With a seemingly endless amount of high-profile games coming out in the next few months, it’s easy to lose track of every single last title that looked good to you at one point in time or another. There’s a chance that you might have overlookedFree Radical Design’s (TimeSplittersseries,Second Sight) upcoming first-person shooter for PlayStation 3,Haze.
The focus onHazethus far has been more about the game’s narrative and less about actual gameplay. That’s all going to change though, with a look at some of the abilities you’ll have at your disposal — after the break, of course.
If you are completely clueless aboutHaze’s storyline, here’s a quick (quick being the keyword) recap of what we know so far: you play as Shane Carpenter, a soldier for the private military corporation,Mantel Global Industries. You and your allies have access to the nutritional supplement, Nectar, to help you eradicate a rebel faction known as the Promise Hand while in South America.
It is already known that at some point during the game, Carpenter will make the switch from Mantel to the Promise Hand. Because Mantel soldiers are supplied with the mind-altering drug, Nectar, their sense of reality is skewed — they cannot see blood and to them, dead bodies appear to fade away – much like something you’d expect to see in a video game. So when Shane Carpenter does eventually discover the truth and become a rebel warrior, war suddenly becomes less glamorous and a hell of a lot more realistic.
The ever-friendly Rob Yescombe from Free Radical describesHazeas “two games in one box,” because the skills available to the Promise Hand and Mantel soldiers are so very different from one another.
The Mantel skills:
The Promise Hand skills:
As a Promise Hand, you must use all of your cunning to exploit the Mantel soldier’s behavior. Besides using the skills listed above, you will also be able to directly use Nectar against them. Here’s how:
If you’re wondering whether or not these abilities will make it into the multiplayer modes, the answer is yes. This will hopefully provide for two completely different playing styles and some memorable matches against your buddies.
Hazewill be out on PlayStation 3 this November, and will later be available for Xbox 360 and PC in 2008.
