haze
Matthew Cash
Remember Rare? Yeah, well, that company essentially gave birth to Free Radical, the same company behind TimeSplitters. With a pedigree like that, that would make this the PS3's killer app, wouldn't it?? No, but I wasn't one of those on the hype train, so I'm not one of those "OMG, et iseint eh healo kila!" people that gave this game the reputation it's gotten. Is it a fantastic game? No, but is it as bad as those disappointed gamers exaggerate it to be? Definitely not. And between Rare and Free Radical, Free Radical did a much better job of making a game with a short single-player and bot matches with multiplayer than Rare did with the horrible Perfect Dark Zero.
Let's explain something real quick, okay? The reputation. When people learned of this game, they hyped it up and had high expectations that this would be a Halo killer. I was not one of those people. The people that did hype this game up got a hold of it and realized it wasn't Halo, to which the normal amount of massive exaggeration took place. Saying this had fugly graphics, the worst gameplay, and it was nothing more than shooting with nothing else to it. Well, that's all wrong.
But now I'll talk about the single-player campaign. It's short. How short? Damn short. How damn short is 'damn short'? Dammit, it's 5 and a half hours, that how damn short damn short is (say that five times fast). Basically, this is how it goes. You're Shane Carpenter, some dude with a light un-Sarge-like voice for his Sargeness who worked for the Mantel Corporation, a technological beast of a company that uses the drug named Nectar that enhances the strength and speed of the user. Hell, it even highlights the bad dudes in a red kind of outline so you can easily shoot those bastards. What bastards? The rebels, aka the Promise Hand aka The Mexicans. Yeah, all of the rebels you find are pretty much Mexicans, no lie. Even more ironic is the cause of the war between Mantel and the Promise Hand: The Promise Hand doesn't like Mantel's use of drugs. Of ALL the reasons out there, you pick the most ironic one possible? Mexicans disapproving of drugs? Last I checked, they were getting fucked up by drug cartels down there.
Anyway, the Nectar's the thing that made this game special. Only problem is that you switch over to The Promise Hand about half way through and that Nectar's gone. Fortunately, you have Nectar Knives (what I call them anyway), which will make the Mantel troopers overdose on Nectar, causing them to go all psycho and shoot everyone in sight and sometimes cook a grenade in their hand until they 'splody, 'splody. You also have Nectar grenades, which do the same thing, but inflict more damage and don't need you to get as close.
But it's short, as I said, and the characters are unlikable by the horrible script and confusing storylines that you have no idea either what's going on and your buddies are too high to explain anything. Then you go all Promise Hand and, by this time, you'll all like "EXPLAIN THIS SHIT TO ME", but, no, you don't get it explained. Thanks a whole hell of a lot, Crytek UK (as Free Radical is now called). Besides, there's nothing in the campaign worth mentioning, but if you get the game, you should run through it to get used to the game's slightly different controls. Reloading is Triangle and switching weapons is Circle? So, we're moving one button to the right for these actions? Sure. It's weird, but easy to get used to and the sensitivity isn't half as bad as their former company's attempt at a current-gen game. Rare as a company needs to die, but that's a bit off topic.
I bought this game for one reason and one reason only: bot matches. The same reason I got Perfect Dark Zero. Unfortunately, you can only pick between Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch in bot matches, but it sure is fun. You have slightly more maps than Perfect Dark did, but you can't pick Small, Medium, and Large, but you can't do that in Unreal Tournament or Quake III either so that isn't a complaint. Yeah, there isn't much to say here except that if you like bot matches, you should get this game for that sole purchase. It's only $10 at GameStop, so there's not much to lose in terms of money).
Just for shits and giggles, I'll throw in a (dis)honorable mention to the multiplayer.
IT SUCKS. Nobody plays it anymore and the other modes, most notably Assault, is boring and the other players can somehow see you when you're hiding, yet they're Promise Hand without the Nectar's ability to see you. And they get a headshot from across the map. I call hacking, but it isn't worth playing the multiplayer anyway, so it doesn't matter.
Presentation-wise, the game's okay. The graphics aren't top of the line by any means, but they do the job. There isn't much in environmental variety, but Uncharted: Drake's Fortune didn't have much either. Basically, it's not a good thing, but it doesn't take off major points from the score, just a few (.##)'s. However, the soundtrack is forgettable and the voice acting is HORRENDOUS. How can somebody not pull off being high to a good extent? HOW?? I mean, sure, they're high, but all they say is "YEAH!" with a chest bump, but even that seems mediocre. The Mexicans sound stereotypical, too. Figures. The gun sounds are just like the graphics. They get the job done without anything special to them.
And that's about it. Haze, while not as bad as everyone says, does have its issues in presentation, occasionally dropping in framerate and has some screen tearing at points. The voice acting is an ear-vomit inducing mess, but the gameplay is solid enough during the single-player to justify it's cheap price. The sensitivity is definitely easy to get used to, making bot matches fun to pull of during the middle of the night when your friends are off. If you're a fan of bot matches, this warrants a cheap purchase, but stay away from multiplayer and plug your ears while playing the campaign. That is all.
Score: 7.25
Remember Rare? Yeah, well, that company essentially gave birth to Free Radical, the same company behind TimeSplitters. With a pedigree like that, that would make this the PS3's killer app, wouldn't it?? No, but I wasn't one of those on the hype train, so I'm not one of those "OMG, et iseint eh healo kila!" people that gave this game the reputation it's gotten. Is it a fantastic game? No, but is it as bad as those disappointed gamers exaggerate it to be? Definitely not. And between Rare and Free Radical, Free Radical did a much better job of making a game with a short single-player and bot matches with multiplayer than Rare did with the horrible Perfect Dark Zero.
Let's explain something real quick, okay? The reputation. When people learned of this game, they hyped it up and had high expectations that this would be a Halo killer. I was not one of those people. The people that did hype this game up got a hold of it and realized it wasn't Halo, to which the normal amount of massive exaggeration took place. Saying this had fugly graphics, the worst gameplay, and it was nothing more than shooting with nothing else to it. Well, that's all wrong.
But now I'll talk about the single-player campaign. It's short. How short? Damn short. How damn short is 'damn short'? Dammit, it's 5 and a half hours, that how damn short damn short is (say that five times fast). Basically, this is how it goes. You're Shane Carpenter, some dude with a light un-Sarge-like voice for his Sargeness who worked for the Mantel Corporation, a technological beast of a company that uses the drug named Nectar that enhances the strength and speed of the user. Hell, it even highlights the bad dudes in a red kind of outline so you can easily shoot those bastards. What bastards? The rebels, aka the Promise Hand aka The Mexicans. Yeah, all of the rebels you find are pretty much Mexicans, no lie. Even more ironic is the cause of the war between Mantel and the Promise Hand: The Promise Hand doesn't like Mantel's use of drugs. Of ALL the reasons out there, you pick the most ironic one possible? Mexicans disapproving of drugs? Last I checked, they were getting fucked up by drug cartels down there.
Anyway, the Nectar's the thing that made this game special. Only problem is that you switch over to The Promise Hand about half way through and that Nectar's gone. Fortunately, you have Nectar Knives (what I call them anyway), which will make the Mantel troopers overdose on Nectar, causing them to go all psycho and shoot everyone in sight and sometimes cook a grenade in their hand until they 'splody, 'splody. You also have Nectar grenades, which do the same thing, but inflict more damage and don't need you to get as close.
But it's short, as I said, and the characters are unlikable by the horrible script and confusing storylines that you have no idea either what's going on and your buddies are too high to explain anything. Then you go all Promise Hand and, by this time, you'll all like "EXPLAIN THIS SHIT TO ME", but, no, you don't get it explained. Thanks a whole hell of a lot, Crytek UK (as Free Radical is now called). Besides, there's nothing in the campaign worth mentioning, but if you get the game, you should run through it to get used to the game's slightly different controls. Reloading is Triangle and switching weapons is Circle? So, we're moving one button to the right for these actions? Sure. It's weird, but easy to get used to and the sensitivity isn't half as bad as their former company's attempt at a current-gen game. Rare as a company needs to die, but that's a bit off topic.
I bought this game for one reason and one reason only: bot matches. The same reason I got Perfect Dark Zero. Unfortunately, you can only pick between Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch in bot matches, but it sure is fun. You have slightly more maps than Perfect Dark did, but you can't pick Small, Medium, and Large, but you can't do that in Unreal Tournament or Quake III either so that isn't a complaint. Yeah, there isn't much to say here except that if you like bot matches, you should get this game for that sole purchase. It's only $10 at GameStop, so there's not much to lose in terms of money).
Just for shits and giggles, I'll throw in a (dis)honorable mention to the multiplayer.
IT SUCKS. Nobody plays it anymore and the other modes, most notably Assault, is boring and the other players can somehow see you when you're hiding, yet they're Promise Hand without the Nectar's ability to see you. And they get a headshot from across the map. I call hacking, but it isn't worth playing the multiplayer anyway, so it doesn't matter.
Presentation-wise, the game's okay. The graphics aren't top of the line by any means, but they do the job. There isn't much in environmental variety, but Uncharted: Drake's Fortune didn't have much either. Basically, it's not a good thing, but it doesn't take off major points from the score, just a few (.##)'s. However, the soundtrack is forgettable and the voice acting is HORRENDOUS. How can somebody not pull off being high to a good extent? HOW?? I mean, sure, they're high, but all they say is "YEAH!" with a chest bump, but even that seems mediocre. The Mexicans sound stereotypical, too. Figures. The gun sounds are just like the graphics. They get the job done without anything special to them.
And that's about it. Haze, while not as bad as everyone says, does have its issues in presentation, occasionally dropping in framerate and has some screen tearing at points. The voice acting is an ear-vomit inducing mess, but the gameplay is solid enough during the single-player to justify it's cheap price. The sensitivity is definitely easy to get used to, making bot matches fun to pull of during the middle of the night when your friends are off. If you're a fan of bot matches, this warrants a cheap purchase, but stay away from multiplayer and plug your ears while playing the campaign. That is all.
Score: 7.25