Haze is what happens when a publisher does not let the team finish

[shadow skill]

Gamefly sent me my copy of Haze and after sitting down with it for a few hours I've come to the conclusion that the game simply is not finished. However it amazes me that this particular game gets lambasted to the degree that it does when most of it's problems are also present (sometimes in far worse levels) in other games that get praised up and down. I also find it ironic that one of the major complaints is the overall story of the game particularly the annoying dialogue of your Mantel/Promise Hand compatriots. Yes the banter of the Promise hand rebels during the mission can get annoying, no it does not make sense with respect to Haze's own internal logic; however the banter of the Mantel troops does make sense and is I suspect quite intentional on the part of Free Radical.

The reason I say this is quite simple, the point of Nectar in this game is not to make your enemies glow or make you stronger etc. It's to control your mind! The reason the Mantel troops have such annoying dialogue is because they are drug addled to the point that they do not care about anything else. Now would I have written some of the dialogue the way that this script writer did? Hell no! However I do respect what they were trying to do with it. The biggest failing with regards to the story in my mind isn't the script itself, its the voice actors who could not bring the script to life.

Sitting down with this game the visuals seem to bounce from quite nice in some sections to just plain pitiful in others. It really shows that the people responsible for the game ran out of time to finish refining the game. Some of the effects in game look like the kinds of things you would expect to see in a game that was properly finished, while others look like place holders that were meant to be removed during the refining process but had to be left in because of time constraints. (The flame thrower, and blood effects come to mind.) The lesson to learn here is simple but two fold:Gamers stop crying about games getting pushed back. Seriously just STFU, you are not helping the quality of games by whining every time a game gets pushed back. Publishers make sure the games you charter actually get done before you release them. We really don't need more Haze's and Blood Omen 2's. (A game even more unfinished than Haze is.)

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

I haven't actually played the game, but just one small point.

During the hype and build-up to the game, a great deal of praise was set on how 'cutting edge' the plot of the game would be. They had a professional writer working with them every step of the way, they were claiming there would be mature content, and that it would be a good, provocative story.

From the reviews, it sounds like the plot is just another 'run & gun' targeting everyone's favorite gamer demographic: the kiddies. It becomes a bad thing because they were claiming 'Haze' wasn't going to be like that.

 

[KSI Hellboy]

What could you have really expected from a PS3 exclusive, over-hyped title?

 

[Mark B]

While I agree that community feedback is a good thing, assuming the developer will listen.
Developers should ignore the "When is it coming out", "Why isn't it out yet" and "Why has it been delayed again" or if you do answer then the answer is "WHEN ITS DONE, AND DONE WELL".

 

[DeadSpace]

What he means is that the public should stop putting pressure on developers to release early or when the game is unfinished, if they need more time then let them have it.

I completely agree with this point as the games industry is one of the only areas where a product can be released unfinished and there will be little fuss because of the patch idea (on pc's anyway)

I also agree with the point that hype can be a terrible thing for developers, even if they create it themselves.

This doesn't mean, of course, that we should stop yelling at the developer for releasing an unfinished, mediocre prduct until they are whimpering in a small corner somewhere rainy...

 

[Broken Blade]

"A delayed game is eventually good, but a bad game is bad forever" sort of thing, eh? Personally, I stand behind Yahtzee (since he probably wouldn't like me to stand by him) when he says that an overhyped game makes him suspicious towards it. I never really expect a game to do as well as they say it will, so on occasion I'm pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately, since Haze is more of a shooter/FPS, I'll probably never play it, given how much I suck at them (FPS').

 

[tiredinnuendo]

It's a double edged sword. If you give developers time constraints that are too heavy (Have the whole thing done in six months!) then you get what you pay for. If you leave it too open-ended, you get Duke Nukem Forever.

I've played Haze for a few hours on a friend's PS3, and it was torturous. Everything the soldiers said was stupid, everything the rebels did was sinless, and the rebel leader was Eli Vance with Ben Kenobi added for character simplification's sake. The repeating dialogue got on my nerves, the AI was horrible, and a healthy chunk of the maps I played on were badly built.

This wasn't just an unfinished game though, it's also a bad one. The gameplay is exactly like most shooters, and the "gimmick" of drugs as an advantage(soldiers)/weapon(rebels), while interesting for awhile, just ends up making the game too easy. Touching on the story isn't needed. I think everyone knows how bad it is.

In short, a few more months in the oven may have helped the game, but frankly it's flawed at the core in some key areas, and saying that it just "wasn't finished" isn't entirely accurate.

- J

 

[teh0riginalb00n]

Hmm. there do seem to be a few series that do live up to the hype though. MGS4 anyone?

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

Hmm. there do seem to be a few series that do live up to the hype though. MGS4 anyone?

Dude, you're going to jinx it.

 

[DannyDeparted]

surely we should've learned our lesson from KOTOR 2, a game needs to be finished before it's released. Release it early, it doesnt bode well in the long run.

 

[shadow skill]

I see that most of you got my point about Gamers not crying nonstop that a game is not out yet. Jeffers I would like it if you actually re read what I said and then replied. L.B. the overall plot divested of the bad voice acting is actually not so pedestrian so far (I have not finished the game.) it's actually deeper than most shooters I have had the pleasure or displeasure of being exposed to. It's something that makes the fact that the presentation angle of the game is unfinished all the more saddening. It's like reading the writing of someone clearly intelligent trying to make a point about an issue but because the person is dyslexic their point gets lost in strange syntactical errors. I think the point of Haze itself was simply missed by many of the people reviewing the game because they got caught up in the very real (for the most part.) problems with how the game is put together. Some just wanted another "Hard gay" hero. One guy complained in his review that Shane whines too much and isn't someone you would want to take into battle (Not an exact quote.) Now that I have actually come to the point where you join the Promise Hand and have seen the things that led up to your defection I have to ask "What the fuck was this guy on?"

The fact that Shane does complain and is unsure of himself is one of the few things I can point to and say that the people responsible got right! He saw that the people he considered friends were cruel drugged up freaks especially Sgt Duval who after you capture Merino (The head of Promise Hand.) proceeds to take off one of Merino's fingers as payback for all the Nectar Merino and his men stole. Then after your transport crashes in what is supposed to be a swamp (I swear to god the thing looked like what you get in PC games when you put all the settings to low, it was just sad.) You can hear Mantel employees as they turn on you and designate you a "code haze" and give the order to terminate you with extreme prejudice. Shane himself explains right after you join Promise Hand that he was in college before he joined up, he had never even held a gun until that time, and he only joined up because he wanted to be a hero and make a difference, that he was basically suckered by the ad campaigns.

Given his own stated background it would make far more sense for him to complain about his situation and be confused considering how his whole world view has just been shattered to pieces than it would for him to not do so. (Though it's simply not as cool to complain,even if it is far more human.) I know the whole whiney vs bad ass thing is a very thin line and sometimes being whiney does really suck but this is one instance where it fits quite well. To me complaints about Carpenter complaining are like complaining that a kid with muscular dystrophy isn't a happier person. I mean come on how should they react when they know that after most of their body muscle mass has wasted away they may very well die of suffocation because their diaphram will waste away to the point where it will no longer function thereby preventing respiration?

Had the voice acting and the presentation not been so borked the plot could have been a shining example for this particular genre. I really wish they had simply cancelled the game and came back to it later or put it on hiatus, anything other than release it in the state that it is in.

 

[Tanthalos]

Maybe a better target for your points would have been Army of Two instead of Haze. There is a game that could have greatly gained from spending another month or two with Q&A.

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

I haven't actually played the game, but just one small point.

During the hype and build-up to the game, a great deal of praise was set on how 'cutting edge' the plot of the game would be. They had a professional writer working with them every step of the way, they were claiming there would be mature content, and that it would be a good, provocative story.

From the reviews, it sounds like the plot is just another 'run & gun' targeting everyone's favorite gamer demographic: the kiddies. It becomes a bad thing because they were claiming 'Haze' wasn't going to be like that.

Problem is the voice actors too - even the voice actors in devil may cry made the most of their lines.

 

[shadow skill]

With the right voice actors you could make a plot about going to the store into a great game or movie.