EGTV: David Doak on Haze

By Robert Purchese Published 1 August, 2007

Free Radical boss David Doak fights the good fight.

Steroids are great. I'm as strong as an ox and can keep going with barely any rest. Nothing can stop me now - I'll be enormous soon. Oh, but what's this little thing? Why are all these people looking at me and talking behind my back? I'll crush them like pesky little flies!

It is, bizarrely, the same message Free Radical boss David Doak is trying to get across in our exclusive Haze developer diary, now showing on Eurogamer TV.

We all think we've seen everything to do with the first-person shooter, largely thanks to our detailed preview and in-depth interview. We know it's about a giant company called Mantle who outsource military muscle to governments around the globe. We also know their success largely comes from a chemical stimulant called Nectar, which makes its soldiers virtually superhuman.

And although it works just like it says on the tin, it also has its drawbacks - an arrogance you'll have to exploit as Rebel soldier Shane Carpenter if you want to survive.

You see, Nectar-high soldiers have faster reactions and better perception, but also a blinkered view of their surroundings. You'll be able to approach them, punch them in the face and steal their weapon, or play dead and spring up behind enemy lines once they've passed - simply because they don't factor that audacity into their winning equation. It's this brain over brawn approach David Doak feels sets Haze apart from the crowd.

"Now you have to work on your wits, looking for ways you can make the troopers go wrong," says Doak. "With Haze we want to create the shooter people think of when they think PS3."

But it isn't all maths and homework. Other headline features include four player online co-op throughout the entire campaign, as well as normal and objective-based multiplayer. It also looks very nice, as you might expect.

Enough of our waffle though, head over to Eurogamer TV for the exclusive Haze developer diary, now showing.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (22) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Syrok #1 5 years ago

    Edited by 2 at 01/08/07 @ 17:11

  • tomdominer #2 5 years ago

    Totally agree with you there Syrok.

  • gogobaka #3 5 years ago

    sounds rubbish

  • SBfistfun #4 5 years ago

    Spot of anal anybody?

  • TRUTH #5 5 years ago

    Urm, this also coming to PC & 360, though slightly later. Seeing footage it looks good, but not a Half Life 2, Halo, Crysis threat.

  • Scimarad #6 5 years ago

    @Nekotcha

    Damn! Beat me to it!

    Really looking forward to this after the last video - An almost sure way to get me to buy a game is to have split-screen co-op:-)

  • Tonka #7 5 years ago

    That looks and sounds good. When did it turn a PS3 exclusive? I thought it was a timed delay (or whatever it's called). Anyways. If I had to play an FPS I would pick Haze.

  • Calgon #8 5 years ago

    Tonka its not did you not hear? They "want" you to think it is if you have PS3, why? because they sell more if fanboys think its exclusive. ;)
    Edited by 1 at 01/08/07 @ 21:16

  • UncleLou #9 5 years ago

    Think it sounds great, I love the whole idea with the distorted reality. Would be a definite buy for me.

    On the PC. ;_;

  • TRUTH #10 5 years ago

    Yhea, it's coming to PC & 360. Read this in latest PC/360 mags. It originally started on PS3, but it will now come to 360 & PC a few months later.

  • Les #11 5 years ago

    These guys actually made the last FPS I enjoyed (Timesplitters 2). But the terribly seroius sci-fi theme of this game doesn't really appeal to me. Bring back the comedy please.

  • Calgon #12 5 years ago

    It never was exclusive, neither was Assassins Creed as we all know it was first announced for and first demo'd on a 360(thus I always thought of 360 when it was mentioned anyway), it might have worked for GTA(even though it started out on the PC and from GTA3 onwards you could get it on other platforms people always thought of them as PS2 games) but I dont think that stratagey will work for Sony this round, theres alot more hardcore gamers who know whats exclusive and what isnt, able to spread news by word of mouth on these matters. Also much more games are leading on 360 to begin with, even those that arent are fairing quite well incomparison(360>PS3 ports).

    Ontopic: This is deffinately looking like one of the few promising games in the PS3 library/pipeline so far, whether it will turn out to be worth the hype is another matter(but atleast its not hyping for the sake of hyping just because its exclusive as with Killzone2).
    Edited by 4 at 01/08/07 @ 22:48

  • Tonka #13 5 years ago

    Calgon OK. These "timed exclusives" are a bit ridiculous. Wasn't it down to 24 hrs on some game?

    Still. I think Haze looks interesting.

  • Steroyd #14 5 years ago

    After watching the video it has some interesting ideas.

    I'm with Les thouroghly (holy crap my spelling) enjoyed TS2 hope they have humour and stay away from the damn laser guns this time.

  • woodnotes #15 5 years ago

    TimeSplitters was good back in the day, but FPS have moved on since then, and while Free Radical are trying to justify that Haze is 'next-gen' with its 'epic story' about Mantel and nectar, I just don't see it.

    And as for the exclusivity, I think it works in Haze's favour. Haze wasn't getting noticed at all before there were rumours it was becoming a PS3 exclusive. As soon as that was announced, suddenly (Sony fans at least) became interested in it, and the game has been received far more exposure since, both on sites and forums.

  • Dizzy #16 5 years ago

    Said it before. Looks like a "by the numbers" FPS.

  • Harmonica #17 5 years ago

    Timesplitters was entirely rubbish except for 1) monkeys 2) monkeys with rocket launchers 3) the descriptions given on the character screen

    So this next title should be interesting. Haze looks great, and it's a cute concept. Not a Crysis beater, no, but then nor is anything :)

  • SomaticSense #18 5 years ago

    I wasn't at all interested in this whatsoever before, despite FPS's floating my boat and all, as after reading all the write-ups it just sounded like Far Cry Instincts Version 2.

    But after seeing it in action, I must say it looks amazing. Can't really place why, but it looks like my absolute perfect FPS, and has me much more excited than Halo 3's single player (not bothered about multi tbh). The whole premise behind the game really appeals to me.

    If this turns out to be a genuine PS3 exclusive and not timed, I will be very pissed. You hear me Nekotcha? I will hunt you down....

  • BiscuitBase #19 5 years ago

    "With Haze we want to create the shooter people think of when they think PS3."

    I wonder if that was read word for word from their timed exclusivity contract.

  • mcwildcard #20 5 years ago

    This sounds suspiciously like "We've realised our NPC AI is atrocious, so we've incorporated it into the plot.".
    Super-soldiers that let you simply stroll up to them and punch them in the face because it's 'audacious'?
    Righty-o.

  • The-Bodybuilder #21 5 years ago

    hazelol.

  • weeno #22 5 years ago

    Just curious, how is this an EGTV exclusive?
    It's on a bunch of websites...