Haze
The main campaign is set in the near future, and you play as Shane Carpenter, the young good guy of Mantel Corp’s army. Shane and his meat-headed buddies are sent to somewhere in South America to eliminate a rebel group known as the Promise Hand, the group being led by Skin Coat, since it’s rumored that the leader wears the skin of dead people. Nice detail, ugh. However, midway through the campaign, you get tired of your buddies and defect to the group you originally intended to destroy. The story, while not Nobel-Prize material, certainly fills the bill. The meat-headed Mantel soldiers do their role well, as they act like buffoons and making the player disgusted. Skin Coat also is a highlight, as he seems to be a wise, angelic saint (Witness his most moving conversation with Shane, a while after Shane was rescued to the Rebels).
Soon after the few cut scenes end, it’s time to bring out your guns and shoot. Haze is a first-person-shooter with all the basic commands the average gamer expects from the genre: You bunny-hop, can throw a grenade, and do a melee attack. You fire a very basic group of weapons of assault rifles, shot guns, sniper rifles, and heavy duty machine guns (and throw in a flamethrower). Thankfully, Haze has fluid controls, as you can easily switch from one weapon to the next, throw a grenade and jumping and running without any mix-ups about which button does what. You can also hop onto vehicles (if there are any) and either jump into the driver’s seat or sit on the manned turret and spit some lead. However, you can’t shift to different parts of the vehicle, making entering vehicles a bit of a tedious affair.
However, what makes things a bit interesting is the different sides you could choose to play. Mantel, on one hand, could inject themselves with a drug known as nectar. When going high with this drug, troopers are stronger, their enemies glow yellow (making them much more visible) and allow the player to be more durable in the line of fire. The Promise Hand, however, plays as sneaky devils, because they could play dead, dodge-roll, plant mines, and salvage weapons for bullets. These differences aren’t certainly groundbreaking like some games download full version options, but they add a bit of spice to an already good gunplay, forcing players to adjust their approach somewhat when they step into a battlefield.
Speaking of multiplayer, Haze offers nothing but the basic: Team deathmatch, single deathmatch and assault mode. All the maps aren’t too bad (the Mantel Carrier map) is my favorite, and assault mode is the best out of the three since achieving objectives and preventing the other team from doing the same could create tense moments!