Quicksave - Haze Demo Impressions

Quicksave writes:

"Coinciding with today's PlayStation Day, European PS3 owners were given a chance to take Free Radical's Haze for a spin. I admit that after many delays, which pushed this title well into 2008, my interested waned considerably. However, I'm a gamer of patience and thus I downloaded the 1.5 GB demo – I deliberately set GTAIV aside just to try it out so you people better appreciate this. My thoughts? It's not that bad or that great."

[Asurastrike]

Haze is honestly the worst FPS I have played in years.

[gambare]

more than denied ops?

[ps3FTW]

What about hour of victory?

[TresTrendu]

All the Sony user's have been don't hate the game just hate the player's.

[wAtdaFck]

Its like you were expecting another COD4.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Haze will be standing right next to Denied ops, Hour of Victory, Turning Point Fall of Liberty, Soldier of Fortune, Timeshift, and Aria 51.

[heyheyhey]

Timeshift wasn't too bad

just came after COD4 is all

your wrong about Haze though

those were half-assed games from half-assed devs, this has a lot of cool features and is being made by FRD

lets wait for the reviews before we judge eh- not long to go now

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Timeshift was ok online, but nothing to to drink a pot of coffee and stay awake for. The time grenades were cool, but since that was the only good things about it... well :( I would say "rent" first.

[gEnKiE]

"to drink a pot of coffee and stay awake for"

lol. Thats what my mornings have been after work since I have been catching up on the MGS series and with GTAIV coming out.....

[Sir Ken Kutaragi]

I have played it(unlike most people on this)and it was Great!;-P
Did the online bit to and that was Great to!;-P
(Got a game online with no problems) ;-P
+Did a 2player off-line game and that was Brilliant and Funny to!;-D
If you shoot your mate in the back he goes mental!;-D Or any other of your team. Funny to watch it was;) Until i got shot!;-D

FRD:4Ever;)

[heyheyhey]

i'd say the single player in TS was quite solid too

the actual time-shifting was a poorly done gimmick but they got the shootign mechanics down pat

[solidt12]

I disagree with you extremely. I am happy with what I saw in the demo last night and thought that the addition of the Nectar was cool, its kinda like cheating but I like it. It didn't blow me away like Killzone footage or Resistance but it plays like a very solid FPS and I plan on buying it. It is way better than Denied Ops FYI.

[PoSTedUP]

wow i herd opposite from some 1 else, they told me it was pretty awesome. dont hate

[trancefreak]

i gotta ask if the game is that generic with graphics wtf has free radical been doing with this title since nov. and all the screenshots looked so good compared to the gameplay vids. i mean if we waited this long for a delayed game that was quite hyped with comparisons to crysis something is wrong here. all those screenshots were cleaned up. preety sad then. ill have this demo soon im at 60% and ill decide from there if i want to keep my pre order or not.

[MEGANE]

i havent try it yet but one thing i know for sure if it was an XBOX 360 exclusive by now i'll be hearing comments like a VERY STRONG FPS and the xbox controller makes it just better!!

[Tarasque]

What a childish remark, maybe you should comment on the article or take it to the east---->.

IMO i wasn't very impressed by the game, i would say it is average.

[TresTrendu]

Sony's great year is going up in flame's how nice.

[Scerick]

Who was sighting haze as part of the PS3's killer lineup for 2008 again? No one.

[TresTrendu]

What the heck you mean no one, i just left a post a couple of sec's ago and a sony god put it in his post as part of the AAA lineup.

_____________________________ ___________________
As sony say's next gen doesn't start until they say, or at
least until i buy some HDcable's.

[Scerick]

Fanboys *posting* hardly count, sorry. If they counted, they'd be receiving a paycheck for spouting their BS all over N4G.

Quote and link me a major journalist or Sony PR and I'll admit I'm wrong.

Every preview I've read has a cautiously optimistic overtone and that's about it. I've not read one article stating Haze is the second coming and saving grace for the PS3 in 2008.

Edit: Assclown20 the above applies to you as well.

[joydestroy]

if i download this demo and then don't like it, i'm going to be really disappointed. i'm already kinda bored with GTAIV and was looking at Haze to fill in the gap until MGS4 comes out. what am i gonna do now? i'm gonna end up going back to RSV2 probably.

[omodis420]

How could you be bored? Seriously please tell me how?

[joydestroy]

because it's the same thing over and over again. go meet so and so, then go take out some guys for them, get paid. then that cycle repeats. i mean it's fun and i get my laughs, don't get me wrong, but sometimes when i play it i just wanna put something else in.

the multiplayer is alright. i like the co-op modes a lot more but i'm pretty sure you do the same mission over and over again, right?

i just don't find it very challenging i suppose.

[gogators]

All you do is drive back and forth between missions, struggling to keep your friends happy and entertained, while still trying to find time to screw around every so often. The multiplayer has been far more entertaining.

[hay]

Show me the game in which you won't do the same thing over and over.

[solidt12]

I can't believe the things some are saying about HAZE and they haven't even played it yet. I really like what I saw in the Demo. The AI of the enemies is still in question until I see the full game but it was a pretty good Demo. The gunplay, controls, and frame rate felt really good. The Graphics are good but not great but graphics aren't everything. I really like the gameplay.

[Bathyj]

The problem with these demo impressions is, from what I've read about this game the best things are the story, the immersion from playing through with no loading, the different play styles when swapping sides and the drop in drop out nature of the co op as you need it.

I dont think these things are really coming across in just a demo. If it looks decent and controls nicely, then I'm still getting it. I'll DL the demo when I get home from work and decide for myself.

[omodis420]

Thats it. How long is the game supposed to be? If its another 12 hour game I would not pay 60 bucks. I am so happy I bought PS3 recently rather than earlier. If I paid 60 bucks for Heavenly Sword, and Uncharted I would have been pissed. Both are awesome games, but for 60 bucks everyone should really just start renting this "good games". Maybe it would send a signal to developers that people will only pay 60 bucks when they get a game that has some mileage along with it.

[Scerick]

Eh I feel Uncharted was well worth the money. I'll give you HS being too short though.

[omodis420]

How man times did you play Uncharted? I didn't get all the treasures but I rented it and beat it in six days. I LOVED THAT GAME!! But honestly 60 bucks?

[Scerick]

I usually only play through games once, I buy way too many to replay the same game.

Halo 1, 2, 3; Once.
COD4; Once.
Bioshock; Once... ect.

The thing is I got a good 13 hours out of it, which is $4.60 an hour, about the price of a movie ticket. I'll call that a good deal :).

Call of Duty 4 only gave me about 7 hours of single player but the Multiplayer saved it's ass. Would I say COD4 was more for the money? Yes, but I still feel Uncharted was worth it if just for the eye-candy along the ride.

Edit: Bubbles for you btw, it's been awhile since I've had a good convo. on here :).

Edit: Now that I think about it I think I got 16 hours out of Uncharted... I'll have to go look.

Edit @ Below: $8.75, Utah. My partner also played through it, so that would double the value considering that would be $17.50 for us to both see it :). Either way, $0.45 for me to interact and control my entertainment is well worth it to me :).

Edit: Oh and add $1.00 for parking! (I live in downtown Salt Lake :P) So it actually does end up being cheaper! lol.

[joydestroy]

not sure where you live, but here in Charlotte, NC a movie ticket is about 8 bucks. then you add in crap you want, like popcorn and a drink and maybe some candy or something. you end up spending approximately 17 bucks for one person!

i usually sneak crap in though. i hardly go to the movies as it is. nothing good ever comes out now. Iron Man was the sh!t though. too bad the game sucked donkey balls.

[Scerick]

Iron Man = The best movie I've seen in 2008.

Edit @ Below:

Since I work at a game studio my opinions of renting are probably a little skewed and biased lol.

Edit @ Kain81:

You're no longer my friend.

[omodis420]

7.99 @ Blockbuster 6 days of fun.

I agree that if COD4 Mulitplayer is your thing than 60 bucks is worth it. I bout GTA 4 and feel like I am getting my moneys worth. I like to buy Madden for online. I just think that if a game is not going to have online then it should have a story with some length or sometime type of replay factor warranting a purchase of $60

(Good conversation btw, its nice to not just argue with fanboys)

[Kain81]

i wait for Indiana Jones 4.

[projectile]

You pay 5 dollars for a movie ticket?!
In my country(norway) its almost 20 dollars, and they wonder why we go less to the movies...

[Madmax1281980]

it took u six days to finnish uncharted??? lol it only took me two nights and that was on normal difficulty the end fight was way to short and easy. good game but wouldnt fork out £40 for it id rather some other idiot buying it and borrowing it. lol

[snakeater3]

cant believe u dont dish out 60 bucks for a nice piece of game to add to your collection....here in EU we pay 70 frikkin euros...thats 140 dollars right? .. "come on you cheap bastards...cough up some green"

[solidt12]

Well this game has Co-op, and Multi-player so I would say it has some good mileage.

[PlasmaShark]

Could have seen this a mile away. I don't know why this game receives so much publicity but it looks like a very bland FPS built around "look what we can do with effects" regarding the nectar element. Save your money. There are too many great new games coming out anyway.

[joydestroy]

unless i'm missing something, how many great games are coming out within the next 3 months besides MGS4? because the summer is looking boring for me.

[pwnsause]

Socom. Summer isnt suppose to be packed with games. be happy that this is the next game.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

Haze is far from suck.

These guys took the FPS formula and perfected it.

Great storyline.
Great controls.
Great multi-player.
Great weapons.
Great streaming...yeah, there's a new one this generation.

Halo 3 sold, right?

Why can't something with a storyline sell too?

Or does Mountain Dew have to sponsor Shane Carpenter himself?

[joydestroy]

Socom...i dunno. i hope it's gonna be good. but it's set for like september or something later. i said within the next 3 months. that means until August.

&be happy? dude i own both a PS3 and Xbox 360 and i still don't think there's enough games out right now to keep me busy.

screw it. i'll go back to Mass Effect if i have to.

but the Xbox 360 doesn't have ANYTHING GOOD coming out for a very long time. i dunno what they're up to but they're gonna lose this year if they don't get on the ball.

EDIT: Socom looks amazing. i hadn't been looking into it too much but it looks very promising. it's a franchise that usually doesn't disappoint so we shall see.

[Kain81]

soulcalibur 4
Socom 4
Wipeout HD
MGS4
Haze
GRID
and other Multi plats

[pwnsause]

thanks for reminding us, i forgot what there was more than what is a available for the summer, dont forget Downloadable games such as Street Fighter 2 HD remix and Bionic Commando Rearmed, great games to play during the summer with friends.

@joydestroy

I always act like that. lol

[joydestroy]

alright, i'll give you Soulcalibur 4 and WipeoutHD, but neither of those i'm extremely excited about. Socom Confrontation comes out in september supposedly...so that's kinda far off for me.

see, this is why i'm in college to be a game developer. i'm gonna show 'em how it's really done.

[mistertwoturbo]

I didn't find it to be that bad. Infact it feels a lot better than RSV2. One thing this game does really well is the Audio effects. I'm not talking about the voice work, but I mean the actual sounds of explosions and gunfire and things like that. And graphically, it looks very good. Seems like they sacrificed graphical fidelity to keep the stable frame rate. Hence, the low resolution of 576p.

All in all, people are going to hate it. But I guess I'm one of the rarer few who actually likes the demo. Heck, the demo is much better than Halo 3 already.

[Vulcan Raven]

Can i see some proof of that resolution claim? Hate to be skeptical, but i am an evidence oriented individual.

[mistertwoturbo]

http://forum.beyond3d.com/s...

Quaz51, same guy who found Halo 3 running 1152x640. Same guy who found GTAIV PS3 to be 1152x640.

http://www.ripten.com/2008/...

[Vulcan Raven]

Thanks for the link. That is kind of disappointing. I hope this game plays well, i live in canada and can't get the demo until thursday I think. So on an off topic note can the cod4 map pack be played offline? I took my PS3 to a friends house who does not have internet and the map pack was not available, but when i get home there they are once i am signed into the PSN. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Baba1906]

i thought it was ok. i guess there is more to it than on the demo. i ll just wait and see.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

After playing the demo, I'm definitely buying this.

I love it.

Maybe the graphics aren't up to par, but hey...neither is Grand Theft Auto IV and you guys love that, right? This is from over a year ago anyway! The graphics are far improved upon by now.

The gameplay is more unique than these idiots would have you believe. While it has the classic FPS controls and feel, it seems to be playing off of Crysis in the storytelling...which, for you console diehards, is a VERY good thing. The voice acting was convincing and the dialogue seemed like someone actually sat down and wrote whatever passion was on their mind...and wasn't drunk. (Gears of War, anyone?)

I really loved this demo...

Honestly though, I think the multi-player will be the biggest draw for gamers...

[CNIVEK]

Um...no, it isn't. Tell yourself that, if it makes you feel any better...but that demo = retail version.

[solidt12]

Finally someone approves of this game other than me.

[OmegaKulu]

Still waiting for the final thing... this is a demo from a year ago, so i'll put my judgment when i see the final product.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

THANK YOU!!!

Nobody will think this demo is from that far ago.

If you've seen the game now, you'll know it looks and plays much better than this...

[ECM0NEY]

lol if i see one more purson list HAze as a system seller, i will laugh in their face. O and Scerick i have seen easily 10 people on this site say Haze was going to be amazing and sell systems lol

[Vito_corleone]

Whats a "Purson"?

[maggotmx]

yeah Mr Vito because apparently you are superhuman and make no mistakes when typing smartass

[Vito_corleone]

Im from the Corleone family, we don't make mistakes.

[Defectiv3_Detectiv3]

The one thing I didn't like was it isn't easy to spot other players. You can't really see the rebels unless your using nectar, and they make sure its easy to spot the mantel troopers w/ their bright yellow uniform.

But yeah, there are supposed to be some driving missions and we haven't even played as the rebels yet so the game has some untapped potential.

I would say the graphics are on par with Halo 3. They serve their purpose but nothing to gawk at.

Still have more fun playing timesplitters though...

[jkhan]

I just finished the demo & I had the feeling of meh, I don't know what to think about this game. When the demo starts you are in the middle of a lush jungle and I thought wow that look amazing and when I started to move I realize, how static and how unreal this world is. The character models are pretty decent, the voice overs are lame. Especially when the main guy asks the pilot who is lying upside down that are you ok? what do you mean, can't you see he is dieing. Anyways the shooting was pretty solid and the enemy AI was pretty decent too. The game just doesn't have that wow factor that everyone was hoping it would have. FreeRadical said they are really pushing the PS3, where the hell are they pushing? The game looks ok, not amazing not even good, it looks just OK and it plays like a good shooter thats it. I was hoping for some wow factors in the demo. Which unfortunately it didn't have:(

[pwnsause]

sounds like a mixed honest review there. i havent played it yet, waiting till it releases here this thursday, i was hoping for vegetation physics, but it looks like theres none. well lets see what I think of the game this thursday.

I guess FR was concentrating more on the PSN and gameplay than on the graphics itself.

[jkhan]

@pwnsause
Thats the thing, I am not a graphics lover, they should be good, not ugly and I am fine with it, this game isn't ugly it looks fine, but the gameplay that I played was like everyother shooter. If they weren't focusing on the graphics, they should have some innovative gameplay features and the story, I really didn't like the one liners. I was pretty hopeful for this game but now, I think I will just pass.

[trancefreak]

im totally into these types of games i gotta say despite a few cheesy punch lines i think the game rocks. the graphics defintally look good. not what i thought from all the hype but to me the game is a pick up day 1. i know this game will be funner and the mplayer should have some extra gaming value later. i think this game boils down to is it worth the $$$ compared to the likes of other good titles releasing soon. sometimes you either love a game or hate it. i think it will have mixed reviews but i think ill love it

[InMyOpinion]

Overhyped garbage like the rest of the PS3's line-up. The only interesting title this year is Metal Gear Solid 4.

[Thoas]

LOL you need 9 dvd disc to play MGS4 on your gimp system. HAHA and your never going to get the chance to play it on any other system sept PS3.

[pp]

resistence 2 = fail
kill zone 2 = ok
gears of war 2 = game of the year
haze = MEGA FLOP

[ruibing]

You remind me of Ms Cleo; an eight ball probably does just as good a job as your predictions.

[AngryXbot]

People are forgetting that Haze demo was a work in progress and merely the singleplayer campaign (beginning). Multi player and coop play are totally different stories. Do not be quick to judge. I liked the visuals and the nectar.

And xbot, you are retarded.
Gears of war 2 will bring nothing new. Because 360 is already maximized.
Resistance 2 is going to own GoW2.
KZ2 is untouchable. KZ2 has pissed on Halo 3. Halo franchise was the last in the series. With 60 million, Bungie and MS couldnt even bring more than Halo 2.5. KZ2 pissed on it.

MGS4 will be game of the year and the 360 killer.

Haze will be a nice addition to the PS3 untouchable line up.
Along with Tekken 6, Soul calibur 4, WKC, LBP, HOME, Valkyrie chronicles, Motorstorm 2, SOCOM, WARHAWK, WIPEOUT and MORE.

Where as the 360 line up has what exactly? Lmao FAILble 2? Ninja gaiden 1.5? Lmao there are absolutely no MUST have games on the 360. And all the people saying Im wrong, are xbot fanboys that never experienced any other franchise other than xboxs tiny franchise line up.

You idiots thought Halo was big...untill you witnessed GTA4. Lmao.

[Thoas]

You mean Gears of War 1.5 not 2, just like Halo 2.5 was so called 3

[PeeboDaKilla]

angryxbot = alexm/nasim?

[AngryXbot]

little boy.

[Lex Luthor]

Just downloaded and played the demo, very mediocre game.

rental at best.

[whatis]

Has anyone else picked up on the negative vibe that that this game seems to generate?

Anyways, I've been eyeing this game for a while actually (as I'd expect anyone with an interest in coop games has too) and after playing the demo (2 player split screen only so far) I can definately say that I will picking this one up. A few things I picked up on from the demo:

Very smooth framerate.

Pretty good graphics (a bit better than Resistance 1 I'd say).

An option/setup screen that is just perfectly laid out and is a joy to use (I normally wouldn't comment on something like this but it stood out to me for some reason).

Fun gameplay (dosing up on nectar was surprisingly fun too).

A bit too easy (on hard mode. extra hard is locked). I didn't die enough compared to how often I was hit.

Smart AI that dives out of the way of grenades.

[felidae]

some guys are idiots. Haze plays fantastic and looks really good.

f*ck fanboys

[SL1M DADDY]

Are just silly fanboys looking to start a flame war. If you want to tell us your feelings about the game in a truly constructive, critical way then fine, but for those that post the fanboy banter of:

"Just downloaded it, hated it."

and

" Haze was supposed to be great and after playing it I think it sucks"

please, keep your silly (and as I suspect, fake) reviews out of the gamer zone. Open zone is for lying fanboys that have nothing better to do than to lie about playing the game demo and making up the feelings of hate for such a title.

Thanks to all however that have played the game and gave us a rather constructive review based on truth and a more rational point of view.

[dale1]

haze i like and will buy day one no problem can,t see any issues here at all did anyone actually play it, enemies to hard to see zoom in then,looks slow press L3 and run its as quick as cod4,graphics look damn find on my 40 inch bravia.

[Dante8205]

its honestly very very fun. 4 player co op is amazing. the game was only built for its fun factor. hence free radical...thats all they want

[tordavis]

I couldn't see the demo so I made a Euro account and downloaded it last night. It was very...underwhelming. I really wanted to see what the vehicle play was like but there weren't any in the demo. It's hard playing FPS on the DS3 after playing all the other FPS games on the 360. There was nothing in the demo that made me say, "HOLY SH!T that's cool!" It was very hum drum. It's sad really. This is supposed to be one of the 2008 AAA titles.