Graphics and Gameplay - Haze

Graphics and Gameplay

The graphics in Haze are a mixed bag. At some points in the game, players will experience rich detail, nice lighting effects, and realistic textures. Yet other areas fall flat. Some players may feel as though they've entered a new game as a result. Also, the graphic detail may be mixed simultaneously in the same areas. For example, in the tropical forest areas, while outlying foliage appears lackluster, plant life you'll encounter on the ground looks superbly done. While many may simple overlook these inconsistencies, they are apparent and noteworthy. However, the overall design remains consistent throughout and is fairly pleasing to the eye.

Oddly enough, the portions of the game where graphic detail totally missed the mark are in the interactive cutscenes. This is rather unusual since cinematic sequences in games usually sport a high level of detail and often reflect more polish than character models during actual gameplay. Regardless of whether corners were blatantly cut or not, the game moves along quite smoothly at a comfortable frame rate, with only a few minor hiccups. Players can expect similar graphical quality while playing online. Overall, the visual experience is only passable and hardly takes advantage of the level of quality the PS3 is capable of producing.

The gameplay in Haze is fairly straightforward. Anyone who has played a first person shooter on the PS3 should feel right at home. If not, players have the ability to customize nearly all of the game's controls to their liking. This brings up the one element of customization that should have been present but wasn't; control sensitivity. Being able to adjust how fast the aiming reticule moves onscreen has become the standard in console shooters, but was lost in Haze. While some may feel comfortable with the default sensitivity, others who may have just come from another game might require some time to adjust.

Other negative aspects of the game worth mentioning include clumsy AI, limited camera panning, inability to fire weapons during vehicle sequences, and the lack of varied weaponry. On the AI front, issues with your enemies are plentiful but are not nearly as evident as with those on your side who accompany you into battle. The most notable issue is the fact that members of your team will constantly run into your line of fire causing players to miss their targeted foe. This, along with your teammates' being unlikely to kill any of the enemies they face themselves, lends itself to enough frustration to prompt players to leave them behind and push forward alone. While this seems entirely possible in some missions, your teammates will magically appear at the next objective even after driving a fair distance away from where you left them. And when you do rejoin your team, you can rest assured that its members will spout off the same five or six lines of cheesy dialog over and over again.

This brings up to the vehicle sequences. In Haze, you'll encounter a few types of vehicles that you can commandeer, including ATVs and futuristic dune buggies. None of these sequences involves full-scale war while in the driver's seat, but there are enemies present who will appear along your path to the next objective. While the ability to fire at your enemies while driving would have been helpful, weapons are simply not at your disposal. There are, however, weapons mounted on some vehicles and they are utilized by your squad, but your computer controlled teammates will never jump into the driver's seat and allow you to use them while traveling.

While you're piloting one of these vehicles, players only have the ability to pan the camera 90 degrees to the left and to the right. The main purpose of vehicles in Haze is to transport players from one objective to the next, but there are some instances where your vehicle is attacked from behind by pursuing enemy crafts. When this happens, the lack of being able to fire at them is cancelled out by the fact that you can't see them in the first place. If you do have a squad mate operating a mounted weapon on your vehicle, you can bet the enemy will not be affected. Thus, it is usually better to simply try and outrun your attackers or, sadly, jump out of your vehicle and fire at them while on foot.

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