Haze finally gets release date

By Robert Purchese Published 26 March, 2008

Absolutely Mantle.

Ubisoft has finally plastered a date on Haze, which will be out on 22nd May.

The slippery shooter from Free Radical was, once upon a time, expected at the end of last year, but was subsequently nudged and budged into the first quarter of fiscal 2008 (sometime between April and June).

Haze was originally pencilled in for release on Xbox 360 and PC at a later date as well, although Ubisoft recently decided to make it a permanent exclusive on PS3. Or not. No one knows any more and frankly we're tired of asking.

Haze is a first-person shooter with squad elements and four-player co-operative play. The idea is that you are an ex-member of a global military company that outsources its soldiers, and also uses a powerful drug called Nectar to keep itself on top of the market.

Key to differentiating Haze from the FPS pack is how you exploit the effects of Nectar with your rebel forces. For instance, soldiers high on the drug will become arrogant and ignore you playing dead, or you can simply sever their feed-tubes so they overdose and start killing each other.

Pop over to our Haze gamepage for plenty of in-game footage.

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.

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Comments (27) Latest comment 4 years ago

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

  • myiagros #1 4 years ago

    I'm still interested in this game, but i can't help questioning the decision to release it slap bang inbetween GTA IV and MGS 4.

    It so obviously going to be overlooked, regardless of how good it ends up being.

  • SeesThroughAll #2 4 years ago

    It so obviously going to be overlooked, regardless of how good it ends up being.

    Perhaps this the intent? ;)

  • Triggerhappytel #3 4 years ago

    "No one knows any more and frankly we're tired of asking."

    To be honest, that kinda sums up my feelings on the whole game. It's been so over-exposed and delayed so many times that interest has been swamped by apathy.

    Coming from Free Rad, I'm sure it will still be *at least* a 7/10 title, but it's gonna have to be really, really good to make me care again.

  • myiagros #4 4 years ago

    i can't wait for them to release this, mostly so they can get on to devoting all their time to TimeSplitters 4.

  • M83J01P97 #5 4 years ago

    I don't understand why Free Radical of all people decided to make a FPS that simply followed the crowd of all other FPS games out there right now.

    I just wonder if they have managed to do a good job of improving this game after's the terrible press reaction from E3 07 and Leipzig 07.

  • Diomedes #6 4 years ago

    Great ,at last we have a release date .

    This game is sure to be very good ,but so many delays have eclipsed it a bit .

    But as the release time arrives and the good reviews trickle in it will have its momentum come 22 may .

  • Diomedes #7 4 years ago

    Terrible press reaction last year ?WTF ?It was precisely when this game was being hyped when it was delayed for the first time .

  • Cyclone #8 4 years ago

    Personally i hope they get round to making a sequel to Second Sight when this is released. Probably quite unlikely; the original didn't sell in great numbers if I remember correctly.

  • WinterSnowblind #9 4 years ago

    Pretty much feel the same as you guys. I was excited when I first heard about it, but 2007 was a big year for FPS, I'm not sure I'll bother buying another one anytime soon. And with all the delays and release confusion I've pretty much lost all interest, especially with things like GTA coming out shortly.

    I'd much rather play another Timesplitters.

  • Apologie #10 4 years ago

    the game will be amazing... can't wait, i hope they took the extra time to polish things up (wich i'm sure they did), from what i've see it will end between 8/10 - 10/10.
    Edited by 1 at 26/03/08 @ 19:47

  • Gnort #11 4 years ago

    I know this is flogging a dead horse, but I don't understand why this game is going to be PS3 exclusive. If Sony were to shell out cash to keep a game, surely they should look for more than another shooter, which will probably be well received critically (considering Free Radical's track record) but overlooked commercially (due to shooter fatigue as well as the proximity to GTA4 and MGS4). On Ubisoft's side, surely they'd want to get as many sales as possible after the extended development period, and you'd be mad to overlook the 360's large and shooter-friendly install base.

    The only thing I can think of is that the engine was PS3 led, and it doesn't run so well on the 360 at the moment, and Ubisoft is so resigned to the game bombing that they don't want to throw good money after bad by letting Free Radical take even longer to sort out the 360 engine.

  • Pedrolot #12 4 years ago

    Ubisoft bums Sony.

    Just like Bungie bums Microsoft.

  • penguin_overlord #13 4 years ago

    I predict this will be 9/10. It's the second of the big PS3 exclusives this year (after GT5: Prologue) so it will be interesting to see how it affects PS3 sales, especially as it's an FPS. The PS3 is definitely the machine to own this year if you like FPS games as Killzone 2 and Resistance 2 are still to come.

  • MilkYMoO #14 4 years ago

    The best fps this year is bound to be far cry 2. I hope haze will be good, because I'm desperate to use my two month old ps3 for some gaming. I dont have much hope for killzone 2, because I actually own the original killzone and that was shite. I also got a lend of resistance recently and think its mediocre at best. Everyone uses the auto aim feature when playing online and that ruins the game and takes away any skill while playing. Fingers crossed for haze.

  • Pedrolot #15 4 years ago

    I may wait until a score, then ill pre-order :)

  • Mashum #16 4 years ago

    can't fucking wait - doak & co ftw

  • mingster #17 4 years ago

    I watched a pre-release being played and can definately say this game is .. meh.
    Nothing special not awful but not anything special 7/10

  • bad09 #18 4 years ago

    @ wazzer

    I agree 100% with you there, no matter what platform, I am finding really hard to get excited about any FPS at the moment. Even word of COD5 didn't exactly thrill me! (although I am excited about Condemned 2!)

  • zuljin #19 4 years ago

    @bad09
    "Even word of COD5 didn't exactly thrill me!"

    Considering that apparently they're going back to the usual boring old WW2, and it won't be made by the same people of COD4, I don't think word of COD5 is going to thrill many gamers at all.

  • Les #20 4 years ago

    "Lets just hope that this game is another Bioshock, in that it kinda comes out of nowhere, blows everyone away, and is commercially rewarded..."

    Bioshock didn't come out of nowhere. The continuous hype started about two years from release. I recently played the demo and was very underwhelmed. I hope this was just because it was demo material and not up to the quality of the full game though I doubt they will have improved the horrendous story telling much... It's a sad thing that stuff like this gets so much critical acclaim IMO. If you can't do a serious story involving moral dilemma's well (and you can't in a game, moral dilemma's just don't work with a virtual world) then don't try it. It can't stand in the shadow of HL1 and 2.

  • Xerx3s #21 4 years ago

    "Considering that apparently they're going back to the usual boring old WW2, and it won't be made by the same people of COD4, I don't think word of COD5 is going to thrill many gamers at all. "

    That and considering that COD4 wasn't that great. There are far better FPS games on the market.

  • kangarootoo #22 4 years ago

    About time too. Not that confident in this, but I would love it to turn out well. We shall see.

    @Cyclone

    Seconded. Second Sight was a great title. Best plot twist in a game ever (or until I can remember a better one).

    @Pedrolot

    "Ubisoft bums Sony.
    Just like Bungie bums Microsoft."

    Wow, deep and thoughtful stuff indeed. Well done.

    I suspect that, somewhere along the years, a rhino bummed your brain.

  • zuljin #23 4 years ago

    @Xerx3s
    Its one of my faves. Not long, and tbh the multiplayer hasn't grown on me, but there was something about single player I really liked.

    Ranks among my fave games of past 6 months together with Bioshock and Uncharted.

    Hmm also singleplayer... I'm spotting a trend in my favourites here...

  • Xerx3s #24 4 years ago

    Les, wtf are you on about? Bs is a great game (but not as good as SS1/2 mind as they explore deeper gameplay mechanics). Standing in the shadow of HL1 and even 2? Yeah right. HL2 is boretown with the same repetitive outdated gameplay of HL1 and while HL1 was an innovation in it's time, it most definitely has been outdone by just about any game in the market. Bioshock not only has a better gameplay experience (which arguably was less than it's predecessor), it also has a better story experience.
    You seem to be under the impression that the only reason why the game is considered good is that it's because of the hype. Odd considering that you have no problem with looking at games like HL1/2 with rose tinted glasses.

  • Xerx3s #25 4 years ago

    "Its one of my faves. Not long, and tbh the multiplayer hasn't grown on me, but there was something about single player I really liked."

    Obviously to each his own. It's my first (and probably last) venture into the series and the game simply didn't 'bind'. The only thing that kept me playing was the MP and not even because of the game itself but because I'm a social player and just follow the EG masses. SP was just a bore imo with some nice touches here and there. Couldn't be arsed to finish it.

  • Les #26 4 years ago

    "You seem to be under the impression that the only reason why the game is considered good is that it's because of the hype. Odd considering that you have no problem with looking at games like HL1/2 with rose tinted glasses."

    No, it's considered excellent because of the hype. It's a good game with regards to the gameplay mechanics (decent shooter with a little RPG twist). But the story (at least the introduction and Little Sister/Big Daddy contrived bull) is presented rather poorly and reading the reviews that ought to be the main attraction. The opening level of HL2 is miles better in setting the stage and the gravity gun gameplay wise is more interesting than shooting stuff with your hands instead of a gun...

  • Widge #27 4 years ago

    Woo! Someone else who found Halflife2 boring. I mean what is there to it? You are literally plodding through each location in a straight line where at the end, some bunch of people tell you nothing and send you on your way to another checkpoint. I often see it mentioned as having the story there if you want it. I wanted it, it wasn't there. I quickly switched over to Day Of Defeat:Source.

    Bioshock, I slapped this on the laptop and was blown away by it. I've got to a medical centre and haven't picked it up since, instead I've moved to C&C3, back to FFXII on my PS3 and Crisis Core on the PSP. I'm sure I'll pick it up again although I'm seeing STALKER as the more intriguing game.