PS1/2 Haze demo review

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deathfisaro

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Graphics: Played on 42" TV upscaled to 1080P at 2m (~6.5ft) distance. The visual isn't too bad considering it supports 4 player split-screen. I think it's too evil to expect Uncharted's jungle graphics from a 4P split-screen game. Mentel soldiers have this iconic yellow helmet, which makes them stand out among rebels. It runs at 30fps fixed, I didn't have any sign of sickness that I got from Halo 3 or Orange Box.

Sounds: I was too lazy to reconnect my optical cable so I just went with TV speakers. The ally voice level and direction seem to reflect their direction and distance. I'd hook it up to my 5.1 system to make sure but I'm too lazy
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. It'd probably help me get a sense of how allies are spread out in multiplayer. Besides that, nothing really special.

Controls: Pretty easy to control. Auto-reload when ammunitions run out and you still try to shoot. Doesn't look like you get a pistol, so you'd have to get used to meleeing when ammo runs out.

Level design: It's a jungle map. Pretty straightforward, and the map is wide and short. After I kill the rebels, it only takes a couple seconds to move to the next area. This may make the playtime short, but I'd rather have short playtime than having to fruitlessly run long distances and waste time.

Rumble: I've fully charged my DualShock 3, but during the entire demo I haven't noticed any rumble. Supposedly there's rumble when you get shot or there's an explosion, but I never felt anything. Gun recoil motion and redness when shot is decent, they'd be a whole lot better with rumble.

Nectar: Higher defense, faster HP regeneration, highlights rebels, accurate aim.. I've fully dosed Nectar, pulled out zoom and did a full auto and the bullets go pretty darn accurate, I was like woah. When rebels go down they get un-highlighted, so in multiplayer it'd be hard to tell if he's playing dead or actually dead. I've never tried to shoot corpses during the demo. "Mentel soldiers are arrogant because of the Nectar"; that is dead on, I'm not a Mentel soldier but Nectar made me arrogant enough.

AI: I've only played Normal, but AI rebels suck. They don't use any of the rebel special skills. Nobody played dead, nobody created Nectar grenades, nobody tried to steal my gun, they just run around and shoot. Maybe playing on Extra Hard would make them smarter?

Demo: I have absolutely no idea why Free Radical has decided to publish a Mentel only co-op demo. The demo should have both Mentel and rebel sides and there should be at least one multiplayer map so people get the experience the special abilities of both sides. This demo screams "I hope Haze don't sell well!"

Verdict:
The demo is a big fail; playing the demo hasn't helped me a single bit in my purchase decision. I'll rent it when the full version comes out, play rebel side and play multiplayer, THEN decide if I should skip or buy.
I was expecting "Mentel vs Rebels both sides with unique abilities Haze", but the demo delivered "generic shooter Haze." I'll pend judgement on "Haze" but the demo itself 2/5.
 
QUOTE said:
Controls: Pretty easy to control. Auto-reload when ammunitions run out and you still try to shoot. Doesn't look like you get a pistol, so you'd have to get used to meleeing when ammo runs out.
Press circle to change weapon to pistol, if i remember right.

Anyway nice review. Personally I didn't like the demo much because i'm not console shooter fan, but looked ok and played ok. Nothing special.

EDIT: just read
ZeWarriorReturns's post, so the button could be triangle also.
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Okay I need to read the controls again. I could press(hold?) triangle to pick up rebels gun, but I think Mentel rifle is supposed to be superior so I didn't use it =/
 
Isnt this game released yet?
I've seen it on EBgames in my town for over a month now!
 
I just checked and there indeed is a 2nd carrying gun, nice.
The release date is 5/20~5/23 all regions. maybe your EBGames has an empty case for pre-orders or something?
If they have the real thing I wanna buy it off you
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Yeah pretty disappointing. Graphics aren't really up to next gen standards IMO. And the nectar thing is sort of silly. Who knows though, it's just a demo.
 
I thought Nectar filtering out unwanted reality was pretty interesting. Like ally corpses would disappear when you take a dose of Nectar. And I think that reality altering aspect of Nectar was what made the main character switch sides. In the trailer there was something in lines of "Mentel only lets you see what they want you to see" so it's just my guess at this point though.
 

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