Haze First Look Preview

Free Radical, the eccentric British development studio that broke away from Rare to create the brilliant Timesplitters games, is back with a new FPS, and though it means another entry in one of the busiest of gaming genres, a new release from such an irresistibly off-key dev team has to be worth a look.

Set in 2048, Haze depicts a corporate and highly privatised world both Tony Blair and Maggie Thatcher would have been delighted to have conceived. One huge company, Mantel, not only produces almost everything from the clothes you wear to the satellites orbiting earth, but also owns and runs hospitals, schools, and most importantly, their own private army, that effectively replaces bodies like the UN.

Typically, the unconventional Free Radical have positioned Mantel as the good guys, at the start of the game at least, though it is immediately obvious that Haze functions in part as both a witty, and serious commentary on the horror of war and modern globalisation.

But before getting round to their own brand of social activism, let’s take a look at the action that fills the latest shooter from the developers that grew out of the original GoldenEye team. Predictably there’s plenty of the generous trigger squeezing, powerful explosives and fast-paced gameplay that made Timesplitters so fantastic and exhilarating, but there also seems to be a little more depth to proceedings.

An in-house game engine has been created to carry the 15-hour single-player campaign, which if played through in one sitting would not include one loading screen. It is instantly apparent that on the PlayStation 3 Haze is a very attractive game. It twinkles with detail and depth, and a vaguely flamboyant graphical finish polishes off what are otherwise exceptional and gritty attempts at photorealism.

Along with all the shooting comes some vehicle combat sections, which while not dissimilar to Halo’s offerings, appear more focussed and speedy, rather than tactical and ad-hoc. There also appears to be a vast multiplayer component, and along with 24-player deathmatch type of affairs, there are several narrative missions especially for teams of human players, which though not essential to the main game’s plot, add a bit of ‘deleted-scenes’ style depth to the whole package. The single-player game is also available to up to four players online, over LAN, and through split screen, and is based on a drop-in, drop-out system, meaning you won’t always need to have four friends available to proceed.

However, the most noteworthy new mechanic is the Nectar administrator strapped to each soldier’s back. Nectar, manufactured by Mantel of course, is a powerful stimulant best described as an illegally potent energy drink. At any time during combat you can pump the yellow fuel into your warrior’s system, improving various abilities considerably.

Your perception will improve, making enemies stand out from the background with an aura of radiant light. You will gain the benefit of foresight, giving you reactions so fast you can see a brief moment into the future, meaning you will spot grenades and hazards a moment before they are a threat. Your focus will become finally tuned, allowing you to zoom in an enormous distance and still move with the cool, steady hand of a quick-shot cowboy. Finally, your melee power will ramp up to the same kind of levels promised by forthcoming PC shooter Crysis, turning a humble punch into an impact with the strength of an explosion.

All of these effects are temporary and, as you might expect, Nectar has a down side too. Though Free Radical hinted that there was more to come, for now we certainly know that consuming the neon chemical with a touch too much enthusiasm can cloud your senses, stopping you from distinguishing friend from foe, and giving your trigger finger a mind of its own.

Brilliantly, your squad mates will also occasionally take too much Nectar from their administrator, turning them into a deadly killing machine that forces you to decide their worth as an ally and a threat. The final and most well considered impact of the Nectar is when a stray bullet punctures the administrator on your back, pouring the precious liquid onto the floor and freeing you from some of the drug’s continued effects.

Suddenly the world around you turns into a more horrific place, and it becomes clear that your Nectar supply does a brilliant job of masking your perceptions and dresses war up as something less disturbing than the truth. It is here that we return to the issue of Haze’s investigation of the morality of war.

We’ve heard before from game developers that say their product not only provides intense and violent action, but explores the issues raised as well. Usually this assertion is a dubious one, which often refers to something as shallow as claims that avatar death makes the player question why they are doing what they are doing.

In Haze, however, there really does seem to be some substance to the game’s social standpoint. Even ignoring, if you can, the fact that the script has attracted voice actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Academy of Performing Arts, there is still plenty to suggest that the guys at Free Radical have really thought through the substance of what their game represents.

The idea that there are two battlefields, in the form of the glossed over Nectar version, and the grim reality, is an excellent way of adding narrative depth to the action environment, and the twisted perception of the good guys as a grim capitalist monopoly on humanity’s freedoms is brilliantly observed and worryingly close to our own future’s apparent destiny. Add to this the kind of deaths that make you feel guilty for murdering your virtual foes, and a fantastic plot, and it really does look like Haze could be one of the first games where an adult rating means it has something thoughtful to offer adults, rather that implying it is just not for kids.

There’s also apparently a near sub-conscious peppering of Timesplitters’ humour in this action-packed game of morbid gravitas. Observe your friends and foes closely enough, and you might just spot that these troops aren’t quite your typical mindless GRAW grunts, but rather California dudes, rich in character and fighting for the forces of good and a quick hit of battlefield adrenalin.

Haze is genuinely looking very exciting, and the sooner we all get our hands on it, and a stock of Nectar, the better.