Joystiq hands-on: Haze

The last time we saw Haze, it was being shown off at the Leipzig Game Convention and, not too long after, the Penny Arcade expo, with both appearances garnering mixed receptions. Seven months and a long delay later, the public were finally able to get their hands on the game again at the Play.com Live event in London. With eight pods for the game set up in two groups of four, Ubisoft missed a trick by not linking them up to show off the much-anticipated co-op play. Instead, the company presented an underwhelming single-player demo which never managed to really amaze. With so much time out of the public eye and with a less-than-stellar last showing, Haze needed to impress.

We spent the majority of our time inside one of the game's vehicles, driving around some sparsely populated cavern environments whilst avoiding explosive mines and enemies. Using Nectar -- a drug ideally suited for this kind of trip -- we were able to see the mines more clearly, making them glow against the dull texture of the rocks.The environments didn't seem particularly inspired and boasted only a minimal level of destructibility. Knocking over fences (evil fences, possibly) was the best we could manage.


The vehicles themselves looked like they'd be great fun with a full team in co-op mode. One person drives, one takes the turret and two sit in little hollows at each side. Unfortunately, we couldn't experience the vehicular combat first hand, since our AI team mates had clearly had a bit too much Nectar. We either had to drive ourselves, or call for a cab.

Non-vehicle parts of the demo were much better, however, with Free Radical doing what it does best: Engaging firefights. The Nectar system also works nicely and incorporates some great graphical effects, with the drug adding some awesome tactical potential to the game. It's quite the tightrope to walk, as the improvement to your senses and abilities could just as easily let you topple into a dangerous overdose.

Haze still has potential, but failed to wow us. With two of the game's big pulls being the 1000-page story and four player co-op, neither of which were shown off at Play.com Live, this could just be the fault of a rushed demo. The Ubisoft representative did mention that "as far as they know" the game will be PS3 exclusive, but until we see the finished product it's difficult to say how much it can add to the system's 2008 lineup -- especially with two high-profile and exclusive first-person shooters (Killzone 2 and Resistance 2) on the way.

With three months of development between the version shown and the final build, there's still time to get some issues sorted. With no other events between now and release (Ubidays happens at the end of May, but Haze should be out by then) this is the last chance for people to hear how the game is progressing until the review code gets sent out. Regardless, the sooner Haze comes out, the sooner Free Radical can focus on Timesplitters 4. Then everyone will be happy.