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Video Game Review: Haze

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KELVIN MA

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 6, 2008

System: Sony PlayStation 3

Publisher: Ubisoft

Reviewer's rating: *½

ESRB rating: Mature

Game type: First-person shooter

Kind of like: "Halo 3," "Shadowrun"

Best feature: Serviceable multiplayer, co-op campaign

Worst feature: Lack of innovation, plot

The bottom line: "Haze" is about as straightforward as it gets when it comes to shooters. But its shortcomings and overall lack of innovation become painfully clear within minutes of playing through the game. Despite relatively crisp gameplay, the game - with a plot that is just plain insulting - fails to bring anything new to the table.

The premise puts the main character, Shane Carpenter, into the role of a hired mercenary for a company that uses a performance-enhancing drug called Nectar for success on the battlefield. Basically, it's another word for a power-up, juicing up the player so that he aims and heals better. But the fun of using the drug is all too brief, as Carpenter soon switches sides when he predictably realizes the malevolence of his employer.

But playing as a rebel is about as simple as shooters get. Sure, Carpenter gets special abilities like (gasp!) diving, but the experience is still pretty vanilla. And the juiced-up soldiers he fights against don't seem to get any performance bonuses from using Nectar, which pretty much relegates it to gimmick status.

About the only way to stomach this game is through co-op or multiplayer. The co-op campaign can be a lot of fun with a competent partner, as the gameplay is smooth enough to keep things moving at a respectable clip. But at the end of the day, it's still a whole lot of shooting at some of the dumbest artificial intelligence in a next-generation console game.

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