Haze: Exclusive Hands-On Preview

Conclusions

A team of talented British designers at the helm with a writer who has a genuine passion for computer games ("Metal Gear Solid is WAY better than The Secret of Monkey Island!" became a quickly-familiar argument) and a custom built engine that uses some of the best and cutting edge technology?

A strong, continuous singleplayer experience with good-looking multiplayer and and hot-swap co-op? Gee, it's starting to look like Haze has got it all.

Are there any criticisms at all then, anything to be wary or worried over? Well, no, not really. I did run into a few problems with the vehicles and it there were a few bugs about having to enter the vehicle from the front-on only, but this is something the team was obviously aware of and working on fixing.

There was also a nagging worry in the back of my head that Haze had for some reason shown its hand too early and too nakedly.

Rob and Derek had been very open about what I, despite their insistence, imagined must be some important plot twists - like the fact that the player will switch sides in the game.


Rob and Derek constantly assured me that there was much more to the plot of the game than the fact that players will change sides, but it seems like a lot of those plot twists must be held in the fine details. The amount of secrecy over the character of Skincoat and why exactly the Promise Hand and Mantel are fighting with each other may be something to do with these later plot developments, but speculation on such an issue is moot at this point anyway.

Haze has been a fairly controversial game, both in the games industry where it obviously shocked Shigeru Miyamoto and in the larger world where some have disagreed with the way that Haze appears to be commenting on real-world issues and politics.

Will this controversy be to the benefit or disadvantage of Haze? It's still too early to tell, but I deeply hope that it be a good thing for the game because Haze is, to my mind, exactly the type of project that gamers need to encourage and reward through their purchases.


Created to help present and challenge some of the taboos and issues which affect all computer games, such as in-game violence and the way in which it is glorified, Haze is gutsy to say the least. With a story that will seriously encourage players to question how they view the world around them and a game design which puts this message across through some excellent gameplay features as well as plot, Haze is set to be the first real must-have game for the PlayStation 3.