http://www.mantelglobalindustries.com/uk/index.htm...

PSM scores some info on Haze
Added on 01/05/2007.

The June 2007 issue of PSM contains a complete feature dedicated to Free Radical and Ubisoft's new shooter, Haze, for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.

Apparently, Haze has its own unique engine which runs at a steady 30 fps without any loading times or cutscenes whatsoever, much like Half-Life. There are four gameplay modes: Online, LAN, offline campaign, and split-screen play (both versus and up to 4 player cooperative play). German website GameFront also seems to report a name change for the main character, with the previously named Jake Carpenter being referred to as Shane Carpenter.

The known weapons and gear of the game include:

* BSW-72 Assault Rifle - fires armor-piercing 5.56mm uranium projectiles
* Nectar administrator - A device on the necks of soldiers which administers up to five doses of "nectar," a "biometric substance" that massively augments a soldier's combat abilities, though too much causes unwanted side-effects
* Trooper Assault Helmet - A communication device that both supplies real-time data to soldiers and maintains contact with the base of operations
* SK3 Fragment Shells - It goes boom: ideal for killing small packs of enemies and disabling minor vehicles
* Wilson D6 Pistol - An 18-shot pistol, that can zoom x2 the regular viewing distance with a nifty laser target
* Integrated Schutzpanzer - We aren't so clear on this one, but the description "withstands the most rifle and pistol bullets" leads us to believe it is some form of heavy armor

Haze is slated for a late 2007 release, with all signs pointing towards November.

Might be very interesting. I like the first CG trailer, especially in the end when one of the soldiers went nuts after pulling the "plug" out and started to shoot at the tv screens.

4 player cooperative play

im sold, i need a nextgen game that i can have fun with playing with 4 mates!!

fixed:)

:p

That D6 pistol sounds like a monster! Reminds me of the halo pistol.

* The main character is name Shane Carpenter
* There are no load times or cutscenes ever
* There are a number of 2 to 4 person vehicles
* The vehicles will break apart like in Motostorm
* The game will be locked at 30 frames per second
* The game supports 4 player co-op
* You will use Nectar to enhances your ability


Nectar powers

* Foresight
* Perception
* Melee Blast
* Focus


Sides Effects:

* Overdoes
* Withdrawal

Well site I know have tons of scans, and I can tell you this...looks amazing!
They even show the new soldier, have that black thin armor with yellow stripes and such on it.

The image is big so I will link to you guys to the "shadow" image of the soldier.

http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/...

I don't understand why Xboxyde doesn't allow scans, unless it is from Japan. It's weird how TeamXbox, Gamespot, IGN...etc. lets scans from all over the world be posted but not here.
Anyway...I think this game is gonna be big for FPS.

4 player co-op, Nectar abilities, 2-4 soldiers on vehicles.

Gampley footage now!

halo 3 will be out around the time with 4 player split screen, idk... too many shooters at the end of the year

Halo 3 is really going to put a hurting on a lot of shooters at the end of this year no idea why so many developers seem intent on competing against Halo 3.

Or maybe based on what has been shown of Halo 3 so far they don't think they should be worried? :)

GTA4 is also going to punish quite a bit of things later on this year as well. GTA4 will be one of those games along with Halo 3 that make it hard for people that didn't purchase a next gen console so far to resist getting one.

Some people don't think Halo is the biggest and greatest...I for one is one of them.

I actually want to see more of Haze than Halo.

yeah...what! :P

Haha yea thats true not everyone thinks so highly of it, but there is just no doubt the kind of damage it will do to other shooter's sales. Halo 3 singleplayer has to impress :D

Well obviously Halo 3 is gonna be big. Why?

It's the fanbase.

Halo trilogy began years ago, so of course everyone is waiting Halo 3 to outsell other NEW FPS games. It doesn't make any sense and it isn't even fair to compare it.

Compare Crysis to Haze, rather new FPS games to Halo 3.

Just because Halo 3 is gonna outsell other FPS games out there, doesn't mean other companies that are making FPS games is out there for competition or anything.

It's like saying Too Human added RPG to the action genre and because of that God of War and Ninja Gaiden have a big competition in front of them.

It doesn't matter. New games with the same genre is gonna come out either way.
And they got to stop saying Halo3 is gonna outseel other FPS games...doesn't make any sense.

Halo "3" is the latest in the franchise, meaning other gaes in the series is out and have a big fanbase.

Haze havent even got a fanbase because nobody have played it or it isn't even out yet, same thing with Too Human.

Can't compare games in franchises already released against new ones.

It's like saying Cipher Complex is gonna kill Splinter Cell and Metal Gear Solid just because what, it's another espionage game?

Now that out of way...I don't even think Haze is due to this year...if yes, then...maybe UbiSoft is gonna show off first gameplay footages at E3 :D.

A lot of these games are obviously going to slip into 2008. It's one of the worst problems with the videogame industry, and eventually as the industry continues to grow, one of those things that could threaten to unstable it. You simply cannot trust 90% of the initially proposed release dates in this industry. Dyack touched on this a lot recently, but it seems that gaming fans don't won't to hear the message. Ultimately, it is one of those things that for gaming to continue to grow to it's next level of growth, finding ways to stabilize release dates is paramount. Not only to gain higher levels of trust from an increasingly expanding consumer base (and yes that is very important too), but also to help prevent gaffs like if Haze does release sometime between October 16 (GTA4 release) and the end of the year. Knowing the level of obsession that gamers have for both GTA and Halo franchises, it is fiscal suicide to bother releasing most game types during this release corridor. With games costing $10,000,000 to $20,000,000 each in this day and age, and the marketing budgets per game being as big or bigger than actual development budgets (yeah, $10,000,000 to $20,000,000 marketing budgets too), for a publisher, that is a helluva lot of money to throw away because you released your game at the wrong time. And is why we have so many good games not sell at retail in this business. Unfortunately, the way the business is run today, games are ferried off to retail as soon as they go gold. It's bad business and you don't need a MBA to figure that out. Most publishers paint themselves in a nasty corner by this practice as it gives them no flexibility - in most cases, a publisher's entire fiscal quarter is based solely on the games they expect to go gold in that quarter. And when a release date is missed for that quarter, because a game is not ready, at $20,000,000 to $40,000,000 worth of investment (combined dev and marketing budgets), that is a huge setback. A larger publisher can usually afford to allow a few (high profile) games to slip a quarter or two, under this business practice. But most smaller publishers cannot afford this, and wind up pushing unfinished games into the market. And even larger publishers, will force lesser profile games, usually unestablished IP, into retail in an unfinished condition. Either way, the practice is bad for the continued success and growth of the industry, as the results of the practice in over 50% of the cases, are either release dates that cannot be trusted, or lackluster product released on time. Either way, it is something that a larger, more mainstream consumer base is not going to put up with.

Hollywood has conditioned people on what to expect. It is a rare day when a movie hits theaters or DVD on the wrong dates; where the premier dates get pushed back. But we see it in the game industry all the time. Same for TV or even music. TV programs tend to debut on time every season. Music CDs tend to release on time. But in games, if a date is announced, half the time it means nothing until you see that the actual game has gone gold. Maybe no one here remembers, but a few years back (during this past generation), that is why publishers started announcing (in press release form no less) the gold date of games; not even gamers trusted release dates.

Then there is the other casualty of the practice being what we are currently looking at with Haze. A potentially very good game, trying to carve out space against the two largest and most successful gaming franchises in gaming history. It's not a case of David and Goliath, it's a case of David and Goliath and Goliath's big brother doing a double team bum rush. This is the worst tragedy to how the industry runs itself. When good games do not sell and dwindle into obscurity, then as gamers, we all suffer as the end result. When this happens because the publisher has painted themselves into that particular corner and it could have been avoided if the industry would simply just change it's business practices to something more mature, it's a GD shame.

On a more positive note, if I memory serves me correctly, Haze is Free Radicals' and Ubisoft's new puppy. Free Radical has a large enough name recognition as a dev, and Ubisoft is a large enough publisher, so chances are they will either push its release up to September forcing Free Radical to finish the game early, giving GTA4 plenty room, or push it into next year giving Halo 3 plenty room. Either way, the release date that is given/hinted at right now, at this point the game, it's probably not worth the pixels it's printed on.