P3Zine: Haze preview for PS3

If you’ve ventured outside your homes in the past two months, you may have noticed that a little known game called Halo 3 has been released on Xbox 360. As both Halo and Haze are exclusive to their respective consoles, both begin with the letter "H", and both have four letters, the two games may initially seem very similar. In reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Haze is set in 2048, in a world where Private Military Contractors have all but replaced the world’s armies. One of the world’s largest PMCs is Mantel Global Industries – a corporation that relies on soldiers dosed up with a new super drug called Nectar. Playing as Shane Carpenter, a soldier for Mantel, your story begins in South America, as a group of rebels known as the Promised Hand are trying to overthrow the Government, Mantel are sent in to resolve the situation. As scriptwriter, Rob Yescombe put it – "Thank f*** for Mantel".

The first level sees you touching down in the middle of a jungle, in search of a dropship that’s crashed carrying a shipment of Nectar. If you haven’t already guessed, Mantel’s super-drug is intrinsic to the storyline, but what’s most impressive is how it’s been linked into the gameplay.