor reviews included X-Play giving Haze a rating of 2 out of 5 stars citing bad level designs, shallow and stereotypical characters, quirky AI reactions, and a "stupid plot." Giantbomb.com also gave a negative review, scoring Haze 2 stars out of 5, largely due to its many glitches and extremely short single-player campaign. GameSpy
also criticized the game, saying "It's clear from the bare-bones multiplayer, glitchy graphics and incredibly short storyline that Haze is a game interrupted," and gave the game a score of 40%. Eurogamer
gave the title a 4/10 calling it "this year's most significant gaming disappointment." Jeff Haynes of IGN
rated it a 4.5/10, criticizing the "horrible plot, weak gameplay mechanics and visuals that are truly underwhelming. Tons of visual issues abound within the game from texture tears and non-descript environments to pop-in and odd animation problems." Greg Damiano of Game Revolution
rated the game a C-, citing examples of bland gameplay and graphics, blistering sound, and commenting that the main character "Shane Carpenter, whines and pouts all through the campaign."
More generous reviews were also somewhat disappointed. Kevin VanOrd of GameSpot
gave the game a rating of 6/10, saying "This madly inconsistent shooter offsets a number of thrilling moments with terrible artificial intelligence and an awful story," and "A seven-hour campaign and uneventful multiplayer modes just don't cut it in light of the far better modern shooters available on the market." Swedish magazine Gamereactor
gave Haze a score of 6/10, but Ubisoft forced the review be taken down from their website. Two days after being removed, the review was once again published on their website. Narayan Pattison of IGN AU gave it 6.2/10, while Martin Robinson of IGN
UK gave the game a 6.5/10. Edge expressed disappointment that the game fails to make meaningful use of its premise, dealing with issues like the demonisation of the enemy "in such crass manner it tends to undermine the few moments where Haze gets it subtly right". While it stops short of the "nauseatingly distasteful", "[t]here’s simply no complexity to any of the faces you encounter" in the story. Turning to gameplay, the review concludes that the "few bright ideas and engaging set pieces are drowning in an ocean of mediocrity" while the visuals turn "the majority of missions into characterless, barren gauntlets to be endured". Play magazine gave Haze a 64% rating saying "Although ambitious, Haze is let down by generic gameplay, and a rough finish. However, if you're a FPS (first person shooter) fan and you don't mind these shortcomings, you may find elements here to enjoy." The game itself can be completed on 'easy' mode within 5 hours.
There have nevertheless been some positive reviews. PSM3
magazine gave it a rating of 71/100 and said it "fails to better UT3, Resistance
and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
" and it "feels like a novel idea that missed its window of opportunity," but said "there is a certain charm to it." The review concluded that the game is "worth a look, but shabby visuals, unfulfilling plot and dull set-pieces mean it's not a classic." In addition, Japanese magazine Famitsu
awarded the game 34/40. GamePro gave it a 3.50 out of 5, saying that good gameplay and storyline were dampened by bad graphics.
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
video game, developed by Free Radical Design
Free Radical Design
Crytek UK, formerly known as Free Radical Design, is a video game developer based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, probably best known for Second Sight and the TimeSplitters series. After going into financial administration, it was announced on February 4 2009 that the studio had been acquired by...
and published by Ubisoft
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....
for the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
. It was released worldwide in May 2008. A demo for Haze was released on the PlayStation Network on May 6, 2008. Releases for Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
were canceled.
A multinational corporation
Multinational corporation
A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
with bio-medical expertise developed a drug called Nova-Keto-Thyrazine - also called Nectar, a "nutritional supplement" that enables soldiers to fight harder and smarter, but also induces a hallucinogenic effect, where soldiers are no longer cognizant of the real battlefield around them, instead viewing an idyllic, painless environment.
The game takes place over a three day period as Mantel battles a group of rebels known as "The Promise Hand" which is led by Gabriel "Skin Coat" Merino, with the player assuming the role of Shane Carpenter, a 25-year-old Mantel soldier. After Carpenter witnesses the effect Nectar is having on his fellow soldiers, and after a twist in the storyline Shane then turns rogue and teams up with The Promise Hand to take on Mantel.
Gameplay
In the game, soldiers make use of 'Nectar'. Mantel uses this drug to control the minds of its soldiers. When administered, Nectar can control what a soldier sees, among other things, similar to the effects of a hallucinogenic drug. Nectar drowns out images of death and destruction (for instance, bodies will vanish). Nectar also reduces recoil, and allows the player to zoom in further while scoped. An overdose of Nectar is dangerous, with loss of mental control and death being possible side effectsAdverse effect
In medicine, an adverse effect is a harmful and undesired effect resulting from a medication or other intervention such as surgery.An adverse effect may be termed a "side effect", when judged to be secondary to a main or therapeutic effect. If it results from an unsuitable or incorrect dosage or...
. Nectar also enhances the soldiers' fighting capabilities, allowing them to run faster and jump higher. They also receive a boost in reaction time. A Mantel soldier experiencing an overdose is shown by a change in their armor, changing in color from yellow to red.
As revealed in an E³ 2007 trailer, Rebel soldiers may go in to a "Play Dead" state just before they are killed, allowing them to regenerate health and disappear from the Mantel soldiers' sight, since they can't see dead people while on Nectar. In addition, they exploit Mantel's dependence on Nectar by attacking the Nectar injector, extracting Nectar to use on throwing knives from dead Mantel troopers, and using the injector to create Nectar grenades. These Nectar-enhanced weapons will cause a Mantel trooper to overdose on Nectar, as will attacking the Nectar injector. Later in the game players also encounter special forces and overdosed soldiers that cannot be affected by Nectar-based weaponry. They can also steal a Mantel trooper's gun, dodge, and bury grenades in the ground as mines.
Plot
The game begins with Sergeant Shane Carpenter, a 5 year Mantel soldier in a dystopian future where he was enticed by Mantel Propaganda and dropping out of college, arriving in the Boa region of South AmericaSouth America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, where Mantel troops have been dispatched to liberate the country from a rebel group known as "the Promise Hand" which is accused of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity by Mantel's mass media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
. Shane meets his squadmates; Sergeant Morgan Duvall, who is the leader of the squad, Lance Corporal Teare, and Corporals' Peshy and "Watchstrap". Teare is quickly berated and dismissed by Duvall for not taking his requisite dose of Mantel's performance enhancing drug Nectar.
Over a series of missions fighting for Mantel, Shane's Nectar administrator fails to drug him on several occasions, causing him to witness a number of disturbing events: he hears screams (implied to be Duvall torturing someone) which Duvall dismisses as "just an animal", he has a conversation with a pilot that had received no wounds from the crash and died mysteriously, but for whom Duvall doesn't care about that, and he sees the dead bodies of civilian factory workers that Duvall's squad massacred in an earlier mission because as Duvall states to Shane "an empty hand is just a grip away from holding a weapon".
Eventually, Shane and his squad were sent to capture Gabriel "Skincoat" Merino, the leader of the Promise Hand who supposedly eats his enemies and wears a long coat made of their skins. Shane captures Merino only to find that he's an old man who's only wearing a sweatervest Merino states is "100% cotton". Merino debates with Shane about war and tells him "My Friend, there are two sides to every war. Are you sure you're on the right side?" Duvall arrives and begins torturing Merino, cutting off his finger. After entering the helicopter to return to base, Duvall brands Shane as a wuss and thinks he'll become a 'ape' like the rest of the rebels. When Duvall starts trying to cut off both of Merino's hands, Shane pulls a gun on him and the rest of his squad, leading to a shootout which causes the helicopter they're all on to crash. After crashing into a swamp, Shane tries to contact Mantel about the crash and his inability to administer Nectar but can't and starts going into severe withdrawals and experiences hallucinations from it. Mantel forces, realizing that Shane is not taking the proper levels of Nectar and thinking he's gone rogue, mark him for death by labeling him a "Code Haze" (Terminate with Extreme Prejudice) and send in their Black Ops (Mantel's professional soldiers, in contrast to Mantel's regular drug-fueled troopers) to kill him. However, Shane escapes death from the Black ops by a "Promise Hand" scout that leads him underground. However, in the underground, he loses consciousness due to Nectar withdrawal.
Shane is rescued by Merino and the Promise Hand, and realizes that everything he's been told about them has been false propaganda by Mantel. Shane is forced to kill Peshy and Watchstrap (who were also rescued from the crash by the Promise Hand) when they start shooting up the village. An insane Duvall, also alive, escapes after telling Shane he's "just an animal" just like the rebels. Having witnessed the unwilling atrocities committed by delusional Mantel's soldiers, Shane claims himself as a traitor but after Merino says he's on the right side, Shane swears allegiance to the Promise Hand in hope of doing the right thing and to undo the damage done by Mantel.
Answering a distress call from a wrecked Mantel cargo ship off a heavily fortified beach, Shane meets up with Teare. Teare, completely battered and wounded, reveals that when they first met, he sabotaged Shane's Nectar administrator to let him have "a taste of reality". Teare reveals the cargo ship is filled with the bodies of past Mantel troopers that Mantel was secretly disposing of; prolonged Nectar use has been proven to be eventually fatal, and Mantel has been concealing this fact by hiding all the bodies of Mantel troopers who have died from the drug, hiding the evidence. Teare also reveals that Mantel's stated humanitarian reasons for intervening in Boa are false propaganda and their real goal is the destruction of Nectar plants being grown by the local population, in order for Mantel to maintain its monopoly on Nectar production. After working on a plan to assault the observatory
Observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...
Teare is then killed by Mantel's Black Ops soldiers, but Shane and his "Promise Hand" allies escape, having to detour and return to the village, due to an Mantel assault. The Mantel assault is repelled and the plan is recommenced.
Leading the Promise Hand forces, Shane succeeds in destroying Mantel's regional supply of Nectar and remote control network at the observatory control room, causing the Mantel troopers to suffer mental and physical breakdowns from the withdrawal's side effects (he also witnesses Mantel troopers committing suicide when their Nectar withdrawal causes them to realize the atrocities they've committed). Merino orders an assault on Mantel's Landcarrier HQ to finish the war, but Shane is reluctant because Mantel's troopers are now largely defenseless and with no ability to administer Nectar, they no longer pose as a threat. Nonetheless, they begin their attack. During the assault on the Landcarrier, Shane confronts Duvall, who has taken over the Landcarrier due to being the only one disciplined enough to remain sane after suffering Nectar withdrawal. After a shootout in the control room, in which the two argue about right and wrong and the nature of war, Shane kills Duvall and escapes from the exploding Landcarrier. The story ends with Merino describing Shane as a "hero" and revealing his plans to use Nectar, in combination with free will, to give his people some "confidence". Merino states that Mantel "mismanaged" Nectar and denounces them as being "just animals", which greatly disturbs Shane, as it appears that Merino has learned nothing about what Mantel has done and plans to use Nectar to his own advantage.
Development
Haze was first announced at E3 2006. It makes use of a proprietary graphics engine that was developed specifically for the game. Though purchasing an engine would reduce the development time, the team chose to create their own in order to have more freedom in the features and game design. The engine provides various graphical effects. Lighting is mainly baked but the Haze Engine also has support for real time lighting and has a high-dynamic range. Particle and fire effects help give the illusion of volume along with motion blur and real time depth fields, the engine supports color Specular maps, Normal Mapping, and Parallax Mapping technologies. Haze runs at 30 frame/s; the team claimed that 60 frame/s was not needed for the pacing of the game. The AI system, "ConspireTM", is designed to allow enemies to dynamically react to other characters and the environment.Haze was originally set to be released simultaneously on the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, and PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
in Summer 2007. However, the release date was pushed back to Winter, and it was announced at Sony's E³ 2007 press conference that Haze would be exclusive to the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
. The game was then delayed further and eventually given a May 2008 release. Free Radical stated that the delays have allowed them to include several new features into the game.
On October 22, 2007 Ubisoft announced that metal band Korn
Korn
Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The current band line up includes four members: Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, and Ray Luzier. The band was formed as an expansion of L.A.P.D.The band released their first demo album,...
had written and recorded an original song inspired by Haze. The song, which is also entitled "Haze", was released as a digital single in the U.S. on April 22, 2008. On February 26, 2008 a new trailer called "Nectar trailer" was released and featured the song.
On April 15, 2008 Ubisoft announced a playable demo would be available on the PlayStation Store
PlayStation Store
The PlayStation Store is an online virtual market available to users of Sony's PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable game consoles via the PlayStation Network. The Store offers a range of downloadable content both for purchase and available free of charge. Available content includes full games,...
in early May. The demo included the 4-player co-operative
Cooperative gameplay
Cooperative gameplay is a feature in video games that allows players to work together as teammates. It is distinct from other multiplayer modes, such as competitive multiplayer modes like player versus player or deathmatch...
mode that appears in the final game.
Reception
Prior to release, Haze garnered considerable hype. Some media sources even deemed it a "HaloHalo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
killer." However, upon release, critical reception for Haze was generally negative. As of March 2009 on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, the game has an average score of 55 out of 100, based on 65 reviews. On the review aggregator Game Rankings
Game Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
, the game has an average score of 57% based on 59 reviews.
Poor reviews included X-Play giving Haze a rating of 2 out of 5 stars citing bad level designs, shallow and stereotypical characters, quirky AI reactions, and a "stupid plot." Giantbomb.com also gave a negative review, scoring Haze 2 stars out of 5, largely due to its many glitches and extremely short single-player campaign. GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
also criticized the game, saying "It's clear from the bare-bones multiplayer, glitchy graphics and incredibly short storyline that Haze is a game interrupted," and gave the game a score of 40%. Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
gave the title a 4/10 calling it "this year's most significant gaming disappointment." Jeff Haynes of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
rated it a 4.5/10, criticizing the "horrible plot, weak gameplay mechanics and visuals that are truly underwhelming. Tons of visual issues abound within the game from texture tears and non-descript environments to pop-in and odd animation problems." Greg Damiano of Game Revolution
Game Revolution
Game Revolution or GR is a gaming website created in 1996. Based in Berkeley, California, the site includes reviews, previews, a gaming download area, cheats, and a merchandise store, as well as webcomics, screenshots, and videos...
rated the game a C-, citing examples of bland gameplay and graphics, blistering sound, and commenting that the main character "Shane Carpenter, whines and pouts all through the campaign."
More generous reviews were also somewhat disappointed. Kevin VanOrd of GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
gave the game a rating of 6/10, saying "This madly inconsistent shooter offsets a number of thrilling moments with terrible artificial intelligence and an awful story," and "A seven-hour campaign and uneventful multiplayer modes just don't cut it in light of the far better modern shooters available on the market." Swedish magazine Gamereactor
Gamereactor
Gamereactor is one of Northern Europe's biggest game magazine and Gaming sites that covers video- and computer games as well as mobile phone-games and indie-titles. It started in Denmark in 1998 by Morten Reichel and Claus Reichel - first years under the name Gamez.dk. The Magazine and Online...
gave Haze a score of 6/10, but Ubisoft forced the review be taken down from their website. Two days after being removed, the review was once again published on their website. Narayan Pattison of IGN AU gave it 6.2/10, while Martin Robinson of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
UK gave the game a 6.5/10. Edge expressed disappointment that the game fails to make meaningful use of its premise, dealing with issues like the demonisation of the enemy "in such crass manner it tends to undermine the few moments where Haze gets it subtly right". While it stops short of the "nauseatingly distasteful", "[t]here’s simply no complexity to any of the faces you encounter" in the story. Turning to gameplay, the review concludes that the "few bright ideas and engaging set pieces are drowning in an ocean of mediocrity" while the visuals turn "the majority of missions into characterless, barren gauntlets to be endured". Play magazine gave Haze a 64% rating saying "Although ambitious, Haze is let down by generic gameplay, and a rough finish. However, if you're a FPS (first person shooter) fan and you don't mind these shortcomings, you may find elements here to enjoy." The game itself can be completed on 'easy' mode within 5 hours.
There have nevertheless been some positive reviews. PSM3
PSM3
PSM3 is a video game magazine specialising in all Sony video game consoles and handheld gaming platforms. PSM3 is published by Future Publishing, a UK-based publishing company....
magazine gave it a rating of 71/100 and said it "fails to better UT3, Resistance
Resistance: Fall of Man
Resistance: Fall of Man is a first-person shooter video game for the PlayStation 3. It was developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The game is set in an alternate history 1951, and follows Sgt...
and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a 2007 first-person shooter video game, developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. A handheld game was made for the Nintendo DS. The game was released in North America, Australia, and...
" and it "feels like a novel idea that missed its window of opportunity," but said "there is a certain charm to it." The review concluded that the game is "worth a look, but shabby visuals, unfulfilling plot and dull set-pieces mean it's not a classic." In addition, Japanese magazine Famitsu
Famitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
awarded the game 34/40. GamePro gave it a 3.50 out of 5, saying that good gameplay and storyline were dampened by bad graphics.