Haze

Lo and behold, I have arrived from the presentation of a brand new First Person Shooter, entitled Haze. Announced only a few minutes ago, Haze is being developed by Free Radical in conjunction with Ubisoft.

Careful, it's a jungle out there!

I've got a clear shot from here!

The game is about a corporation in the near future - Mantel. Mantel functions similarly to Resident Evil's Umbrella Corporation, a bajillion dollar company with a hand in communications, pharmaceuticals and military technology. Mantel does everything, with a priority focus on maintaining a highly-trained mercenary army, which roams the globe, exporting democracy and keeping the world safe from evil-doers (Foreigners). This is, obviously, where you will fit into the Mantel Corporation. The entire presentation was given as if I was interested in the Mantel Corporation, and Mantel Corporation was real and tangible, potentially trying to attract future investors with stories of their grand corporate accomplishments (Somehow, that reminds me of my first job interview for ActionTrip - Ed. Vader).

The Mantel Corporation, in addition to suppressing the non-democratic menace of the world, has also invented a fantastic new stimulant called Nectar. Nectar is absolutely amazing, better than a pot of coffee, better than a line of crushed up Adderall. All of Mantel's future mercenary soldiers take the stuff each and every morning, and it enhances each and every one of those soldiers' combat effectiveness. At least to a point; during the Mantel Presentation a slide slipped in showing that too much Nectar will cause your heart to explode. Nectar will likely be the most important gameplay component, and probably a very handy substance for rave parties.

I've witnessed a portion of the gameplay from the PS3 version of the game, and I must admit that while the physics engine looked somewhat archaic, or either not fully implemented (considering the game was only announced today, I'm going to bank on the second option), the game itself looked splendid. The scene I saw took place in South America, with troops landing to fight off guerillas in the jungle. The grass looked good, the trees looked nice, and there were lots of explosions and gunfire. Troops were running about, shooting the locals and insuring freedom for our Spanish-speaking friends.

Apart from the aforementioned details, the video doesn't reveal anything additional info, and almost no information was given as to what exactly sets Haze apart from other first person shooters. What was interesting is that the crosshair disappeared when the player moved faster, only to return when the player stopped running. Iron sights were also used from time to time to get a better shot off. The heads-up display also lacked a health bar, which was replaced with, I think, three yellow bars in the corner, and a white bar around it, that faded after the player was shot a few times, coming back a few moments later.

The game's story, despite being somewhat cliché (Nihil Sub Sol Nova Est), appears to have some darker undertones: the company is clearly morally vacuous; however, they hide this ethical ambiguity with clever statistics. "99% of our troops love their jobs!" the Mantel Corporation representative said. "96% want more combat and more battle, even the guys in recovery that are too weak to move." At the end of the battle, I saw as a guerilla came running forth, dropping his weapon and shouting that he was conceding defeat to the Mantel troops. At this point, the player's commanding officer came running over and gunned the unarmed man down. Then the screen lost its previously golden hue, replacing it with a shade of red. The HUD disappeared for a moment, and then it returned after the commanding officer gave the player more Nectar. After all, when you're all hopped up on future-crack, what the hell do you care if hostiles waving the proverbial white flag take a bullet?

This may be what makes Haze interesting, with so many other games touting the glory of war, that this satire of conflict, if implemented correctly into the story, will set Haze apart, or at least give it more depth than the traditional "War is Great! USA #1!" mantra so prevalent in other first-person shooters. If the scene at the end, with the red shade taking over the player's view screen, is any sort of hint and indication of where Haze is going to go, we might be in for a real surprise: a game that shows the horrors of war, even if everything is all dressed up to make it palatable for the masses.

-- Uros '2Lions' Jojic