Lost in a Haze?

Yes, perhaps ‘Haze‘ is an apt name for such a game.  Wikipedia defines haze as:

…traditionally an atmospheric phenomenon where dust, smoke and other dry particles obscure the clarity of the sky.

Did the developers have a clear idea about what they were aiming for then?  I like my first person shooters (FPS) to feel solid.  Haze is instantly confusing and the demo left me feeling quite removed from the action and not at all in control, unlike sublime FPS games such as the Halo series, Killzone, Red Faction, the Half Life series, Resistance: Fall of Man– I could go on.  What do these games share in common?  Generally great story lines aside, the gameplay is solid.  Everything from movement to firing weapons just feels right.

Haze

I can’t really offer a rational explanation of why I don’t like Haze so much, but as soon as I picked up the pad and played the Haze demo I knew within the first few minutes that it was a bad egg.  What adds insult to injury is the fact that even after months of delays, the graphics aren’t anything special either.  Unfortunately this is not a PS3 exclusive to be proud about.  My gut feeling?  Disappointed- I had been looking forward to this game.  Looks like I’ll give this one a miss then.

The Empire Strikes Back

Back when the PS3 launched, I practically screamed at Sony’s stupidity. Why price the damn thing out of the reach of most consumers? It meant that people like me, Joe Consumer, could not get a piece of the next-gen gaming action… at least not on the PS3 anyway. One year later, look how things have changed. I’m going to be bold and just say it- Sony has proved us all wrong. Sure, they may have had early poor performance with sales, but Sony has adapted to the market and fought back.

So, how has the situation improved? Well, Sony have steadily been reducing the price of the PS3 to more acceptable levels, (unfortunately) going so far as to remove PS2 compatibility to get the PS3 to be profitable. However, this cloud might have a silver lining in the form of potential PS2 compatibility via software emulation at some point in the future.

Also many gamers have complained that there just has not been a great selection of games. Having got a PS3 last Christmas, I would have to disagree. I would even go so far as to say that Sony got ‘the must-have game’ fairly early on in the form of Resistance: Fall of Man. I’m sorry, but it’s just amazing. Something bizarre has been happening though; I’ve noticed in discussions on the internet that a lot of Xbox 360 gamers have claimed that they have great games such as The Orange Box, Burnout Paradise and Assassin’s Creed which demonstrates why the Xbox 360 is the best- completely forgetting that such games are also on the PS3.

The PS3 has released notable exclusives such as: MotorStorm, Resistance: Fall of Man, Ratchet and Clank, Heavenly Sword, SingStar, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune etc. PS3 gamers also have a lot to look forward to with regards to exclusives: Gran Turismo 5, LittleBigPlanet, Metal Gear Solid 4, Haze, Killzone 2, Resistance 2 etc etc etc! It’s time to crack open the champagne; 2008 and beyond is set to be an amazing time for PS3 owners.

Darth Vader and PS3

There’s been a notable flurry of welcoming PS3 news indicating that things are getting better. I’ll share a few that I’ve read about on PS3 Fanboy:

So it seems the PS3 is finally hitting its stride and may soon become the console of choice. From news reports and personal experience I know the PS3 is very popular in the UK, and also throughout Europe and Japan. The exception to the rule is in the USA. They sure love their Xbox 360.

Well, that just about wraps it up. I’ve said my piece, now it’s your turn. If you disagree with me- even better! Feel free to comment and I’ll reply as soon as I can.