Haze: A Preliminary Update

Caution: Some readers could consider some of the following text and the accompanying video to include minor spoilers about the game Haze.

Hey shooter fans. I was able to get a good bit of time with Haze in this weekend, finishing the single-player story and getting plenty of co-op in as well. You should expect to see a review on Tuesday (I was hoping for Monday, but I need more time in multiplayer), but I know that some of you are chomping at the bit for more information.

I am not prepared to give much away regarding Haze's quality prior to posting a review. I originally planned to do a play-by-play blog as I did with Devil May Cry 4. However, my playtime has been split between home and the office. Rather than writing a timecoded series of updates, I instead opted to provide a compilation video that includes plenty of action and a smidgen of dialogue as well.

I also wanted to briefly cover a few mechanical points of interest. At a few points in the video, you will see me apparently drop dead, but in Haze, it's all a ruse: as a rebel, you can play dead if you take enough damage, thereby fooling your opponents. You may also see a grenade explode into a yellow waft of mist. This happens when you throw a nectar grenade, and it causes Mantel troopers to overdose, and therefore lose control, shooting at anything that comes near them, including their own comrades. Being on the receiving end of a nectar grenade is a fascinating experience, because you can no longer move and shoot of your own free will, but rather watch helplessly as you volley bullets at your unsuspecting buddies.

You will also see action from the opposite point of view. As a trooper, you can inject yourself with a dose of nectar to help you see your enemies, who will then glow brightly and make it easy to differentiate them in battle. Nectar has other advantages as well: you take less damage while the stuff courses through your veins, for example. Zooming in also works in favor of troopers, who see the action through an old-fashioned targeting reticle, rather than view their targets down iron sights, as rebels do.

A few notes about this video. Most importantly, it features vulgar language that is not appropriate for everyone, so I advise extreme caution. Additionally, while Free Radical has been fairly up front about the direction of Haze's plot, readers sensitive to spoilers of any kind should probably not watch this video--or read any preview or watch any interviews regarding Haze, for that matter.

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