Uncharted 2 announced, first trailer shows snow
Microsoft claims 3:1 Black Friday victory over PS3
PS3 Firmware 2.53 out now, has full-screen Flash
May 20th, 2008 @ 09:00
Update: UK reviews have been embargoed until Friday. See here.
Update two: Ubi’s now lifted the review embargo. See here.
Oh dear. This could get nasty. IGN’s published its Haze review, and it’s a woeful 4.5/10. The sound you can hear is one of an almost-certain universal kicking. Unless there’s been a glitch in the Matrix, expect less than celebratory verdicts to pile in behind this one as we move through the week.
The first reviews popped up yesterday, with Famitsu giving the shooter 34/40 and the Italian PSM marking it 9/10.
Gamereactor gave it 6/10, but then pulled the piece after it emerged an embargo had been broken. Must have been a special, secret Swedish embargo, or something.
Thanks, Blerk.
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May 20th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Poor old Free Radical. Perhaps now they’ll do that Second Sight sequel I’ve been badgering Nekotcha about?
May 20th, 2008 at 9:04 am
I don’t reckon this is going to be pretty, personally.
*head in sand*
May 20th, 2008 at 9:04 am
“This alpha male broad stroke is painted with comments such as “It’s like taking candy from a crippled baby,” and “Is there an award for most badass gangsta? Because that’s me!”
Oh dear Yescombe.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:05 am
May 20th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Perhaps it’s “ironic”? Er… maybe.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:07 am
I’m going to give it a go anyway. I’ll get the 360 version.
O.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:09 am
oh dear :O
May 20th, 2008 at 9:10 am
“Haze was touted as a great PS3 exclusive from a developer well versed in first-person shooter mechanics. While Free Radical does have a solid pedigree, Haze does not live up to the company’s reputation thanks to a horrible plot, weak gameplay mechanics and visuals that are truly underwhelming. While playing with friends is enjoyable, not even those are enough to bring this lackluster title around.”
Oh dear, oh dear.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Sounds brilliant. System-seller.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Without wishing to victimise anyone, it really does sound like Yescombe has f**ked up here:
“Earlier I mentioned the ridiculous commentary from the Mantel Troops, who frequently blather stupid phrases in the middle of battle. The Promise Hand isn’t much better, although they seem stuck with only a few phrases, such as “Remember The Promise” or “Mantel will fall today.” Since the soldiers seem constantly stuck on the same phrases ad nauseum, you’ll find yourself muting most of the game. Shane will also have this effect upon you, although you might scream at the TV because his lines come across so poorly.”
“What’s more, the character of Carpenter doesn’t endear himself to the player, especially because he either whines through sections of missions or seems perpetually lost, making him come across to the player as exceedingly weak and not someone you want to take through the entire game regardless of what happens to him. It doesn’t really help in the middle of battle, when you’re dodging bullets or rockets from your former company, to hear Shane complain about not being sure what to do next.”
Obviously that doesn’t make up for the graphical glitches, dodgy AI etc., but a good script and decent voice acting can elevate any game.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:20 am
I didn’t realise IGN gave scores below 7.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:26 am
They reserve sub-7 scores for really poor games which don’t book any advertising.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:32 am
So it is officially Hazelol yet?
I’m still hoping for solid multiplayer mirth but that wish is beginning to look a bit optimistic.
It is only me or is nectar almost exactly the same as feral abilities in far cry? All helps keep adding to the perception that this is a mish-mash of things…
May 20th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Yeah, thanks a lot Blerk.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:43 am
That’s me off the Free Radical Christmas card list, no doubt.
May 20th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Haa ha haaa!!
I have to laugh.
Only because Free Radical turned me down after having an interview to work on this game about 2 and a half years ago.
But I’m not bitter…
Oh no, I’m not bitter…
Mwahahahahahaa!!!
May 20th, 2008 at 9:52 am
That’s one for your CV, then:
“I wasn’t even good enough to work on Haze.”
May 20th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Ha!
May 20th, 2008 at 9:53 am
“Poor old Free Radical. Perhaps now they’ll do that Second Sight sequel I’ve been badgering Nekotcha about?”
What, you reckon they’ll still be around in a couple of months? I wouldn’t put money on it.
Poor Nekotcha.
May 20th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Yeah right!
I’m more inclined to think of it as that their decision making process was ‘haphazard’ at best from beginning to end, and was manifested in their crap review score.
Anyway, I think I just asked for too much money in the end, so they must pay crap wages too.
May 20th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Here’s a shovel for you. Keep digging
May 20th, 2008 at 10:07 am
ok, I’ll just stay in my deep hole with my lovely couple of 8.0 review scores that I’ve got on my last two games since then, shall I?
tee hee!
May 20th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Read the review. Most of it is fairly valid but they do seem to have missed a couple of important points. For example you aren’t meant to like your team mates at the start - they are meant to put you off. It’s part of why you switch sides.
May 20th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Oh dear. I’m hearing very bad things about this behind the scenes.
May 20th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Spill it! The public has a right to know!
May 20th, 2008 at 10:40 am
That section that Morriss pulled from IGN review earlier, highlights the likelihood that nothing improved, from the demo and feedback, therefrom. The rest of it suggests, that the demo showed us the bits they WANTED us to see.
DrDamn:
Oh, they did put me off. Of wanting to play anymore.
The most-touted aspects seem to have fallen flat, and on such a foundation, ushered in the toppling of HAZE’s house of cards.
How they could have screwed up so bad on the technical side, though, I just cannot fathom!
May 20th, 2008 at 10:49 am
“They reserve sub-7 scores for games which don’t book any advertising.”
Fixed.
May 20th, 2008 at 10:54 am
“Oh dear. I’m hearing very bad things about this behind the scenes.”
I’m not suprised. Sony will be reacting very badly to this. I’ve heard that they can come down very hard on developers when they want to.
Ubisoft are not made of money either.
They have both invested a whole lot of time and no doubt, a lot of money into a 4.5 product, so I’m not suprised at all.
May 20th, 2008 at 11:02 am
@SplatteredHouse
“Oh, they did put me off. Of wanting to play anymore.”
So games should just be full of characters you like? Good luck with those interesting stories there. Seriously, the story is not very well scripted but they tried to do something with the plot at the beginning which actually worked and it still gets put down as a “bad” point.
I’m a bit concerned about what this means for future projects from FR. I’ve always liked the Timesplitters games.
May 20th, 2008 at 11:57 am
I’m guessing we won’t be seeing much more of Rob Yescombe as the poster boy for games scriptwriting.
How I laughed when, not so long ago, they were putting out press releases about the Haze script being 1000 pages long, so….y’know….it must be good then!
May 20th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Actually the script is one of the things I’ll be interested to read about in the UK reviews. The Yanks wouldn’t know a good story if it bit them on the arse.
May 20th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I’m hearing that some UK retailers have today changed the status on the pre-orders for this game from “awaiting” to “shipped” so you can’t cancel.
That’s just cold.
May 20th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
People who pre-order stuff before they know what it’s like deserve all they get.
May 20th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
You’re a bad person!
May 20th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Yes. Yes, I am.
May 20th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Maybe they do have some business being annoying, just as I have every right not to want to continue playing, because of the negative result of decisions made. I’ve spent too much thought on this! :p
May 20th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
“How I laughed when, not so long ago, they were putting out press releases about the Haze script being 1000 pages long, so….y’know….it must be good then!”
LOL
Yeah, I remember that!
‘Our game is so good because the script is 1000 pages long!’
Ha ha!
Like I said then, you know your game is looking crap when one of your USP’s is the length of the script.
May 20th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Hope FR can weather this storm and bounce back.
May 20th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
“Actually the script is one of the things I’ll be interested to read about in the UK reviews. The Yanks wouldn’t know a good story if it bit them on the arse.”
Neither does Yescombe, judging by everything I’ve seen on the game, going way back.
A producer at a major UK developer told me recently that they were thinking about hiring an in-house writer, but that all the best talent was freelance, who usually took a lot of persuading (and dosh) to give up their independent status, so, generally, it was the second-raters you would get applying for the job.