My thoughts on Haze
I took the plunge and put down the $8 to rent Haze, Free Radical’s new game that hasn’t been very well received by critics. Let me just say up front that it isn’t all that bad. It’s actually fun if you can look past the low resolution textures and somewhat shallow story line. But is it worth the full price of $60? Probably not. Here’s a compilation of my thoughts after finishing the game on the Normal difficulty with two other players.
Presentation: Haze isn’t really an attractive looking game at all. The textures seems pretty low resolution and overall it just doesn’t really look good. Sure, graphics don’t make the game, but it really shows how much attention to detail developers either have or don’t have. That didn’t leave me terribly torn, though. It does look like a game from this generation. I give the presentation a 7. It’s not much better looking than Resistance: Fall of Man, a launch game (Resistance is a great game, by the way).
Gameplay: I didn’t really see anything new or terribly innovative other than the Nectar system. Nectar enhances your combat ability, lighting up enemies, increasing your resistance to damage and ability to heal. The weapons handle exceptionally well and it’s actually fun to kill enemies. Put this together with Nectar and you’re going to have a ball. Until you abruptly become a rebel early on in the game, that is. Being a Mantel trooper was the most entertaining part of the game, and they take it away so quickly. Playing solo at this point is a drag, so round up a few friends for a good time. Oh yea, and vehicles are aweful. Gameplay is a 7 for me.
Story: The story was actually quite interesting in the beginning. Once you switched over to the rebel side, though, I really didn’t care what was going on. They did do a good job keeping you immersed in the game as a Mantel troop by staying first person at all times, but it quickly became a drag as a rebel. I give story a 5.
Conclusion: Don’t buy it, just rent it. I had high hopes for this game, but it just wasn’t meant to be. Co-op with other players over the PSN is the best feature of this game, and even that is barely adequate. It is fun, but it’s the kind of game you’ll end up beating once and then moving on. I do think that reviewers were a little too critical with this game overall, but it really isn’t worth a whole $60.
My Score: 6.3
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