Here’s something one should pay attention to when watching one of Benjamin “Yahtzee” Croshaw’s video reviews: the guy is not big on praising games that belong to the FPS genre. If Yahtzee doesn’t hate (place shooter title here) as much as Turok, then the fanboy in you would likely deem it as worth the purchase. That said, it’s rather surprising to see that Croshaw doesn’t hate Haze, a much-maligned FPS from Free Radical. Correction, Yahtzee doesn’t hate Haze that much.

What I don’t get is that Kotaku seems to see otherwise.

Post from: EveryJoe

Yahtzee reviews Haze and doesn’t hate it as much

There were scathing ones, like that of IGN’s, which focused more on lambasting the game’s story and characters instead of the more important part (i.e. the gameplay). Since when was a shooter’s narrative expected to equal or surpass that of an Oscar-quality film?

The GameTrailers review took into account Haze’s semi-good parts (as any criticism should) and discussed why the universally-agreed atrocious parts (like the repetitive voice work) were appalling. The most noticeable fault leveled by reviewers against Haze is that the game is “generic.” Sounds like what I said about the game last year.

The GameTrailers clip was one of the later reviews that came out. Incidentally, IGN’s article was one of the first. I guess this says something about the so-called timeliness and accuracy of reviews. A word of advice: If a site comes out with the first review, take it with a grain of salt. A review coming out on launch day could mean it was rushed, or that the critics played the game in optimal conditions (i.e. a publisher’s posh office with good food and lag-free multiplayer). Either way, you might be reading an inaccurate analysis.

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Why I trust GameTrailers’s Haze review

If this video is an indication of the shooter’s quality, then perhaps I shouldn’t even bother renting it. If you’re wondering how Haze, a PS3-exclusive game, is faring among the critics, have a look at its page in GameRankings. As of this writing, the best review came from Gamers’ Hell. It looks like IGN, the industry’s favorite game ad space website, hates Haze even more.

This Haze ad is beginning to sound more like a desperate attempt for attention.

Post from: EveryJoe

Haze multiplayer ad: Worst. Clip. Ever.

It’s confirmed. The Haze demo does exist. The latest PlayStation Store update says so, at least. According to the announcement, the demo lets you play the beginning of the Haze campaign in single player or coop mode. Be ready to put your download in the background because the demo is a hefty 1.43GB.

I have a confession to make: I didn’t personally check the PlayStation store for the update because I was busy playing Grand Theft Auto IV. Now that the Haze demo is confirmed, I’ve reluctantly left Liberty City for a couple of minutes to start the Haze download. I immediately placed the download in the background because I was itching to continue my killing spree in GTA IV.

Image of Haze is courtesy of Free Radical Design and Ubisoft.

Post from: EveryJoe

The Haze demo really does exist

According to CVG, Sony will launch a Haze demo on PSN later today. The big question: is this four-player coop demo for real? Last time we heard of such news rumors, it was the Spanish PS3 website that supposedly showed the announcement. Well, this tale was unceremoniously quashed thanks to Babel Fish.

Until I see with my own eyes this actual Haze demo, I’ll take it with a grain of salt. Of course, my skepticism won’t stop me from hanging around PSN all day for any updates.

Image of Haze is courtesy of Free Radical Design and Ubisoft.

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Haze four-player coop demo coming today?

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Korn’s exclusive Haze track now has video

According to GameTrailer’s preview video, Haze features a cooperative mode that lets gamers play the entire campaign with three more companions—a whopping four players shooting it up together. If that’s not compelling, then I don’t know what is. Army of Two, Kane & Lynch, and Gears of War comes with two-player coop, but I’ve never really experienced a four-way romp through single-player before.

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Haze video preview shows compelling features

The gregarious Yescombe was also quick to boast that Haze’s script is over 1,000 pages long. Does this guarantee the game’s quality? Not at all. In fact, this doesn’t even tell us if the gameplay is any good, or what font size was used in printing the script.

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Haze screenplay is over 1K pages in length

The song will debut over the radio and in videos next month.

Funny how these two ended up having some sort of connection. Here’s how they’re wired in my cranium: Haze’s vanilla theme and action doesn’t do a thing for me; Korn’s guitar riffs have the same (lack of) effect.

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Korn writes an exclusive track for Haze

Is it just me, or is this game (at least the jungle part) a poor version of Crysis? The video also had a surplus of bloom, so a lot of shiny stuff could be seen as you watch the trailer. Unfortunately, nothing about Haze jumps out at me to set it apart from the dozens of other shooters jostling for our attention.

And yes, the bloom doesn’t help it either.

Post from: EveryJoe

This shooter’s a Haze in the crowd