The Haze demo is out! Available exclusively on the PLAYSTATION®Network, this playable demo gives gamers a taste of not only the single-player campaign in Haze, but also allows for up to four-player, drop-in drop-out co-op play online, via LAN or even 2 player split-screen. The demo is now available across Europe, and will go live on 8th May in the U.S.



Haze 4 Player Co-op / Campaign Demo: *Salva Region*



It’s finally time to feed your addiction…the playable demo for Haze has arrived. Take a Nectar-induced romp solo style, or with 3 of your friends in fierce co-op action through the Salva Region, a bright and high-octane environment, where explosions are huge and delightful, and deaths are fleeting and meaningless. It’s the only place on earth where you can blow a stranger’s head off with a jolly smile on your face. The green-orange vegetation teams with primary-coloured, unthreatening wildlife for the marines to trample all over. The sunshine beats down in comforting waves as you merrily murder your fellow man. This world makes you feel confident. Artificially so and like a dream.

Q: What is the story behind it?

Haze is set in the year 2048. There is a war going on in a region of South America, where a group of vicious rebels called The Promise Hand are trying to overthrow the government, and replace them with their leader: Gabriel ‘Skin Coat’ Merino.

Skin Coat is so-called on account of the fact that he flays and strips the skin off his enemies, and has the pieces fashioned into crude leather, from which he makes his ‘coat’. Obviously, a maniac like him needs to be stopped as soon as possible, so thankfully, Mantel Global Industries has set its private army in to deal with the problem.

You play as Sergeant Shane Carpenter, a Mantel trooper whom I hope is like most of us: a good guy, who wants to do good things for good people in bad places. Carpenter is transferred into the area mid-way through the conflict, and is taken under the wing of his peer – Sergeant Morgan Duvall.

As Carpenter’s dependence on Nectar grows, so does the nagging feeling that the orders he’s following might not be as ethical as he was lead to believe…

Q: What is Nectar? Could this really happen in the future?

As far back as the Vietnam War, there have been rumors that psychotropic drugs were being used on soldiers to try and make their experience more ‘pleasant’. Of course, those rumors are unsubstantiated, but they’re certainly food for thought. But what HAZE, and more specifically Nectar, is really about is censorship - the idea that someone is in a position to decide what we should or shouldn’t see. Taking Nectar ensures that the Mantel soldiers experience war in a sanitized, ‘video game’ form. The only thing that helps keep violence on the outskirts of most societies is the psychological ramification that the perpetrator suffers. Cutting someone’s head off can be fun in a video game, because it doesn’t affect you – it’s not real. So, what Nectar does is allow Mantel soldiers to draw a line between themselves and their actions. What the Promise Hand does for Shane Carpenter is rub that line out and force him to face the reality of what he’s been doing.

That kind of censorship exists in everything from movies to the daily news. So, in that sense, Haze isn’t about something that could happen – it’s about something that, metaphorically speaking, is happening right now.

Q: Why did you guys decide to release exclusively this Holiday on the PS3?

Free Radical has always been a PlayStation developer at heart, thanks to our experiences developing the TimeSplitters series. We have a wealth of experience working with PlayStation technology, and perhaps are in a position to get to grips with the raw power of the PS3 a little faster than other developers. We see Haze as our opportunity to stamp our pedigree onto the new generation, and the PS3’s power, and particularly its online support, are going to be invaluable bearing in mind the kinds of multiplayer functionality we want to bring to Haze.

Q: What is the big announcement that you are doing about Haze at E3?

The rumors are correct. You do switch sides in Haze. But it’s not just about turning your gun on your colleagues – Haze is literally two games in one, right out of the box. When you start off, you’ll be using the high-tech Mantel suit and weaponry, playing in a very gung-ho video-game style. That’s the perfect way to get to grips with the basics of the game, but once you switch sides, and join The Promise Hand, you won’t have all that technical support – you’ll have to learn to play more tactically, and use some real teamwork with your squad mates. Playing as a rebel really where expert players are going to get their kicks. It’s far more dangerous, with many more facets to the gameplay, so you’ll need to learn to improvise and hone your skills to survive.

Oh, and we need to confirm another rumor: yes, Haze will be a PS3 exclusive.

So far we haven’t talked at all about the fina

Set in the year 2048 in a world where Governments have outsourced military operations to Private Military Corporations (PMC), you play a newly enlisted soldier seeking fulfillment and thrills by fighting for a good cause.

As the leading PMC, Mantel Global Industries offers a high-tech arsenal of vehicles, deadly weaponry, and on top of that a performance enhancing bio-medical support known as Nectar. As a result, Mantel troopers are the most feared by terrorists, dictators, and the corporation’s political enemies.

Your conflict begins in a war-torn country where you have been sent to fight a vicious rebel faction, the Promise Hand. At first glance, all is well, but things quickly begin to look a little strange…

Key Features:

Impeccable FPS credentials: from the developers of the critically-acclaimed TimeSplitters series and the publishers of Far Cry and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. Free Radical and Ubisoft have proven their ability to create innovative platform-defining FPS titles.

Become a Mantel Trooper and fight the merciless guerrillas of the Promise Hand with the most advanced gear, the fastest vehicles, the deadliest weapons – and Nectar, Mantel’s battlefield-optimized performance-enhancing medication.

Boost your fighting abilities with Nectar, empowering Mantel troopers with fighting abilities such as Nectar Focus, Nectar Foresight, Nectar Perception and Melee Blast. Using these skills, troopers are able to detect and avoid imminent danger as well as deliver powerful attacks in close quarters.

Mature and compelling storyline. A tightly integrated storyline makes Haze an immersive narrative experience as well as a cutting-edge shooter.

Cutting edge gaming technology featuring the Disparity Rendering System shaping the players’ views of the world on and off Nectar. Haze also features an entirely streamed experience with no loading times between levels.

State of the art multiplayer modes. Fire up your console for online battles and choose from a variety of online modes including furious 4 player co-op action!