Not completely a waste of time ;)
posted by GFR013 (MERRIFIELD, VA) May 25, 2008
Member since Jul 2004
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With so many FPSs out there a company really has to do something unique to stand out from the crowd. While Ubisoft has certainly delivered in the past I don't think Haze is going to be one of those titles people are going to talk about for years to come. Essentially it is a mix of Far Cry [FC] (the jungle setting and a little of the primal ability, see below though) and Half Life 2 [HL2] (for the endless driving sequences, long exposition/non-skipable cut scenes, and the "what am I supposed to now" factor).
SPOILER WARNING
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The one ability that tried to make it unique is the "nectar" ability, which IMHO is similar to the primal abilities from FC, just not as developed or as useful. You only have it for about 1/3 of the game though, since when you change sides during the game you lose it. However, even when you have them, frequently there are times when you can't use them. So as far as the "hook" to make the game stand out, it's pretty weak.
...
As alluded to above, there is a lot of driving in this game. Unlike FC and HL2 though you are just driving, there are no weapons that you can use and if you try to use the mounted weapons, none of the bot "allies" will get in the driver's seat. Frankly, if I had wanted a driving game I would have played one. I suspect this works out better in multiplayer mode though, so those that like to shoot can shoot and those that like to drive can do so.
With those criticisms, and some other minor ones though (like bad/repetitive comments from the bots), as mentioned in the title it is really not a complete waste of time. The graphics were decent, not pushing the limit but better than last gen's, and the sound was good. There was also enough variety of weapons to get the job done and have fun. Clocking in at around 7-8 hours IIRC for the campaign it should fill a weekend.
They also left the story open enough for a Haze2 but I guess we'll have to see how this one sells first. My guess is we won't see it ;)
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