Free Radical admits to PS3 problems
Says it spent too much time getting the game running properly and not long enough designing the game.
Much was expected of Ubisoft and Free Radical's PS3 exclusive FPS Haze. Sadly, when the game finally hit stores in May 2008 the experience did not live up to the hype.
In December last year Free Radical was placed into administration, before being reborn as Crytek UK.
Speaking to develop, Crytek UK managing director Karl Hilton – formerly of Free Radical – has spoken openly about the troubles the studio faced during the development of Haze, admitting “it wasn’t the game it should have been”.
“A lot of them were technical issues,” he said. “The PS3 is a powerful machine but a difficult one to get the best out of."
He added: “We spent more time trying get the game running properly and less time to design the game properly.”
Hilton expects no such problems with Crytek's own CryEngine 3.
“I don’t think we’ve seen the best out of the PS3 at all,” said Hilton, “and I definitely think one of the best things about Crytek and the CryEngine is that we’re now in the best position to get the most out of the hardware.”
User Comments
clangod
Stegosaurus-Guy
Hm...a TimeSpliters game using the PS3 to it's full...
Mr_Ninjutsu
UPLOAD
clangod
Surely the developers realise it looks a bit silly to come out now and make excuses as to why this title was a failure. Gamers have moved on and with the exception of maybe the bargain bin purchase, Haze is too far gone to warrant some loose comment about the difficulties of developing for the PS3. There are too many good titles already out there to mention.
For their own sake, I sure hope Crytek have better luck with any future FPS release... I think you're right kamoflage, we've only seen the tip of the iceberg so far with the PS3. We can no doubt look forward to many more benchmark titles across most if not all genres.
kamoflage