Haze writer responds to review score

By Robert Purchese Published 20 May, 2008

"Even GoldenEye got a 4/10" - Yescombe.

Haze writer Rob Yescombe has likened his game to GoldenEye after it was given just 4.5 out of 10 in its IGN review.

The upcoming PS3-exclusive shooter had previously received high marks from Famitsu and the Italian PlayStation Magazine.

"My thoughts are 'Owch'. No, wait - 'MEGAowch'," Yescombe 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 judgement for themselves."

You'll be able to do that this Friday when the game is released, or by reading our review that should be up at around the same time.

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 (126) Latest comment 4 years ago

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

  • Garulon #1 4 years ago

    Hmm, review embargo that lifts the same day the game goes on sale?

    I smell another cast-iron surefire PS3 exclusive hit!

  • espibara #2 4 years ago

    Like me grandpa said ya cant polish a turd lad!

    And from the IGN review and playing the demo Haze is a major bog blocker of a turd.

    Now wheres me plunger!
    Edited by 2 at 20/05/08 @ 16:21

  • Benno #3 4 years ago

    So haze is not only running in low def, its actually shit as well?

    Bad times sony, bad times...

  • Cappy #4 4 years ago

    Perhaps. But I can't find any record of GoldenEye getting a 4/10 score so it can't have been a well known source.

    Unless we are counting reviews on GameFAQs.
    Edited by 1 at 20/05/08 @ 14:21

  • Ace_McCloud #5 4 years ago

    Wowzaa, 4/10 from IGN... the most notoriously harsh marking games mag on the planet!

  • JohnnyWashnGo #6 4 years ago

    Yeah, I gotta say that the game looks a little too dull to be anything other than a moderate success.

    But at least we now know that IGN don't take bungs, or Ubisoft/Free Radical don't give money for good reviews ;)

  • NickD7 #7 4 years ago

    Haze and Lair are early warning tremmors, the real earthquake is coming next month when MGS4 bombs.

    Are you ready PS3 owners?.

  • nick_f Verified Senior Producer, Microsoft #8 4 years ago

    http://i30.tinypic .com/2r6fjw8.gif

  • George-Roper #9 4 years ago

    ARRGH!

    Why are people so fucking obsessed with Goldeneye? It was only successful because it was a well known IP on a console, where the FPS market hadn't really ventured before.

    It was fucking WANK.

  • the_inchworm #10 4 years ago

    No it wasn't

  • Razorus #11 4 years ago

    Who gave Goldeneye a 4? Probably Jack Thompson.

    Edit: And WTF George? Goldeneye us rghtly regarded by 99% of the world to be a great game. You even answered your own question. It was a pioneer for console FPS, which makes it automatically good. Also, it was (and still is) the ONLY decent James Bond game adaption worth repeat plays. Multiplayer was fantastic and innovated many things that are taken for granted nowadays.
    Edited by 1 at 20/05/08 @ 14:39

  • Draqule #12 4 years ago

    I didn't actually think the game was all that bad after playing the demo and there were alot of people already sharpening their knives for this. I'll definitely wait for a few more reviews before writing this off.


    @nick_f - That's pure genius

  • mikeck #13 4 years ago

    "It was fucking WANK".

    I think you're fucking wank! ;)

  • nick_f Verified Senior Producer, Microsoft #14 4 years ago

    @ Draqule: I can't take credit, someone at work forwarded it to me.

    @ George Roper: You, sir, are on CRACK.

  • gingerlink #15 4 years ago

    well, the 4/10 for goldeneye isn't on metacritic and famitsu's the only one giving is a (only reasonablely) good score:

    http://ww w.metacritic.com/games/platform...

  • Eighthours #16 4 years ago

    Empire gave Goldeneye 2 stars out of 5, which equates to a 4/10. It was a one paragraph review by someone who hasn't even played it. I think that the comparison's slightly disingenuous, as no proper videogame publication gave Goldeneye a bad score.

    The embargo's for a good reason. Haze is simply not very good, and the FRD guys should avoid digging holes for themselves by even mentioning Goldeneye around it. I think Rob Yescombe got drawn into it, but it was a silly thing to mention as it's going to be spun to pieces.

  • Darren #17 4 years ago

    I'm sorry but one 9/10 score from what seems to be a biased Italian PS magazine exclusive and 34/40 from Famitsu, the same magazine that gave Lair and Perfect Dark Zero similar scores, means very little and sounds like he's clutching at straws really. For me, the reviews from respectable sources like Eurogamer, Edge, gamesTM and (dare I say it?) GameSpot are what matter the most to me if I was deciding whether to buy the game or not. Admittedly the IGN review was poorly written, concentrating far too much on what they didn't like about the story and characters, and very little on pointing out why they deemed the game only worthy of 4.5.

    *sigh*

    No matter, I thought the demo was OK and my pre-order will no doubt be here come Thursday so I can make up my own mind about the game proper. I will say that there's a distinct Lair "whiff" to the whole thing though so it may be true that the full game really isn't much cop... gamesTM have suipposedly given it 4/10. Free Radical might have made the critically acclaimed TimeSplitters series but they also produced the mediocre Second Sight so maybe they're destined to be one-hit wonders (kind of)?

  • Mildew #18 4 years ago

    It's got three reviews on Metacritic - highest is 65% - general comments along the lines of "doesn't do anything new"

  • Vice.Destroyer #19 4 years ago

    Poor deluded George. Are you upset because you missed out when everybody played Goldeneye. There, there.
    /end of sarcasm

    Be fair George. I think that you and me can both name games with the James Bond licence, that did not sell nowhere near as well as Goldeneye did. 8 million copies sold, according to Wikipedia.

    The reason why people are obsessed by GoldenEye is that at the time it was an enormous amount of fun. That is why I am obsessed about it and that is why people expect so much from Free Radical. Because once upon a time, some of the guys at that team really knew how to push the envelope.

    I don't have a PS3, so I'll be giving this a miss. But after having played the Timesplitters trilogy, I am really wondering if those guys will ever hit the heights of fun that Perfect Dark 1 and GoldenEye achieved. Or maybe I just miss being a student in 1997 and having a house full of cannon fodder, 4 joypads and my N64. I don't know.

  • kissthestick #20 4 years ago

    Cant wait for Gamespots review


    5.5 anyone?

  • McFly55 #21 4 years ago

    It was successful because 4 player Goldeneye sessions were fucking brilliant. One of my mates used to always get the 'Mostly Harmless' and 'Most Cowardly' awards. Good times.


    Shame about Haze though. Ah well, GTA4 and MGS4'll keep me amused for a while

  • Negotiator #22 4 years ago

    Haze the next Halo beater, thats what they said, what are they to say now. The fact is Haze is shit because the PS3 is a poorly designed machine that most developers can't get decent results from, leaving them less time to work on gameplay.

  • Laika #23 4 years ago

    I'm waiting for this game to be torn up by Yahtzee. *sigh*

    And I was so looking forward to it...

  • Darren #24 4 years ago

    So when can we get to read EG's review? I'd have thought it'd have been up by now as they're usually very quick to post them days or even weeks before a game is released here in Europe.

  • skillian #25 4 years ago

    I think that the comparison's slightly disingenuous, as no proper videogame publication gave Goldeneye a bad score.

    They should have compared it Eurogamer's 4/10 for Mafia ;)

    On topic, this looked terrible to me from the very first video I saw. I'm surprised anyone thought it actually may be any good...

  • LHH #26 4 years ago

    Goldeneye's single player was awesome, however, I have always thought splitscreen multiplayer to be somewhat shit. Regardless. And in todays day and age of online multiplayer 'mayhem'...plus Goldeneyes' acclaimed multiplayer...

    Fuck it, I don't care. I just want Eurogamers review up, the comments on that one should be gold.
    Edited by 1 at 20/05/08 @ 14:48

  • asphaltcowboy #27 4 years ago

    @Darren, it's under embargo!

  • WiseNail #28 4 years ago

    3 reviews on Metacritic so far, average score 5.6 out of 10.

    I was fairly interested in this game (if partly as another reason to justify buying my PS3, which was purchased after already owning a 360 and Wii). Pretty likely that I wont bother now, unless the scores from the big sites come in high.

    Resistance 2 is a long way off and Little Big Planet just doesn't appeal, so MGS4 had better be good...

  • Gnort #29 4 years ago

    Two early reviews are far from conclusive, but it looks like my fears about this game were right. I feel a bit sorry for it being PS3 exclusive, because it has become another front in the console war, whether it wanted to be or not.

    As a comparison, Dark Sector was a multi-platform game. It received some good scores, and some pretty bad ones, but each person could take it on i's merits because it was just a game, there was nothing more to the argument (I quite enjoyed it). If it had been exclusive to the 360 or PS3, then one side would have had to contest that it was the shittiest game ever released, and the other would have argued that it was actually a work of genius and cruelly misunderstood by the reviewers.

    Look how much press Haze is getting, most of it negative. Even with the lofty claims of the developers and the length of time it took to finish, do you think it would have been such a focal point if it were multiplatform? It wouldn't (but unfortunately, it wouldn't have been a better game, either).

  • Darren #30 4 years ago

    @asphaltcowboy - Not now it isn't, it's released in the US today! ;)

    Anyway, with a game like GTA IV or Halo 3 the word "embargo" means quality game kept under wraps for spoiling the plot but with Haze it seems to mean mediocre game kept under wraps for spoiling potential sales! ;)

  • Stifler #31 4 years ago

    "Or maybe I just miss being a student in 1997 and having a house full of cannon fodder, 4 joypads and my N64. I don't know."

    +1

    Good times, good times

  • dk_rare #32 4 years ago

    The difference is that Haze ain't gonna be no Goldeneye.

  • Garulon #33 4 years ago

    "Goldeneye's single player was awesome, however, I have always thought splitscreen multiplayer to be somewhat shit. "

    Huh? What if your're husband+wife shooter fans? Eh? EH?

  • Widge #34 4 years ago

    Goldeneye was great at the time, there was nothing like it!

    Haze, there are so many things like it. I mean look at the mantel bods, then look at the cover of Crysis or Timesplitters. Protagonists in big metal suits. In fact you can lump the big green spaceman in with that too.

    Consoles didn't have anything like Goldeneye, now they have loads of things like it. If the one player is meh and so is the multiplayer, there is nothing really to advertise this game.

    I don't even agree with the "we wanted a solid framerate" story. Look at Warhawk, not visually spectacular detail wise, but more than happy to fling 32 players round a map at a good res and at speed. Plus the Resistance people were able to cut it a good year ago!

    Still, I suppose its a relief to the old wallet. I'm yet to catch up on the entire Burnout & COD4 stuff ... Assassin's Creed even, so its nice to know that its a good wadge of cash saved. Proper rental market game.

  • LHH #35 4 years ago

    Then the wife better be busy doing the dishes ;)

  • muscleblade #36 4 years ago

    Hes confusing Goldeneye with the awful Golden Eye: Rogue Agent.

  • asphaltcowboy #37 4 years ago

    @Darren, fair enough. Either way, the last line of the article says "You'll be able to do that this Friday when the game is released, or by reading our review that should be up at around the same time."

  • Darren #38 4 years ago

    GoldenEye was awesome back in the day, it was yet another N64 game that blew me away, kept me playing it for weeks on end and made me NOT regret having to sell my PS and its games collection to pay for all those expensive carts. Banjo-Kazooie, Jet Force Gemini, Diddy Kong Racing and GoldenEye... that was Rare at their very, very best IMO.

  • Vice.Destroyer #39 4 years ago

    Banjo-Kazooie, Jet Force Gemini, Diddy Kong Racing and GoldenEye... that was Rare at their very, very best IMO.

    Darren speaketh the truth.

    +1

  • Super_Zee #40 4 years ago

    IGN gave God Hand a 3 and therefore have no credibility or importance.

  • Darren #41 4 years ago

    @asphaltcowboy - Ooops missed the bit at the end about the review so it looks like it'll be tomorrow or Thursday at a guess then rather than today as I was hoping. Thanks for pointing that out anyway.

  • Yossarian #42 4 years ago

    I feel a bit sorry for it being PS3 exclusive, because it has become another front in the console war, whether it wanted to be or not.

    Perhaps they should have considered this at some point during the back and forth fiasco regarding its exclusivity, and maybe also reined in their criticisms of other games (most notably Halo).

    Crash and burn, Haze, we hardly knew thee.

  • MKorkia #43 4 years ago

    Maybe SDF will make an "unbiased" review and give Haze 10/10. :D

    If there's ant fault with IGN's review scores its that they are too lenient with FPS's, Eurogamer takes much more feet on the ground approach to review scores.

    But still it is hard to imagine that Haze could be worse than Turning Point... :-o Maybe I should finally install that Haze demo I already downloaded and see for myself...

  • FenderMaster #44 4 years ago

    i really enjoyed the demo... especially in 4 player online co-op i would have given it a 8/10... even though im not a huge fps fan

  • Super_Zee #45 4 years ago

    Holy shit, I've never looked at SDF before but that is hilarious.
    Edited by 1 at 20/05/08 @ 15:15

  • mikeck #46 4 years ago

    Anyway, 4 isn't terrible is it? If we take 5 as an 'okay' or 'average' game, then a 4 puts it just below that, so more like a 'below average game but has some merits in there somewhere' maybe?

    With the amount of FPS games out there, Haze had to offer something new to get a good review score in general, which it doesn't seem to do, so I would have expected a 5, or a 6 at a push anyway...so 4 isn't really too far off.

    I'm sure it couldn't be any worse then some of the dross FPS demos I've tried of late such as Conflict: Denied Ops and Blacksite anyway.

  • peterfll #47 4 years ago

    Rob Yescombe has been putting himself in the camera (well, on things like Gamer.TV) for months now trumpeting on about Haze. It's recieved a lot of press and hype - partly IMO because of the PS3 exclusivity - so anything less than average is bound to attract a lot of attention. And at best, this is what it looks like Haze will be yes.

    And yes I played the demo.

    And yes, I also think Rob's Goldeneye comparison was a bad judgement call.

  • Vice.Destroyer #48 4 years ago

    Maybe they should have asked Jade Raymond to help with the publicity?

  • Darren #49 4 years ago

    @mikeck - I know you're just trying to put a positive spin on it - and good for you - but whether Haze scores 4, 5 or 6 out of 10, it'll still be viewed as mediocre and I'm sure that isn't what Free Radical were aiming for. In fact, it must be heart-breaking to spend two or three years working hard on a game that you're proud of only to release it to such hostile reception. I'd hate to be in their shoes I really would. Based on the demo I'd say that Haze isn't a poor game by any stretch of the imagination, just perhaps a bit too generic and ordinary to stand out from other FPSs out there. I'm actually looking forward to playing the game myself although I'm under no illusions that it's going to be groundbreaking or a Call of Duty 4/Halo 3 beater.

  • Unclebenny #50 4 years ago

    MKorkia- I really don't get if SDF are being serious or not? I really hope it sarcastic. Its just hard to tell without the voice intonation.

    In terms of Haze.....thought it looked ok, nothing ground breaking. Not got a PS3 though so not that bothered. I'm mainly just reading this too avoid work.

  • Garulon #51 4 years ago

    "I'd hate to be in their shoes I really would."

    Well maybe they ought to have made a better game then. That sounds really callous but beleive you me, six months from now when all the "guy in a funny helmet and opaque visor" shooters are finally out and rotting in pre-owned hell (Dark Void, Haze, Dead Space etc. etc. etc.) nobody will remember this shit.

  • Les #52 4 years ago

    "With the amount of FPS games out there, Haze had to offer something new to get a good review score in general, which it doesn't seem to do"

    I only played it very briefly and not too involved (and on a sunny moment so I didn't see too much on the screen, was all rather dark) but the nectar mechanic (using it so see enemies in the jungle, risk of overdose, etc.) seemed rather new for an FPS. Can't remember a shooter with something similar.

    Didn't like the quality of in-game story telling. What's in the demo was rather poor, especially the part with the pilot.

  • Darren #53 4 years ago

    The Nectar effect where it makes enemies easier to spot is essentially the same as the heat vision effect used in other games only less confusing so it's not really a new addition as such. Didn't Far Cry on the Xbox and 360 also have a similar effect when you switched to the Predator mode, included speeded up movement, etc.?

  • Garulon #54 4 years ago

    There was some terrible shooter on the Original XBox as well that had drug mechanics - Contagion? Outbreak? something medicalish anyway. By jiminy it was terrible though.

  • soviet_ #55 4 years ago

    Hahaha, shit game. All those morons hyped up for something that really is actually just bad, MGS4 is just around the corner so get over it!

  • Agent_Llama #56 4 years ago

    My impression from the demo wasn't favourable - the same old FPS stuff dressed up in vaguely different clothing. Hopefully this'll mean the end of the constant touting of this game on Eurogamer... ;o)

  • Nova5lag #57 4 years ago

    Goldeneye is still an amazing game... get my N64 out from time to time to blast through Dam and Facility. Awesome.

  • mikeck #58 4 years ago

    @Darren

    I'm not really trying to put a positive spin on a 4 score to ensure I feel better about the game, it was more to try and point out that I don't think anybody truly expected this game to be anything other than average...although, I know when it was first mentioned it was heralded as far more than an average FPS. People just know better now don't they; a poorly received demo, and first reviews giving a low score are a shame, especially for the team who created the game as you rightly point out.

    As you mention you didn't play the demo and think it was a poor game, and that was the point I was trying to justify, a 4 rated game will not be terrible, it will be below average of course, but if Haze sucked as many balls as people seem to think/expect, then it would have garnered a 2 or 3 rating surely?

  • Yossarian #59 4 years ago

    By the way, if anyone's wondering what they spent all that development time doing:

    http://ko taku.com/5009874/over-nine-minu...

  • thewolfiv #60 4 years ago

    what a crap game, i got the demo and the graphics are rather shit to say the least and the chatter oh my god who wrote this a 16 year old? makes me regret my buying of the ps3 (also you know it's crap when even the developers put an embargo on the review untill its released they know it's crap!) so much for exclusive - what did these guys do on the golden eye team? make the tea?.


    And to the guy at the start who said golden eye was rubbish, you poor fool, it was ground breaking for it's day and with 4 playes was something else- i bet you prefered rise of the robots huh?? idiot....


    @yossain i want the 9 mins of my life back - i wanted to sppon out my eyes that was sooo bad....
    Edited by 1 at 20/05/08 @ 16:10

  • mikeck #61 4 years ago

    "six months from now when all the "guy in a funny helmet and opaque visor" shooters are finally out and rotting in pre-owned hell (Dark Void, Haze, Dead Space etc. etc. etc.) nobody will remember this shit. "

    I for one hope Dead Space doesn't end of this way, I still have some good expectations for this title left, especially after seeing the latest game trailer....but that's not to say it won't end up as a stinking pile of tenuous shooter dirge. Fingers crossed though, I'm still hopeful...still so very hopeful :)

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #62 4 years ago

    Rob Yescombe has been putting himself in the camera (well, on things like Gamer.TV) for months now trumpeting on about Haze.

    Rob Yescombe is a colossal tool, and it's hilarious that going by that IGN review he's almost single-handedly ruined the game. I can't remember ever seeing a review spend so much time slagging off the plot, dialogue and scripting. Free Radical had an excellent track record with FPS games, until this muppet arrived.

  • seasidebaz #63 4 years ago

    4.5/10 for a generic halo ripoff?




    bit generous isn't it?

  • Les #64 4 years ago

    "The Nectar effect where it makes enemies easier to spot is essentially the same as the heat vision effect used in other games only less confusing so it's not really a new addition as such."

    That's a bit like saying that a rocket launcher is essentially the same as the pistol... ;)

  • hayisforhorses #65 4 years ago

    Who cares didnt really look that good to begin with, shame timesplitters 2 was great fun.

  • peterfll #66 4 years ago

    Well, in a project this size I doubt one single person is responsible for how good OR bad it is.

    However, if Rob-blokie ends up getting an ego check, based on the footage I watched of him, that wouldn't be necessarily a bad thing.

  • jontam #67 4 years ago

    @nick_f,
    That gif is superb, love it! I hope you don't mind me saving it lol.
    Onto the score issue, I think if Haze had been released a year earlier, the reviews would have been a lot more positive. Since Bioshock and COD4 came out, I feel the bar has been raised somewhat and mediocre shooters just aren't going to cut it anymore.

  • Darren #68 4 years ago

    @mikeck - I *HAVE* played the Haze demo though, several times in fact, although I admit I wasn't initially impressed by it at all but realised after a few more goes that it perhaps isn't all that bad, just a bit uninspired. That doesn't make it a sub-par game though.

  • davisorle #69 4 years ago

    4.5/10 ? LAWL

    The bad thing is that this game can't even be used as a PS3 exclusive anymore since it sounds a bit bad to bring up such a bad rated game. Though i really didn't expect it to be that bad. It could still be a 7 though I dont care about PS3 games honestly. It's just odd cause this game looked mor promising than that faky crappy Ressistance 2.

  • Artemus #70 4 years ago

    "Haze the next Halo beater, thats what they said"

    Who did?

  • mikeck #71 4 years ago

    "@mikeck - I *HAVE* played the Haze demo though, several times in fact, although I admit I wasn't initially impressed by it at all but realised after a few more goes that it perhaps isn't all that bad, just a bit uninspired. That doesn't make it a sub-par game though".

    I know you have played it...I realise that the line I wrote could be taken the other way though - "As you mention you didn't play the demo and think it was a poor game" - the emphasis I didn't convey to you was that I know you played the demo and didn't think it was a bad game.

    Uninspired doesn't of course mean a game is instantly bad, but when you have other games in the same genre that really make a DAMN good job of it, it does mean games like Haze won't come off as well as they may have previously.
    Edited by 1 at 20/05/08 @ 16:59

  • Landmaster #72 4 years ago

    I love Goldeneye on the N64

  • Landmaster #73 4 years ago

    Yescombe - Shortest innings :D

  • Widge #74 4 years ago

    I loveD Goldeneye on the N64 until I went back to play it recently. We are all spoilt by our dual analogues!

  • TheTingler #75 4 years ago

    I've played Haze and it never really grabbed me. It just seemed like a dull, linear version of Crysis. I presume that jungle was used for the demo level. Bad call.

  • Darren #76 4 years ago

    5/10 *is* average though, that's the criteria Eurogamer, gamesTM and Edge use when reviewing games.

  • Tardie #77 4 years ago

    Well I thought it looked really good.

    There was no evidence of the visual issues in the demo was he playing the correct game?

  • PhantomLimb #78 4 years ago

    Hyped yet disappointing game gets positive review in an OFFICIAL PS3 magazine you say? Unheard of.
    Also saying your FPS was liked by the Japanese is meaningless. Nice try though guys.

  • Dr.Mott #79 4 years ago

    I remember a cover of OPSM a while back, saying "Haze: How Free Radical will make PS3 Invincible".

  • Nithron #80 4 years ago

    That Sony Defense Force site is a joke, right?... Right?

  • seasidebaz #81 4 years ago

    hmmmm not seen spartancog on this comments thread yet... he was saying in the haze thread how this game would RULE THE WORLD

    probably sobbing in a quiet corner now though...

  • Xerx3s #82 4 years ago

    Razorus: GE was a great game that I enjoyed a lot but if you where used to pc fps games you would have some perspective.

  • The-Bodybuilder #83 4 years ago

    To all the bitter, hurt and hiding fanboys who do not want to comment in this thread, be patient, as Too Human will be out in a few months.

  • 8bitMofo #84 4 years ago

    10+ minutes of annoying getting-to-know-the-controls intros in computer games...

    Just give me an option to jump into the game ffs!
    Edited by 1 at 20/05/08 @ 18:04

  • TRUTH #85 4 years ago

    HAZE was hyped by Sony as a AAA title, again PS3 has failed to deliver!

  • George-Roper #86 4 years ago

    @thewolfiv

    "And to the guy at the start who said golden eye was rubbish, you poor fool, it was ground breaking for it's day and with 4 playes was something else- i bet you prefered rise of the robots huh?? idiot...."

    I think what you mean is, it was groundbreaking for a console game. After a while on it, I was more than happy to go back to my 16 player Quake 2 LAN sessions, on my OpenGL card, using a keyboard and mouse. That was groundbreaking.

    Also, it may well have been groundbreaking for its day, as a console game, but in 2008 a re-hashed version would be fucking mediocre.

    Take the rose-tinted glasses off, look at COD4 and tell me that a re-release of Goldeneye would even come close...

    Seriously, you all need to get a grip.

  • thewolfiv #87 4 years ago

    @george i never said remake it, did you read my post? it was revolutionary at the time story and controls, i think you missed the point....

  • OnlyMe #88 4 years ago

    Reading every stupid fanboy comment (regardless of kind), am I one of the few that's actually genuinly sad that the game didn't turn out well? I wanted the game to be good, not because it's a PS3 game but because it's the successor of Timesplitters, which I really liked.
    Edited by 1 at 20/05/08 @ 18:28

  • lambtron #89 4 years ago

    "I think what you mean is, it was groundbreaking for a console game. After a while on it, I was more than happy to go back to my 16 player Quake 2 LAN sessions, on my OpenGL card, using a keyboard and mouse. That was groundbreaking. "

    Rubbish. I owned a PC at the same time and GE was better than anything on it. Including Half Life, Quake or UT. Simply had more fun with it.

    IMO of course ;).

  • George-Roper #90 4 years ago

    @lambtron

    "Rubbish. I owned a PC at the same time and GE was better than anything on it. Including Half Life, Quake or UT. Simply had more fun with it. IMO of course ;)"

    Yep, Goldeneye N64 was simply miles ahead of Half Life PC and LAN based multiplayer Quake 2 sessions.

    /rollseyes


    @thewolfiv

    "@george i never said remake it, did you read my post? it was revolutionary at the time story and controls, i think you missed the point...."

    And I never said you did. I simply commented on that aspect because of the amount of posters here, drooling over the prospect of a remake.

    Plus, again, it may have been revolutionary at the time with story and controls but only in context of it being a console game. The PC games library in that genre, at that time, was simply leagues ahead.

    All IMO of course.

  • Yaz #91 4 years ago

    OnlyMe wrote: "I wanted the game to be good, not because it's a PS3 game but because it's the successor of Timesplitters, which I really liked."

    Yes, it's a shame the game isn't as good as many hoped. After Timesplitters, I too expected much more from Free Radical. :|

    Still, it can happen even to the best devs, so hopefully their next game will be a return to form.

  • mooseman721 #92 4 years ago

    I thought the demo was a lot better than a 4.5. This review smells a bit, i'm not saying it's the best game or anything but thats worse than conflict: denied ops. Did anyone play the conflict: denied ops demo? Can anyone say that haze was worse?

  • Scimarad #93 4 years ago

    I'm a bit dubious about that score after playing the demo. I thought it would probably turn out to be around a 7, depending on how well the story came together.

  • #94 4 years ago

    Wow, I wonder what happened at FRD. What the heck were they doing all this time?

  • Turambar #95 4 years ago

    Regardless of review scores or how good the game is i predict Haze will sell well. Most people buy games by looking at the boxes and the shiny displays in the shop.

  • quantumsheep #96 4 years ago

    Not played the demo yet (I should do really). Actually, I'll download it and give it a go before saying any more!

  • Progguitarist #97 4 years ago

    Well, its a shame. Alot of people worked hard on this game and it just didnt work out unfortunatly. Even though I thought the design was a bit silly, I still thought it could have been a decent blast. I was also hoping it might eventually make it to the 360...4 player co op would have been great.

  • makeamazing #98 4 years ago

    I was not impressed by the demo, thought it wasnt a good demo (e.g would have been better to have alittle story to it). I read some information about the game online and watched a couple of videos about it and was going to get it Friday (it reminded me of a story of an old amiga game and really made me interested). I don't normally get put off but with Grid and Overlord coming out, and having just got WiiFat and GTA, I kinda think it's not worth the money right now. I think i will wait a while before taking the risk of buying it (maybe rent it), just too much risk.

    Of course you shouldn't put all faith in online reviewers as some of them really lose the plot... but if it is true then this is a disappointment for the PS3. You expect an exclusive to be on the better end (8+ out of 10), from a developers point of view its harder to make a game on multiple platforms, so to be making a game on one, they have less hassles. So I think Sony and anyone who likes the PS3 will proably hope this game sinks quicker than the Titanic if its that bad.

  • WillTheSecond #99 4 years ago

    Right, so...

    Factor 5 cocked up on PS3 with Lair and are now making Kid Icarus on the Wii.

    Free Radical cocked up on the PS3 with Haze and so will be making Time Splitters 4 on Wii?

    Okay, admittedly, TS4 with be multiplatform, without a doubt, but a good Wii version would make me happy (even though The Conduit looks promising for some fun generic shooter action).

    Shame about this game though, could have been good. If they were going to bring it to PC I'd have been interested, I remember watching the first ever trailer and thinking it looked awesome. But then that's how I felt about Lair and Red Steel...
    Edited by 1 at 20/05/08 @ 21:40

  • CrudMonk #100 4 years ago

    Tis a sad day indeed for Free Radical. I hope they come up trumps next time.

    : [

  • GamesConnoisseur #101 4 years ago

    Of bleeding course for stating the obvious that Goldeneye being released today against the leading lights would sink much so far faster than Haze's prospects of winning the best game (or any of the awards) on PS3 of 2008!

    The point was Goldeneye was groundbreaking at the time, and we had fondness with Free Radicals because of that same association, the people who were involved are the one at Free Radicals.

    Sure it is heartbreaking to see such association being so tainted, Timesplitters were great fun and sure it will do far better. Would Free Radical be burned for attempting the exclusivity and reputation suffered as Factor 5 did? Every great devs have a bad patch but do seem to be a sort of a curse or summat!!

  • Darth_Flibble #102 4 years ago

    the 1st Sony Defense Force site was from wi60 people then it died but I think the new site is run by sony fans like the sony protection group
    [link url=http://www.sony pg.com/forum/index.php
    ]http://www.sony pg.com/forum/index.php
    [/link]

    /facepalm

  • smelly #103 4 years ago

    @Benno:

    "So haze is not only running in low def, its actually shit as well?

    Bad times sony, bad times..."



    Just like halo 3 then?

  • Prodigy_BE #104 4 years ago

    That Rob. Funny guy. But this does smell like damage control.

    The stuff I played at E3 and presstrips, gave me the same impression as the demo.
    Gamepla kinda been there, done that, and graphics... lets just say FRD is much better at doing cartoon kinda stuff, like TimeSplitters and Second Sight (I loved those)

    Still, Rob here was going to make all that worthwhile, with "exelent writing", and I believed him...


    ...untill I played the demo and saw the cutscene where your character walks up to the pilot in the crashed plane, and says: "are you hurt". ... I was like: dude, half the forest is gone, he's the only surviving Mantel guy, and he's hanging out of the cockpit. "are you hurt" is about as bad as writing can get.

    Seriously, Rob, I hope that writing of yours picks up later on...
    Edited by 1 at 21/05/08 @ 06:47

  • MKorkia #105 4 years ago

    @ MKorkia : SDF is run by the same guys as Wii60, you fail.

    @ Egster & Unclebenny: I know SDF is a fake site but it is still raging funny! :D
    Edited by 1 at 21/05/08 @ 07:31

  • muscleblade #106 4 years ago

    11 reviews on metacritic with an average of 54. Thats not good. The comparisons to Golden Eye are pure stupidity.

  • Xerx3s #107 4 years ago

    "Rubbish. I owned a PC at the same time and GE was better than anything on it. Including Half Life, Quake or UT. Simply had more fun with it. "

    Clearly you live in a different universe. GE was fantastic because of it's splitscreen MP but as an fps game it is extremely primitive compared to it's pc counterparts. The likes of Q2 easily crush it.

    I think the biggest problem that haze seems to have is that it is exclusive. On it's own it seems to be a pretty competent game - which would have been fine for multiplatform releases - but as an exclusive people expect it to be stellar. I think that this is amplified by the fact that FRD have been actively pushing their game on forums such as EG's and when they need to be there the most they are absent (which I can understand with an eye on company secrecy/pr).

    Anyway, can we drop the myth now that "all talent from rare went to FRD"?

  • supersoldier01 #108 4 years ago

    Anyway, can we drop the myth now that "all talent from rare went to FRD"?

    yep....

    Some more reviews in
    40 G4TV
    40 Giant Bomb
    40 Gamespy

    not looking good on metacritic

    [link url=ht tp://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps3/haze
    ]http://ww w.metacritic.com/games/platform...[/link]

  • Prodigy_BE #109 4 years ago

    In their defence, FRD has more than one team in-house.
    The guys who made Haze did Second Sight before that.
    And the TimeSplitters guys are working on Star Wars Battleront 3 at this moment.

    I'm guessing FRD made 4 good games, releases a stinker now, and then gets its act together for this generation, and releases some more good stuff. The talent is still there, imo. If you really want to compare them to Rare... rare's last four games where all sub standard.

  • DanWhitehead #110 4 years ago

    Viva Pinata may be an acquired taste but it's certainly not sub-standard.

  • Prodigy_BE #111 4 years ago

    @DanWhiteHead

    Comparing it to the stuff Rare used to do (Banjo, DiddyKong Racing...), its substandard. (but then again, your oppinion is worth as much as mine)

    And I laughed with the Giant Bomb subtitle.
    Winners don't use drugs.

    That Gerstmann, fat and unemployed, but damn funny.

  • DanWhitehead #112 4 years ago

    Comparing it to the stuff Rare used to do (Banjo, DiddyKong Racing...), its substandard. (but then again, your oppinion is worth as much as mine)

    If you're going to use words like "substandard" then opinion doesn't really enter into it. Viva Pinata is as technically accomplished as anything Rare have ever made and certainly contains more fresh ideas than, say, Diddy Kong Racing. What exactly is the standard that it fails to reach?

    As for all this nonsense about Goldeneye being "wank" or "overrated spunk" when compared to modern console FPS games...a little perspective, please? Maybe a little context? If modern console shooters are better than Goldeneye, it's because both the technology and genre have evolved since then. And how did it evolve? Through games like Goldeneye, without which the genre never would have taken off on consoles.

    It's as stupid as saying that the Model T Ford is a shit car because it can't go as fast as a Lamborghini, or that Gutenberg's printing press was crap because it couldn't print ten thousand magazines in an hour.

  • FortysixterUK #113 4 years ago

    I seldom pay much attention to reviews, instead preferring to make my own mind up about a game. This has led to me buying some really crippled software in the past, but has also sent me on to play games which I'm glad I didn't ignore and am happy to have experienced. ( Examples of which are, on 360- Hour of Victory was, appallingly bugged to the point where the game got you stuck in the third mission and would not progress,whereas Two Worlds ran like a two legged cow but played like a dream).

    I'm not convinced about any review until I try the game myself anyways, if it appeals I usually try it.

    So Haze...future war, extreme violence, macho and pointless character behaviour...GOW anyone?

    I'll try Haze methinks.

  • muscleblade #114 4 years ago

    @DanWhitehead

    You said it. I agree 100%.

    I completed Golden Eye on all difficulty settings and played hundreds of hours splitscreen with my friends. Its actually my favourite game of all time i think. Viva Pinata is in the top ten games this generation imo. Its actually underrated even though it got good scores from the critics.
    Edited by 1 at 21/05/08 @ 09:36

  • DanWhitehead #115 4 years ago

    I only played it once for an hour or two...

    Well then your insistence that one of the seminal games of its time is wank and bollocks and spunk doesn't really carry much weight, does it?

  • muscleblade #116 4 years ago

    In general i dislike that people state their opinions on games they bearly played. 1-2 hours of playing time is not enough to have a valid opinion in most cases.

  • muscleblade #117 4 years ago

    "It does if the game wasn't good enough to keep my interest. There's a reason I played it for only an hour or two, and the reason was that it was wank"

    This is actually a very common statement from people that dislikes Ninja Gaiden.

    Regarding Goldeneye your in the absolute minority. Your fully allowed to have a different opinion of course.



    Edited by 1 at 21/05/08 @ 09:45

  • DanWhitehead #118 4 years ago

    A couple of hours is generally enough time to decide if you, personally, enjoy a game. It's not, however, enough time to justify sweeping statements about the legacy of games that are widely - and justifiably - held up as classics of their genre.

  • DanWhitehead #119 4 years ago

    I may not like Goldeneye, but I wouldn't insult it to put it in that league.

    "the original goldeneye was overrated WANK."

    "It was overrated when it first came out, now it's truly wank compared to most FPS, even the worst ones like Turok show it up for the overrated spunk it always has been."

  • muscleblade #120 4 years ago

    @farticusmaximus & JSPOOLE

    Thats very different because Turning Point is lackluster technically compared to other games in this generattion. Nobody can say that about Goldeneye cause its not the case any way you see it.

  • Yaz #121 4 years ago

    "I cannot remember Goldeneye receiving that low a mark; everybody raved about it."

    Yep, I believe he pulled that one out of nowhere in defence of Haze. Goldeneye had great reviews overall, and if it did receive 4/10 from somewhere, then it certainly wasn't from a magazine or website that mattered, since gamers would have remembered (especially when compared to the reviews from everywhere else).

  • Amon_Amarth #122 4 years ago

    http://re aderreviews.ign.com/rrview/game...

    http://re aderreviews.ign.com/rrobj/game/...
    Edited by 1 at 21/05/08 @ 10:55

  • mikeck #123 4 years ago

    "http://re aderreviews.ign.com/rrview/game...

    Best review EVER, EG you should get this guy on board! ;)

  • Beano #124 4 years ago

    "...although some reviews say the framerate is solid, while others complain about it jittering badly..."

    I can confirm that statement. I have the retail game and the framerate is quite bad later on - even when there's nothing major going on and the game is rendered in low resolution (576p). Looks very poor and a big letdown because the demo was promising IMO.

    Sad to se a bad game like this from Free Radical Design which I had high regards for. Looks like a game which was released 6-9 months to early.
    Edited by 1 at 21/05/08 @ 11:02

  • Quak #125 4 years ago

    Is the SDF site a piss-take or are they genuinely serious with all of that bollocks?

  • Beano #126 4 years ago

    ....also.... it amazes me that the game could get thru test and QA without Sony, FRD, or reviewers who tried the game early, rasing the alarm. Looks the game just had to be released no matter what state it was in.

  • Aloominum_man #127 4 years ago

    I am loving this from the IGN reader's reviews:

    Once I downloaded it and started up the demo I was impressed by the menu and customizable controls/icon. As soon as I started playing the demo I was hooked. It was like a good version of Halo just more creative and interactive.