I've mentioned this one a week or two ago, but it's here quoted in full, (well, almost). No apologies for the new thread, I think this one deserves the attention:
quote:
PREVIEW: Haze By Edge
Free Radical may have produced a console FPS that you can’t compare to the usual suspects.
Watching Haze’s development from the outside has been a strange experience. After an initial rush of information the November release date came and went, and the month-by-month delays that followed didn’t inspire confidence – although whether that was more to do with Ubisoft’s financial statements or hesitancy on the part of Free Radical isn’t clear. But things are funny sometimes: behind what looked like a stuttering and slightly troubled end to development, Free Radical has taken the time to refine Haze beyond expectations.
Looking at screens of the Mantel troopers might seem to belie that. After all, here are black-garbed military men with guns, surely one of gaming’s most overused archetypes. They’re not even fantastic looking, and alongside some of the textures are undeniably below the level expected on the PS3. Indeed, several elements of the gameworld are visually unexceptional. It’s a technical rather than an aesthetic failing, however, because the world of Haze has a distinct visual quality that is far removed from other titles in the genre. This can be as simple as the ubiquity of the Mantel logo to the more usual pleasures of watching your team spread out and take up cover effectively. It’s a game that has managed to craft a world rather than a tech demo, and if that means that the mud occasionally gets blocky close-up you learn to live with it.
What’s more important is that Haze feels good in the hands, to the extent you might even forget you’re using a PS3 rather than a 360 controller. Your first steps as Shane Carpenter are exhilarating once the use and purpose of Nectar has been explained: you stride through undergrowth with fellow Mantel troopers, popping off the bright targets that appear before you, merrily thwacking their floppy corpses into nearby trees and pulling up your visor to get a better view of an airstrike. Your fellow soldiers come across as deeply unpleasant, but their characterization is more subtly sinister than any of the obvious nonsense occurring in the likes of Army Of Two, and depend on you paying attention to throwaway remarks during gameplay as well as the implications of what they’re saying in the cutscenes.
They fit their roles, of course, because playing as a Mantel trooper is an alpha male dream. You’re faster, stronger, smarter and deadlier than any opponent you face, only capable of a relentless, adrenaline-fuelled rush to a new objective. Nectar is plentiful, and you’re soon pulsing in and out of doses as you settle into the levels’ rhythm. As a group of enemies appear, your finger automatically pulls the analogue trigger like a syringe to increase your dosage, the screen momentarily blurs and then refocuses itself with a sharp pull, and the enemies are marked out in yellow, your shooting’s better, and you can see every pathetic trap they’ve laid in your path. You feel unstoppable.
Which, in a head-on guns-blazing way, you are. But a strange thing happens after a while: you get caught in one too many Nectar bombs thrown by the rebels, and accidentally kill your own teammates. Or you run at one rebel and three of his friends pop up behind you with some Mantel weapons. You keep on triggering grenades they’ve buried below sight of your Nectar-enhanced eyes. You get hit in the neck with a throwing knife. You get sniped. Most of all, despite all your power, you feel a little bit hunted.
This is the key to Haze: it’s not one-sided, but nor is it full of minor variants. You can either be a trooper or a rebel, and that choice dictates your and your team’s entire strategy. Either all-guns-blazing pumped-up-adrenaline shock and awe, or crafty, sneaky, improvisatory and environment-controlling tactics. The level design adds to this, concentrating on making each location a series of encounters that play out in different ways: on a ship, for example, you fight your way up and down stairs, cross a long gantry, drop into a more open space and take on some snipers, all the while moving through a series of smaller spaces with their individual encounters. The attention to the player’s movement through the level is quite brilliant at times, although only extended play will tell if it can maintain this standard throughout.
Haze also has the ubiquitous deathmatch, which makes distinctions even clearer as each team criss-crosses through the elaborate maps and tries to play off the other. The only levels played on thus far were open and would have seemed to favor the Mantel squad, but both rounds saw a crushing rebel victory with some excellent use of the Nectar grenades. In the co-op campaign, which follows the same route as the singleplayer, the game can feel a little narrow at times but is never less than riotous (particularly with vehicles) – and the ‘deleted scenes’ in the Team Assault mode should be worthy adjuncts to the main campaign.
Perhaps Haze still looks a little underwhelming in places, and perhaps the cry of ‘political game’ will scare players away. It’s neither. Haze looks like being, first and foremost, a brilliant current-generation shooter debut for Free Radical. Alongside that, there are individual scenes featuring subject matter few other pieces of entertainment go near. If Haze’s excellent design is sustained throughout, then alongside its new narrative territory it may be that rarest of beasts: an excellent game that dares to treat us like adults.
yeah, theres like 4 or 5 of these previews floating around. they have different views on MP, but for the most part, theyre opinion free and lack details. its ok though, with a demo coming out soon, these previews will be rendered nearly pointless anyway. first hand beats any kind of preview/review, eh?
god, i was hoping for some opinionated stuff when the MP previews came rolling out, but for the most part, all these previews are staing things we already know. guess we'll have to wait for the reviews to hear what they really think
Originally posted by R.E.Facade: god, i was hoping for some opinionated stuff when the MP previews came rolling out, but for the most part, all these previews are staing things we already know.
That's mostly true, but not of this preview, which, along with Edge being a magazine with a relatively high level of journalism, renders it one of the most useful and interesting previews Haze has had - hence it having it's own thread.
As for first hand beating a preview, well, that may be true, but the demo won't show half of what the game has to offer, so don't count on it offering enough to form an opinion on the final game.
Haze FAQ - please check first if you have a question about Haze.
you know what i also noticed? most of these previews are absolutely buried on these sites. you have to look up the game itself on the search tool, then go to previews to find them on gamespot and ign. it goes to show how haze has gone from front page material, to back page lip service. i dunno, maybe we'll see more profound coverage after the gta juggernaut passes. it was nice to see haze on the front page of gametrailers, even though their vids are horrible
hahaha, on a side note, a line in the destructoid posting of the new korn haze vid went somehing like "who am i kidding, no one gives a s**t. heres some mp vids" lol
EDIT:: i just watched the haze mp vids that ign made, and theyre much better. theres 4, and theyre about 1:25 each. they do a much better job putting the gameplay on display than those GT ones. you can find them here http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/784/784480/vids_1.html
Yes, the campaign previews were also much better on IGN, especially if you can see the full HD Insider videos. IMO Gametrailers vids are so compressed that any fidelity in the video just disappears.
I do think though that too much is being made of the graphical impact, or lack of - as the Edge preview says, it may have a few rough edges, (and some excellent work as well), but:
quote:
It’s a technical rather than an aesthetic failing, however, because the world of Haze has a distinct visual quality that is far removed from other titles in the genre. This can be as simple as the ubiquity of the Mantel logo to the more usual pleasures of watching your team spread out and take up cover effectively. It’s a game that has managed to craft a world rather than a tech demo, and if that means that the mud occasionally gets blocky close-up you learn to live with it.
In other words, sure, you will notice a few rough edges, but once you start playing it doesn't matter because the game has a coherent vision, which is more important than graphics at the end of the day - it's the overall package that matters most, not the gloss.
We'll be able to tell ourselves soon enough however, when the demo arrives, which will be in a few short weeks.
Haze FAQ - please check first if you have a question about Haze.
Interesting, I wonder if EDGE was playing off of what will be the Gold version, or if there will still be time for some touching up...or if it's even a fair representation of the current build?
Considering the lead times necessary for print mags, it's probably based on a build several months old - February at the latest I would guess. I wouldn't expect any major improvements in graphics at this stage though - this late on it will be bug fixing and mild gameplay/level design tweaking here and there rather than anything very noticeable IMO.
Haze FAQ - please check first if you have a question about Haze.
Sounds good. I read somewhere in one of the other previews out there that there aren't many levels in mp with vehicles in it. I think they only mentioned of one stage. Anyone find any clearer info on this?
What I've heard is 6 maps, five of which we now of - POW, Cave, Swamp, Shanty Town and the Mantel Carrier. The carrier definetly has vehicles, which leaves one other possibility, although I don't think it's certain that the others [i]don't[i/] have vehicles...
I don't think there'd be much point in having vehicles if you could only use them on one map though, so the preview might be wrong - it wouldn't be the first time.
Haze FAQ - please check first if you have a question about Haze.
Well, if it's a build from a few months ago, it may have only included the maps with the best of the finishing touches on it, or some other such situation.
I think that looking back at this preview that it was dead on accurate. If you haven't played the demo yet, this is the best description that I have seen.
Originally posted by qidon: I think that looking back at this preview that it was dead on accurate. If you haven't played the demo yet, this is the best description that I have seen.
Yes, it's an excellent preview without a doubt and probably gives the best indication yet of what to expect from the full game. Hopefully this open-minded appreciation of Haze will continue for the review.
Haze FAQ - please check first if you have a question about Haze.
