The Official Haze Thread

[KALEL114]

I don't think I'll get it unless a demo comes out and blows me away.

 

[Superhero 101]

It really depends on the reviews, but since the way they keep pushing it back it must be a good game.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

It really depends on the reviews, but since the way they keep pushing it back it must be a good game.

Or a buggy mess.

 

[The Guardian]

IT'S A HAZE BONANZA AT IGN, HANDS ON, SCREENS, VIDEOS, "DOGS AND CATS LIVING TOGETHER, MASS HYSTERIA," GHOST BUSTERS, AWESOME MOVIE!!!Dup:

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/864/864056p1.html

http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/784/784480/imgs_1.html

http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/784/784480/vids_1.html

 

[Havok83]

Haze Q&A

Strap yourself in tight. Haze is almost ready to give you the Nectar induced ride of your life and Free Radical tells us why...

We've been eagerly anticipating Haze here at TVG for many moons now. The two delays that the title has gone through have only wetted our appetite further. With this in mind, we sat down with Derek Littlewood, Haze's Project Lead, to see how Free Radical Design has been tweaking its first next-gen shooter over the last few months of dev time.

TVG: With Haze having been delayed from December to Q1 2008 and then, for a second time, into Ubisoft's 2009 fiscal year, it must've have given the Free Radical team a lot of time to improve the game. What are the main things you've been focusing on in that time?

Really, the delay has just enabled us to deliver the game that we wanted to originally. It's not like we went, 'Oh, we've got an extra few months, so let's bolt on some random extra feature.' The intention was to just get the time to polish the already fairly large feature set that we have in the game and just get that as polished as we possibly could - particularly the balancing of the two sides for the multiplayer.

Most games spend their entire development cycle developing one style of play. We have two styles of play that also have to face against each other and still be evenly balanced, which was an enormous task, and I think we just hit a point where we were said, 'Well, it's good, but we can make it better. Do we want to take the time to do that?' And the answer was yes. I think mostly it's enabled us to do that rather than adding and bolting on additional features, and I think that it's now the game that we always wanted it to be. Whereas, I think if it had come out before Christmas it would've been a little bit short of that, which would have been a shame.

TVG: You mentioned something earlier about Haze running at 30 frames per second. Do you see that being the case when the game's released and would you have liked it to have been more?

Whenever you're doing things like that you have to strike a balance between what level of visual complexity and gameplay complexity you're going for, and the framerate. Haze is a bit slower paced than Timesplitters - there's a bit more thinking to it - and I think that enables us to run at 30 rather than 60.

30 has always been our aim because Haze uses such an enormous volume of visual effects. The amount of full screen filtering it's doing at any one time, even when for the most part people won't notice it, is huge. We use 10s of filters over the screen to produce things like Nectar overdose effects and the effects that happen when you dose up on Nectar. All of those different things will impact upon the sort of framerate you're going to run at. We wanted those features because they really do enhance the experience and they enhance the story we're trying to tell. As a result, we were always aiming at that solid 30.

The thing about framerate is that what you need more than anything else is a steady framerate. 60 is useless if it drops all the time, and the same for 30, so we said let's hit 30 and let's hit 30 well, and let's use the additional bandwidth that gives us to really give the player the experience we want to give them.

TVG: If you take a game like Gears of War, it's quite a hard game, but if you play it on co-op it's a lot easier. I've noticed with today's 4 player co-op demo that it's challenging, it's difficult, and that's no bad thing in a game. Is that just the settings that we've seen today, or have you spent time balancing co-op so that having 4 players is just as difficult as a single-player game?

Yeah. I mean, we spent a lot of time looking at that and thinking about that. I absolutely agree. It's frustrating when you go into a game that you've played a lot. You want the toughest experience possible, but you want that to be a co-op experience and that co-op experience dilutes the difficulty. So, what we've done is that on the easier difficulty modes you can add extra players and it will make it easier. If players are struggling and they just want to play through co-op on an easy difficulty setting, they can do that.

On easy, with the difference between 1 and 4 players, the game might only get 50% more difficult, but the number of players you're adding means that it's still very easy. As you go up through the difficulties, adding extra players progressively multiplies the difficulty. So, on 4 player Extra Hard, that is probably four times as hard as 1 player Extra Hard. It literally does get to the stage of being that tough. So yes, players who are playing co-operatively on the harder difficulties will get an experience that is that much tougher.

TVG: Graphically, as far as the PlayStation 3 is concerned, there's perhaps a perception that we haven't fully seen what the system has to offer yet. Do you feel that you had the chance to fully stretch the capabilities of the machine visually, or was it more a case of focusing on the gameplay and getting solid next-gen graphics, but making sure the gameplay is spot-on?

The gameplay was always going to be first and foremost, but I think we've pushed the PS3 pretty hard in places. I think there is more to be gotten out of it. Well, I know there's definitely more to be gotten out of it. I know of areas in our engine where we could improve the way we're doing things to be able to throw more things around. You're going to see better results coming out of the PS3 in the next few years - it's going to keep on improving.

As far as what we've achieved with Haze is concerned, I think we've achieved something that, for this time, is showing what the PS3 is generally capable of at this point. But games are going to come along in future that are going to be progressively better.

TVG: In terms of the single-player; how long would you say the game is? How many levels and what sort of length are we looking at?

There are 13 different environments overall; a very diverse selection of which I think it's probably as diverse as any of the Timesplitters games in terms of the environments. The unique thing is that they're all linked together seamlessly, so you just travel through all of them in one long journey. You can play from the start to the end of the game without ever seeing a loading screen. I think from that point of you it's a very coherent experience.

There are about 13 levels but because of the way it streams, it's difficult to actually break them up into separate things. Where play time is concerned, on a first time play people have been clocking in at about 12 hours or so. Obviously experienced players can get through it a lot more quickly than that. But yeah, I expect to see roughly that for initial players.

TVG: Timeplsitters always had a lot of additional content in its Challenge modes. Are we going to see anything like that in Haze?

We tried to focus very much on giving players that strong campaign and multiplayer experience, so there aren't a lot of challenges and additional things like that. The thing about Haze is that although it utilises our knowledge of the strengths of the Timesplitters series, it isn't Timesplitters 4. So, when Timesplitters 4 comes along that's the sort of thing you'll see - it'll have that massive range of content.

With Haze, we weren't ever trying to do that. We wanted to deliver something that was a unique experience. The thing we will be doing is that we'll be looking to deliver some DLC that'll add extra maps; extra modes - and there's some fantastic stuff in there. The DLC levels: there are a couple of them that are probably my favourite maps in the whole game. It's not like we're saying 'Yeah! Here comes the DLC! Here are some things we just churned out...' There's some fantastic stuff in there so I hope that'll be received really well as a reward to the fans that buy the game and keep playing it for several months after release.

TVG: Where the squad system in single-player is concerned; are we going to just see the basic commands of 'hold' and 'move out', or is there anything else lingering in there that hasn't been covered yet?

No, we've stripped out all of the squad stuff. There's no squad control at all but your AI squad mates will fight intelligently around you.

Whenever you're looking at the features of the things you could be supporting - particularly the range of things that a player can be doing at any one time - it's a bit like plate spinning: there are a certain amount of plates that a player can spin and then they start to get frustrated because they are always dropping them. We found with the squad control stuff that, with all the additional Nectar stuff and the intensity of the combat anyway, people weren't getting time to think about it. So, what we've done is deliver that core experience and not worry too much about that thing [squad controls].

TVG: Is there any chance of a few words on Splitters 4? Just a few things to keep our readers going.

Obviously, we're still exploring our options with it and trying things out. We're deliberately taking our time to make sure that it's the game we want to make and what the fans want. There are some awesome ideas, even by Timesplitters standards. The sort of environments and characters in it are the most insane things I've ever seen - there's some fantastic stuff. Yeah, it's all very exciting, but at the moment we're just focusing on putting the finishing touches to Haze

http://www.totalvideogames.com/articles/HAZE_-_QA_13016.htm

 

[Havok83]

Ultimately, I think the game looks promising but I doubt the sales will be good bc its coming out in between GTA4 and MGS4, both of which will be 2 time consuming games. I doubt I'll have time for anything else. May is the worst month to release any game at this time

 

[The Guardian]

Ultimately, I think the game looks promising but I doubt the sales will be good bc its coming out in between GTA4 and MGS4, both of which will be 2 time consuming games. I doubt I'll have time for anything else. May is the worst month to release any game at this time

YOU MAKE A VERY GOOD POINT HAVOK, JUST DON'T TELL ANYBODY I SAID THAT!!! I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO HAZE AND WILL MOST LIKELY PICK IT UP, BUT BEING SANDWICHED BETWEEN THESE TWO JUGGERNAUTS WILL MOST LIKELY HURT SALES OF THE GAME!!! I HOPE IT DOES WELL THOUGH, IT'S LOOKING PROMISING SO WHO KNOWS, WE'LL SEE!!!up:

 

[Superhero 101]

So i downloaded the Demo and i love it!!!!
it feels very nice the controls are easy
Not a Call of Duty 4 or Unreal but it is a very good
Definetely worth picking up

my score 8/10

 

[Phallic]

It is from the most reputable gamer magazine in Japan, known as Famitsu.

The reviews are unfortunately not available online, but the scores given by 4 reviewers were 9, 8, 9 and 8.

The Orange Box was also released in that magazine, which received the same exact scores.

Looking pretty good for Haze.

We'll see how other reviewers like it soon enough.

 

[Boom]

I'm glad the game's reception is off to a good start.

 

[The Guardian]

I LOVED THE DEMO, ESPECIALLY THE CONTROLS!!!up: IT TOOK ME ALL OF LITERALLY 60 SECONDS TO GET THE HANG OF THE CONTROLS, VERY VERY INTUITIVE AND RESPONSIVE AND THE GAME LOOKS VERY NICE!!!up: I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO IT, IT'S NICE TO SEE IT GETTING GOOD SCORES, THAT'S GREAT!!!up:

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

Never expected otherwise from Free Radical

 

[Phallic]

I LOVED THE DEMO, ESPECIALLY THE CONTROLS!!!up: IT TOOK ME ALL OF LITERALLY 60 SECONDS TO GET THE HANG OF THE CONTROLS, VERY VERY INTUITIVE AND RESPONSIVE AND THE GAME LOOKS VERY NICE!!!up: I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO IT, IT'S NICE TO SEE IT GETTING GOOD SCORES, THAT'S GREAT!!!up:

It's especially nice that the controls are 100% customizable.

Also, another review came in yesterday from an PlayStation Italy (or something like that). They gave Haze a 9/10.

By all accounts, the graphics are substantially better in the final product than the demo, which was likely created over a year ago, before the delays.

Looking very good still.

 

[Havok83]

Nice! I think Haze is coming out at a bad time but better late than never. Good to hear positive reviews

 

[Dark_Lord]

Review (IGN)

4.5 Presentation
A bland story with weak characters and simplistic commentaries on serious topics, Haze is a generic tale at best about war.

4.0 Graphics
Tons of visual issues abound within the game, from texture tears and non-descript environments to pop-in and odd animation problems.

5.0 Sound
Dialogue is hokey and repetitive regardless of what side you're on. Sound effects are good, but that's not enough to make you turn the volume up once you've hit mute.

4.5 Gameplay
A creative concept hampered by gimmicks, a weak story and poor AI, Haze is a disappointment from a developer well versed in shooter mechanics.

4.5 Lasting Appeal
Two player split-screen and four player co-op helps put a minor spin on the campaign, but it won't extend the replayability of the game much. Nor will multiplayer modes and its useless merit system.

4.5 OVERALL

 

[Havok83]

I tend to agree with IGN, so thats not good news. I'll msot likely skip this altogether.

 

[Electro UK]

Hate to say "I told you so".

 

[DIRECTOR]

Review (IGN)

4.5 Presentation
A bland story with weak characters and simplistic commentaries on serious topics, Haze is a generic tale at best about war.

4.0 Graphics
Tons of visual issues abound within the game, from texture tears and non-descript environments to pop-in and odd animation problems.

5.0 Sound
Dialogue is hokey and repetitive regardless of what side you're on. Sound effects are good, but that's not enough to make you turn the volume up once you've hit mute.

4.5 Gameplay
A creative concept hampered by gimmicks, a weak story and poor AI, Haze is a disappointment from a developer well versed in shooter mechanics.

4.5 Lasting Appeal
Two player split-screen and four player co-op helps put a minor spin on the campaign, but it won't extend the replayability of the game much. Nor will multiplayer modes and its useless merit system.

4.5 OVERALL

wow, that's pretty bad..........

I downloaded a demo of the game, it was aight. I liked the graphics and it was fast paced.

 

[DorkyFresh]

hmm...i'm not trying to start anything (i'm just making a joke) but the way they scored Haze makes it seem like Microsoft paid them! sheesh! the game can't be THAT bad. i don't know how reliable these sources are, but Famitsu gave it a 34/40 and PSM Italy gave it a 9/10.

 

[Danalys]

i loved timesplitters 2 but haze hasn't looked intresting what so ever. they should just do levels based on senarios that would lead to intresting level design and game play and forget about the story. do for fpses what point blank did for lightgun games.

 

[Harvey Birdman]

Haha I remember people bragging about how Haze was a PS3 exclusive. You guys can have it.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

Well.......i was expecting for this one to be, at least, decent..coming from Free Radical and all....

 

[A.J.Rimmer(BSC)]

Looking at the pictures, and especially the videos, it looks like it warrants the IGN score. Whilst I haven't and wouldn't have been playing the game regardless, it makes you wonder how PSM Italy and Famitsu have come to such grand conclusions.

 

[Ryanman]

Haha I remember people bragging about how Haze was a PS3 exclusive. You guys can have it.

Sony execs?

I'm looking forward to TimeSplitters more, did they have a secondary team on Haze or something? Maybe this just wasn't their territory..

 

[Electro UK]

Haha I remember people bragging about how Haze was a PS3 exclusive. You guys can have it.

Actually I'll think you find pretty much everyone on this board new Haze was going to suck.