Top 10: things that will make Haze 2 great

Haze is without doubt one of this year’s most anticipated releases, but the PS3 exclusive FPS didn’t impress us as much as we’d have liked. Despite some solid gameplay mechanics and scope for a deep and interesting story, Haze scored a disappointing 6/10. Still, we expect Haze will go on to sell pretty well, so a sequel is certainly on the cards. With that in mind we’ve put together our Top 10: things that will make Haze 2 great.

10. Multiple storylines

Part of Haze’s problem is how you switch sides from Mantel to Promise Hand a short way into the game. From this point on the game plays pretty much like your standard FPS. Given the events of the first game, we’d like the sequel to offer two storylines, one following an elite Mantel soldier and the other focussing on the Hero of the first game as he continues to fight for the rebels. A fully-fledged campaign for each would be far better than a short burst with one followed by the other and it would avoid re-treading old ground.

9. More weapons

Haze has the usual array of machine guns, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, flame throwers and the rest, but it seriously lacks new ideas. No one is going to remember any of the weapons in Haze when thinking back about great video game weapons, like people will with Halo, Resistance and Gears of War. The game is centred on a performance enhancing drug that makes enemies glow bright yellow so asking for a few ‘novelty’ weapons isn’t taking things too far. What about Nectar coated bullets or the ability to cloak, going a stage beyond playing dead on the floor? For a sci-fi game the weapons need some serious work in the sequel.

8. New enemies

Your enemies in Haze are either generic rebels or generic soldiers, dressed up in quite ridiculous looking black and yellow suits. This is the army of the future, so what about some robots (the stationary guns put up more of a fight than soldiers in Haze) or even some animals high on Nectar? What would a pack of high hunting dogs behave like when told to go after some rebels? We don’t want ridiculous aliens or anything too fanciful, but simply more than generic grunts who appear to have escaped from a university fashion show.

7. Sort out the vehicles

Why is it that Halo still has the best vehicle controls in an FPS? In Haze the various trucks and buggies you drive all handle appallingly and none of the levels provide much excitement. In the sequel the vehicles need to be given levels to excel in and feature sharper controls or they should be dumped completely. The odd on-rails section is fine, but if you’re in full control it’s pointless including mediocre levels just for the sake of it.

6. Better level design

While this might seem obvious, Haze just doesn’t do enough to get your heart racing. The level designs are bland, the set-pieces are almost non-existent and the ideas are severely lacking. The sequel needs to be grander in every conceivable way. There simply wasn’t a moment in Haze that left us shocked or in awe. At times in Haze you have to sit through lengthy cutscenes, but great games can move the story along during gameplay. For such a short game Haze should have been packed full of great moments, but we’ve failed to come up with one that stands out.

5. No escort missions

Maybe a little specific, but escort missions suck, there’s no question about it. Sadly the escort mission in Haze is one of the worst we’ve ever played. In the sequel such dated FPS level clichés need to be ditched completely. We don’t care if you’re meant to be protecting the Queen from Mantel soldiers in order to save mankind. Please, no more escort missions. Alternatively, include escort missions, but don’t make the target’s survival mandatory. Introduce some branching paths to make such a tired idea seem a little fresher.

4. Serious story telling

The storyline in Haze isn’t bad at all, dabbling with difficult moral decisions and the general ideal of right and wrong, but it’s told in such a gung-ho, macho way that it’s hard to take seriously. One moment towards the end of the game, which we won’t spoil here, has almost zero emotional impact, despite the on-screen actions being some of the most extreme in the entire game. The characters in Haze are so badly realised that they make a joke of the story they’re trying to tell, and it’s a real shame. A sequel that takes itself a little more seriously would be great.

3. Nectar modified

In Haze Nectar can only really be used to its full effect by Mantel soldiers, enhancing their abilities. In the sequel it’d be great if the rebels figured out how to use some of its power, giving them abilities like enhanced vision and snipe aim, even if it’s for short periods. Use of Nectar is one of Haze’s most interesting aspects, as is its almost combo-like replenishment system, but it made up less than half of the game. In the sequel more needs to be made of it.

2. Improve the graphics

Haze doesn’t look terrible, but it certainly looks dated. Free Radical used its own game engine for the PlayStation 3 exclusive FPS, which is a brave decision but one we think probably hurt it. While the Unreal Engine 3 hasn’t always produced great games, for the most part games using it look great. Haze’s environments seem like a perfect fit for Epic’s powerful next-gen engine and now development problems on the PS3 have been sorted out there shouldn’t be any issues. Haze looks like a tarted up Xbox game and not a proper next-gen FPS and that needs to change for the sequel.

1. Next-gen AI

For a game released in 2008, a good few years after the dawn of this console generation and years after the original Halo, games with poor AI are just unacceptable. The game tells you that soldiers high on Nectar often don’t look where they’re going, allowing you to plant grenades in the ground as mines and watch them walk to their death, but that doesn’t excuse their generally idiotic behaviour. Team-mate AI is also terrible, highlighted even more when you play with a real person cooperatively. By now games should be offering convincing AI characters, not the brainless robots we got in Haze.

What do you want to see in Haze 2? Let us know in the comments section below.