Tag Archives: haze

Free Radical’s story continues as Haze development stumbles, and a deal with Lucasarts marks the beginning of the end for the studio. VG247′s Dave Cook speaks with Steve Ellis to set records straight.

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Remember Haze? That shooter from Free Radical, published by Ubisoft and was a PS3 exclusive? Didn’t go down too well? Its developer wants you to remember it. A lot more “gently”.

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Free Radical’s Karl Hilton has told Develop that Haze “had a lot of development issues which meant it wasn’t the game it should have been,” and admitted that the teams problems getting the game to run on PS3.

“A lot of them were technical issues,” he told the site. “The PS3 is a powerful machine but a difficult one to get the best out of. We spent more time trying get the game running properly and less time to design the game properly.”

After going into administration and being brought into the Crytek fold, Free Radical became Crytek UK and with access to CryEngine 3 the team’s PS3 woes are behind them thanks to the engine’s toolset.

“I don’t think we’ve seen the best out of the PS3 at all,” said Hilton, “and I definitely think one of the best things about Crytek and the CryEngine is that we’re now in the best position to get the most out of the hardware.”

More through the link.

Multiple sources have confirmed to VG247 that Free Radical is, indeed, closed.

Edge has posted up a lengthy account of recent events at the firm from what looks to be a good source. Apparently founder Dave Doak left earlier this month, and is now in the process of setting up a new developer with co-founder Steve Ellis called Pumpkin Beach.

Free Radical was working on Battlefront III for LucasArts until recently, but the project was pulled, supposedly relocating at Rebellion.

Haze is cited by the Edge source as being the final nail in the coffin, along with the failure to seal the deal with Lucas.

“They had already started working on TimeSplitters 4, and had been for over a year, but due to the failure of Haze and the deal falling through with Lucas, they couldn’t get a publisher to back them,” said the source.

“They had a last ditch attempt last week down South somewhere, but it came to nothing so I think that was the last hope.”

The gossiper continued: “People have been leaving in droves due to lack of security, poor treatment of staff, better offers and guaranteed work from other local developers such as Monumental Games and one in Derby whose name escapes me [Rebellion has a Derby location - Ed].”

To the 150-200 staff now looking at a salary-free Christmas – we salute you.

Thanks, Blerk.

Talking with Gamerush, Haze community development manager Ubi_Wuzzi has called IGN’s 4.5/10 review of the game “rude”.

“I think they’ve been pretty rude with the game,” he said.

“During journalists hands-on we were really happy as anyone had fun with the game. Most of them stated that the gameplay was solid and multiplayer well balanced.

“Anyway, we have no comments regarding reviews. But as a gamer I would say that the most important are the user reviews. We’ll see how the game is rated by gamers.”

Haze now has a Metacritic score of 56, stat-fans.

By Mike Bowden

Looks as though there may be a problem with being able to invite Friends into games in Haze. This thread‘s just popped up on the Ubisoft forums showing gamers complaining that when attempting to invite Friends into games, the title asks for a patch. Of which there isn’t one, apparently.

We’re trying to get comment on this now.

A number of sites published their Haze reviews last night, with the game shipping in the US yesterday and Ubisoft lifting the UK embargo on online reviews last night.

The PS3-exclusive hit headlines yesterday when IGN gave it 4.5/10.

This lot should give you a pretty clear picture of what’s hitting British shelves this Friday:

• Gamershell – 6.5/10
• GameDaily – 7/10
• GamesRadar – 7/10
• GiantBomb – 2/5
• Gamespot – 6/10

So there we are. It’s probably not the worst thing in the world, says the internet, but won’t be setting records. Gamespot’s given it a “Lynch”, and that’s as good an indication as any. We’re still waiting on Eurogamer and CVG’s scores, but “in the middle somewhere” is probably a safe bet.

And that’s that.

After the break. It’s the entire intro sequence, from loading the game to entering combat for the first time. There’s a lot of shouting involved. See for yourself.

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We’ve just received word from Ubisoft UK that the Friday embargo on online Haze reviews has now been lifted. Expect to see UK reviews going live from now on.

Free Radical scriptwriter Rob Yescombe has responded to IGN’s 4.5/10 drubbing of shooter Haze by saying he just wants people to make up their own minds.

“My thoughts are ‘Owch’. No, wait – MEGAowch,” he told PSU.

“Haze has had mixed reviews, but even GoldenEye got a 4/10 when it first came out. With a 9/10 in the Italian PSM, and an extremely positive review in Famitsu, we’re looking forward to people playing Haze and making a judgment for themselves.”

More through the link.

Update: The embargo’s been lifted. See here.

According to British press sources, online Haze reviews in the UK are being strictly embargoed until May 23, the game’s release date.

The news follows an eye-widening 4.5/10 from IGN this morning, and the removal of a 6/10 piece from GameReactor yesterday, after caused by a broken embargo.

Watch for the scores on Friday.

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.

Gametrailers has upped a Blind Date video featuring Haze project lead, Derek Littlewood and Rob Yescombe (screenwriter) trying to win a multiplayer date with Kitt from the UK Frag Dolls.

They answer specific questions aimed at highlighting the various features of Haze and inject their own special brand of humour.

We can’t think of anything thing else to say. See for yourselves after the link.

By Mike Bowden

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Gamespot Australia has some new movie footage of Free Radical’s Haze.

Beware spoilers and bad language, apparently. Click the red words.

By Mike Bowden

In an interview with Ripten, Haze creative lead Derek Littlewood confirmed that – contrary to reports on the Playstation blog – the game does not run in high definition.

The shooter runs in 1024×576 (576p) and not 1024×720 (720p), meaning it leaves the PS3 to upscale.

Littlewood, however, doesn’t see what the fuss is about:

“We prioritise a nice smooth framerate over a different res,” he said.

“Personally, I don’t really buy the whole thing. People did the same with Call of Duty, they did the same with Halo, and they say with those games ‘It’s not running at true HD!’ And it’s like, ‘I don’t care’. If the game looks good and it runs smoothly, those are the important things to me.”

Right on, brother. More Littlewood through the link.

By Mike Bowden

The first Haze reviews are in, and it looks as though the kids are split so far. Ubi’s confirmed that Famitsu’s given the Free Radical shooter 34/40, and that the Italian PSM’s marked it 9/10. Haze is amazing!

Unfortunately, Nordic bastion Gamereactor’s given it 6/10. Haze is just above average!

The game’s out this week in Europe.

Teh internets are less than happy about this. Ubisoft’s confirmed that Haze will have a mandatory 4Gb install. Reckon it’ll take over 20 minutes?

“You will need to go through a minimal install (about 4 Gigs) but not the whole game,” said Haze’s community manager, speaking here.

The Free Radical shooter’s out next Friday, PS3-only.

We downloaded the Haze demo yesterday. At last, we could actually play the game free from all the exclusivity shenanigans; free from the talk of the how’s and why’s of the delay; free from all the politics – it was just us and the game. Finally. Is it any good? See after the link.

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The Haze demo is up on the UK PSN now, as promised, and will be with our American cousins tomorrow, according to this Gaming Today piece. The shooter fully releases on May 23.Don’t forget that it’s a PS3 exclusive, kids.

Talking to videogaming247, Haze creative head Derek Littlewood has confirmed that the shooter’s demo, to be released on PSN on May 6 as part of the forthcoming Playstation Day, will feature the game’s opening level.

“It’s the first mission in the game,” said Littlewood. “You take on the role of Shane Carpenter as a Mantel trooper as he’s scrambled into a jungle battlezone to secure the site of a crashed Mantel plane carrying a shipment of nectar.

“And you can assume by default that I’ll say it’s great,” he added.

Haze is released exclusively for PS3 on May 23.

By Mike Bowden