330°

Retailers dumping Haze, a sad end to a great developer

Arstechnica: There were many problems with Haze: even after numerous delays, there were still issues with low-end resolution, gameplay was painfully generic at best, vehicles controlled like bricks, and the storytelling elements were laughably bad. Honestly, it seems like the biggest mistake Free Radical made was actually putting this game into production, as it's been theorized that its critical lambasting and lack of sales played some role in the developer's demise. It turns out that nobody really wants anything to do with the game, including retailers.

While meandering through the aisles at my local Target today, I stopped by the video game section to see if there were any post-Holiday sale prices to capitalize on. I was a little surprised to see the above clearance tag sitting in front of Haze, which has now been reduced to $20.98. When I asked one of the store's salespeople about it, he shrugged and informed me that the game sold well since its launch, so he suspected the store was trying to simply get rid of the remaining copies they'd had on hand for the past few months.
Nineball2112 - contributor
Published: 326 days 16 hours ago | News | PlayStation 3
 
 

Showing: 1 - 42 of 42 Comments
Shut this user up Let user speak
Gun_Senshi - 326 days 17 hours ago
1 -
My friend bought this game for 12 EUR. I must admit I was surprised how good it is and online seemed better then cod...
Shut this user up Let user speak
IdleLeeSiuLung - 326 days 15 hours ago
1.1 -
I played this game last night with my brother co-op and it is nowhere near CoD. It is extremely generic and gets a little better towards the end due to a few cool level designs, but frankly I wouldn't pay more than $10 for it. Which is what I did, $10 brand new. We got two to play co-op.

I think I mostly enjoyed it because it was so bad.... Save your $20 towards a quality game like CoD or hopefully KZ2!
Shut this user up Let user speak
The Matrix - 326 days 15 hours ago
1.2 -
$20? You better bring that bi*** to $1.00 before I'll buy it again. Wasted $60 when it first came out and was fortunate to return it right away. IF YOU PAY MORE THAN $10 on this GAME YOU ARE GETTING RIPPED OFF.
Shut this user up Let user speak
shovelbum - 326 days 12 hours ago
1.3 -
Haze was so freaking broken that you'd think it came from some no-name two man team developers with basement space leased from grandma. I am still dumbfounded as to how this POS got published. Sadly, I had high hopes for it too and it helped kill off an otherwise good team of game designers. Are any other games being developed with the Haze Engine?
Shut this user up Let user speak
Darkseider - 326 days 17 hours ago
2 - Haze
I commented in another article about this game. Granted while not the BEST FPS out there it didn't deserve the complete bashing it received. I went out and purchased it a couple months back and played through the SP and played some MP. The SP campaign wasn't all too bad althought the story was, meh at best. Controls were pretty tight and responsive and the graphics, while not stellar, were decent. The MP isn't too bad either, pretty fast paced and no lag to speak of. Unfortunately this game got the shaft due to being hyped to hell by the media and fanboys.
Shut this user up Let user speak
SL1M DADDY - 326 days 15 hours ago
2.1 - Agreed.
It got slammed so bad and only for the fact that it did not live up to the hype-train the media was riding on. Heck, games like Vampire Rain and Legendary along with Turning Point got better scores than Haze did in some magazines and sites and they were far worse than Haze.
Shut this user up Let user speak
darkride66 - 326 days 14 hours ago
2.2 - Agreed.
I didn't think Haze was that bad at all. It was a victim of hype, just like Too Human. If you're looking for something a bit different and your a FPS fan, I think you'd be remiss not to at least give Haze a rent.
It's interesting to see the directio they tried to go with the social commentary on this game and the way they attempted to humanize both sides of the fight. Too bad it backfired on them. Quite frankly, when I kill a bad guy I expect him to go down in a blaze of glory, cursing my name and vowing to return from hell to exact a terrible revenge. When instead he cries and asks for his Mom, it just doesn't give me the same giddy feeling of accomplishment. Does that make me a bad person?
Shut this user up Let user speak
rucky - 326 days 17 hours ago
3 -
I'll admit I didn't buy it. But it was never on my radar in the first place. I probably would've bought it if they've given it a great score though. Too bad it didn't.
Shut this user up Let user speak
Darkseider - 326 days 17 hours ago
3.1 -
It's worth the pickup. You can get it for around $13 USD used at a gamestop and it really is a pretty good game.
Shut this user up Let user speak
SeanScythe - 326 days 16 hours ago
4 -
yeah it was ok if it had trophies I would pop in back in my system but that's the only reason. Trying to get online was hell when it first came out and even a few months after that.
Shut this user up Let user speak
mirroredderorrim - 326 days 15 hours ago
5 -
I can't pick this game up or I will be a hypocrite... I didn't support the game with my money before and because of what happend to Free Radical, I cannot now.

Damn...
Shut this user up Let user speak
ultimolu - 326 days 15 hours ago
6 -
I still want to try this game out anyway.
Shut this user up Let user speak
sak500 - 326 days 3 hours ago
6.1 -
You want to pick this up? You didnt buy LBP, R2 and socom look at their sales
Shut this user up Let user speak
mrdxpr2 - 326 days 15 hours ago
7 -
il buy it if its 20 in bestbuy theres no target here and i hate gamestop....they told a guy when i went to buy psn cards that mlb the show was coming to 360 i was dyeing
Shut this user up Let user speak
Tryst - 326 days 14 hours ago
7.1 -
Its made by Sony

Its crazy how unknowledgeable shop assistants are :(
Shut this user up Let user speak
Omega6 - 326 days 15 hours ago
8 -
the demo turned me off, the voice overs and the shi**y graphics upset me. I was deeply upset. Why do you make me cry Haze?
Shut this user up Let user speak
Hellangelzx - 326 days 15 hours ago
8.1 -
The original voices were pretty good.

If they had kept Shane Carpenters old voice, I'm sure that would have been a little more positive for the game.

Also, I hate the fact that they hyped us up with so many rendered videos for this game.

At the time, I actually thought this game was going to look like that :(

.hack//gu
9 Shmapanese | 326 days 15 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
Shut this user up Let user speak
specialguest - 326 days 15 hours ago
10 - Since No one wants Haze
I'll purchase it for what I have my pocket...a torn $5 bill, a button, and some pocket lint. Final offer.
Shut this user up Let user speak
ASSASSYN 36o - 326 days 15 hours ago
11 -
I laughed my but off about haze being a halo killer and wished for it's failure. But little did I know the repercussions for my joy and it's poor sales. I still think the game sucked. But why did such a innovative developer release that crap? Especially with a gem like star wars battlefront 3 sitting in their pocket.
Shut this user up Let user speak
Rich1631 - 326 days 15 hours ago
11.1 -
In this article, http://xbox360.ign.com/arti... , one of the ex FRD employees explains that it was because of Ubisoft forcing several rewrites which caused ever changing level designs along with a lot of time spent of trying to get the game engine running. They realized from the beginning that it just wasn't working and they spent so much time on trying to fix it, that it just wound up being a mess. It was originally supposed to be a dead serious shooter set in Iraq with heavy dealings on politics, but it was ultimately switched to a futuristic shooter (probably to compete with Halo).
Shut this user up Let user speak
Tryst - 326 days 14 hours ago
11.2 -
Rich, thats a very interested read, thanks for posting it.

Good to actually get some insider info
Shut this user up Let user speak
Rich1631 - 326 days 13 hours ago
11.3 -
Yeah, no problem. I thought it was neat too. Haze was mediocre but it is sad to see Free Radical go.
Shut this user up Let user speak
Ldubbz - 326 days 15 hours ago
12 - Haze?
wouldn't we all rather not talk about this stinker? This game, Fracture, Jericho, Timekill (or whatever that time-shifting game was called)...all mediocre shooters at best that just need to be put to sleep. At least they seem to be a step above Legendary and Turning Point, but with so many good games out there, why waste your time on this garbage?

EDIT - Hahaha...that "Time-shifting" game was actually called TimeShift. hahaha @ myself...Timekill. Shows how much that crap is on my radar.
12.1 Shmapanese | 326 days 15 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
Shut this user up Let user speak
Mr Marbles - 326 days 15 hours ago
13 - PS3 titles
I noticed while at Best Buy that most of the PS3 exclusives have dropped in value much faster than 360 exclusives. Due to a lack of demand you can pickup MGS4 for a relatively reasonable 40 dollars, Resistance 2 was 50 bucks already.

Halos 3 is still 60 bucks! you guys need to buy more games really.
Shut this user up Let user speak
I_am_rushin - 326 days 15 hours ago
13.1 -
I fail to see how cheap games is a bad thing?
Shut this user up Let user speak
SL1M DADDY - 326 days 14 hours ago
13.2 - @ I_am_rushin
Only to an idiot fanboy would think lower prices to be a bad thing. Of course, it is Mr. Marbles and if you have been here long enough you know what side of the fence he's on... and I can say it's not the "gamers" side.
Shut this user up Let user speak
Mr Marbles - 326 days 14 hours ago
13.3 - @ i am rushin
who said cheap pricing is a bad thing? not me,

I said PS3 fans need to buy more games because as evidenced by the rapid price reduction of most PS3 exclusives, demand for them is LOW, meaning you guys are not buying them, meaning the developers are not making as much money as they would like. And that my fellow gamer IS bad.

I think you knew this, I don't know you but Im sure you are smart enuff to have understood that in the first place, but for whatever reason your playing stupid in some pointless effort to support Sony.

Not worth it dude, don't sell yourself short for a corporation.
13.4 Why dis | 326 days 10 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
Shut this user up Let user speak
Johnny Cullen - 326 days 15 hours ago
14 -
Its £12 pre-owned at CEX (for anybody in the UK)

It could be worth a punt at that price, I'll go for it after I get so many other things like Killzone 2, The Lost and Damned, Skate 2 and Final Fantasy VII: ACC (ala the Final Fantasy XIII demo)
Shut this user up Let user speak
Neurotoxin - 326 days 15 hours ago
15 -
Hmmmmmm I smell Daikatana.
Shut this user up Let user speak
joydestroy - 326 days 14 hours ago
16 -
"[that's] like paying $20 to kill your dreams."

hahahahaha that's saying a lot!
Shut this user up Let user speak
anubis12 - 326 days 12 hours ago
17 -
online better than COD ahahah best thing i have heard all damn day
Shut this user up Let user speak
Psycho_Mantis - 326 days 12 hours ago
18 -
Wow, im starting to feel sorry for them. Even Timeshift didnt get this much hate when it came out...
Shut this user up Let user speak
farhsa2008 - 326 days 11 hours ago
19 -
I am going to DEFY this article and buy haze, I REFUSE to believe this game is that bad, at the very least i will pick it up for a good price, it doesnt hurt to play a game you never played before.
Shut this user up Let user speak
memots - 326 days 11 hours ago
19.1 - @farhsa2008
The game ain't that bad, Go for it. Don't listen to reviewer and Xbox fanboy who never played the game.

I actually bough the game on day one @ full price.
I had 7 days to return it since it was pre-ordered. I played the hell out of it and it was a very decent game way above average shooter like (area51/jericho or Fall of liberty [insert generic shooter name] ) but i decided to return it and get my credit for Msg4 that was coming couple month after.

If i find it at a bargain let say 15$ ill probably pick it up again.
Shut this user up Let user speak
farhsa2008 - 326 days 10 hours ago
20 -
Thanks for your advice, will pick it up soon
Shut this user up Let user speak
EnViAbLe27 - 326 days 1 hour ago
21 -
This guy actually liked it

http://www.gamerankings.com...
Shut this user up Let user speak
Picnic - 325 days 19 hours ago
22 -
Free Radical were an OK studio for a while (although I've only played Timesplitters 2 and the single player campaign was greatly limited) focussed on one genre, the FPS, composed mainly, at least to start with, of staff who decided to leave a great studio Rare who excelled in many different genres.
Shut this user up Let user speak
ScottJ10 - 325 days 19 hours ago
23 - I think a good way...
to get people to buy it, even though it is a poor strategy, is for them to add trophy support for the game. Then sell the game for only 20 dollars like it was at target. People would buy it.
Shut this user up Let user speak
Teatowl - 325 days 19 hours ago
24 -
I was actually really hyped up about this game for some reason, (mostly from my friend who in actual fact had real no clue on the game). when i started playing it i nearly cried when i thought "i paid $100(AUS) for this!!!".
Add Comment (Gamer Zone)
Gamer Zone Posting Guidelines
The Gamer Zone is for members who want a more friendly and civilized discussion. This section is heavily moderated by the N4G staff, so leave your fanboyism at the door please. Members who are unable to behave in a mature and respectful manner will be temporarily or permanently restricted from posting in the Gamer Zone. Using words such as Xbots and Sony droids, or other words from the console war vocabulary, is strictly prohibited in this Zone.
Read More...
 
 
You must log in to post comments.
Username:  
Password:  
 
 
About N4G
N4G is a social game news site that covers the game industry 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
More Info... | Submit News