One of the most meh-tastic shooters of the year.
Haze is a FPS game where you play as Shane Carpenter, a soldier who works for the Mantel military corporation. his job is to protect the world with the aid of his comrades and a performance-enhancing drug called nectar. Later in the game, you realize the evil of Mantel, so you'll break off to join a resistance called the Promised Hand. The story's got potential, but it's ruined by laughable voice acting, dull presentation, too many unanswered questions, and so on. None of the characters are memorable or even likable, and the only decent voice performance is by Merino, the resistance leader.
Anyways, onto the graphics. Being a PS3 exclusive, you'd expect some nice visuals from Haze, but they're nowhere to be found. The framerate is consistently good, but graphics and even the animations just barley cut it. Some of the textures are very bland, and some of the special effects are just pathetic, with the exploding dropship taking the lead. For the most part, this looks like a mediocre Xbox 360 game. Sound effects are good though, and the music usually fits the situations nicely.
Now lets talk about the AI, though I'm not actually sure there is any. enemies and allies will circle around each other, never hit anyone, stick there head up when taking cover, and often try to punch you death. There are even times when I walked past their cover and they didn't notice me. Enough said. A serious contender for worst AI of 2008.
The gameplay, however, is the biggest disappointment. It's really everything you've seen in a shooter for the last million years. They try to add in some things like the ability to use nectar, but it's just not enough. The objectives aren't very clear most of the time and the compass can be confusing. Gunplay in Haze feels finicky and is hardly satisfying thanks to dull death animations and bland weapons. Most of the weapons are balanced and feel right, but there are very few in the game and the ones that are there are as basic as guns get. Also, having to using the iron sights when you're a rebel is an extreme pain, because you can't see or shoot well. No wonder they called it haze. Multi-player is just bad. Not only are teams more unbalanced than a fat and skinny kid on a see-saw, but the maps are poorly designed and the game modes are uninspired. The most fun you'll have will be screwing around and stealing the enemy's weapons and vehicles from their base.
There might be a few thrilling moments in single-player thanks to some creative levels, but in the end the mediocre gameplay and underwhelming visuals keep Haze from being worth more than a curious rental. The only purchase I can recommend is to extreme beginners because of the bad AI and cheap price point. But anyone else should just leave Haze in the dust. Lets face it, this game sucks hazelnuts.