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Free Radical blames PS3 for Haze issues photo

Haze, by all accounts, was not a successful game. The PS3 exclusive didn't sell well, and it was critically mauled with reviewers citing poorly executed combat, weak technical achievements, bad writing and ambitions that were never realized as incredible low points. The developers, however, believe that the PS3 itself played a significant part in Haze's failure.

"[Haze] had a lot of development issues which meant it wasn’t the game it should have been," explains Free Radical's Karl Hilton. "A lot of them were technical issues. The PS3 is a powerful machine but a difficult one to get the best out of. We spent more time trying get the game running properly and less time to design the game properly."

Free Radical is now Crytek UK, with the original firm going into administration following the release of Haze. However, now armed with the CryEngine, Hilton believes that the PS3 will be a happier platform for his team in future: "I don’t think we’ve seen the best out of the PS3 at all, and I definitely think one of the best things about Crytek and the CryEngine is that we’re now in the best position to get the most out of the hardware."

What do you think? Would Haze have fared better on another system, or was there far more than the PS3 going against Free Radical?


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75 comments | showing # 1 to 50

wanderingpixel's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 17:22
wanderingpixel
I'm not gonna say that Free Radical is scapegoating, but with a little more development time, mabye it could have been better.
Zuriki's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 17:26
Zuriki
No.
lastdual's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 17:27
lastdual
They might have a point if Haze's problems stemmed from a lack of polish, but I'm sorry, its problems went a lot deeper than that.

The bland overall level design and embarrassingly poor plot bespoke problems at the conceptual level, not the technical level.
D-503's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 17:28
D-503
Maybe Free Radical should have just made a better game and learned to take responsibility for their own actions.
Arch649's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 17:29
Arch649
Well with CryEngine at their helm, maybe their next game will be better.
CodeFire's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 17:33
CodeFire
Sorry, but this is NO excuse for Haze to have such a crappy storyline, gameplay, and horrible voice acting/dialog.
gamadaya's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 17:33
gamadaya
I know what's going to be on the next fanboy friday.
Dexter345's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 17:33
Dexter345
I dunno, I never tried it. I had high hopes, considering how much I enjoyed Timesplitters 2, but I heard too many bad things about Haze to even be bothered.
thiefen's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 17:35
thiefen
Blame it on the console because almost everything sucked? Now that's original
ajaxender's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 17:36
ajaxender
Its not like Free Radical have never made a good game, so there may be some truth there. Still, the fault lies with them, hopefully they've learnt from this that people like fun, well designed, polished games, not necessarily ones that push the hardware.
---AMARU---'s Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 17:38
---AMARU---
Excuses are fun.
Abriael's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 17:40
Abriael
It's an undeniable fact that several developers are able reach amazing results on the PS3.
This means that those developers whining about how hard it would be to develop for it can only blame their own inability for their failures.

Simple as that.
flabzilla's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 17:44
flabzilla
Rushing a project on a console you don't have a lot of experiance with will probably not end good.

We don't know how proficient they where with the 360 either so who knows wether it would have turned out better.
bodybreak's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 17:47
bodybreak
I played this right after I finished COD4. Was unimpressed.
CodeFire's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 17:48
CodeFire
If this game was made for the Xbox 360 I bet you it would have turned out and played the same.
SantanaClaus89's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 17:50
SantanaClaus89
This is the lamest excuse for a bad game I think I've ever heard.

Yes Free Radical, it must have been the "shoddy" hardware that only allowed you to record two voice overs for the entire game: "Boosh!" and "For Moreno!"

Yep, that must be it.
Onlineatron's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 17:55
Onlineatron
They rushed it out... they didn't know what they were doing.

Why blame it on the hardware when so many developers get it right?!
Elsa's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 17:56
Elsa
I actually liked the multiplayer... it was very inventive, fun and with each side having different abilities, it was fairly well balanced.

The game ran just fine on the PS3... if they had technical issues, fine - but don't blame technical issues for BAD dialogue and a rather mediocre plot. The levels were unimaginative and the game was just simply "average". I think that with all the hype surrounding the game it got unnecessarily bad reviews, which further hurt the game... because it was a solidly average shooter game not a "bad" game.

It did have co-op campaign (which was great)... and the online really was very imaginative... if they had brought some of this inventiveness into the game, it might have done a lot better.
covah's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 18:02
covah
...says the company who chose to make it PS3 exclusive, dropping the 360 version.
wanderingpixel's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 18:04
wanderingpixel
While that explains the technical issues, it doesn't explain the writing, voice acting, and poor design.
gorgomin's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 18:11
gorgomin
lol.
XanderSan's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 18:12
XanderSan
I think wanderingpixel has pretty much nailed it.

At the absolute least, it's evident they released a game they believed was good enough, rather than bollocks. For me I think that was the problem.
KamikazeCactuar's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 18:12
KamikazeCactuar
I'm tired of developers bitching about the PS3 is oh so difficult to make games on. Well life ain't easy, and it's your fucking job. Man up, learn your shit, and get better at it. Don't blame it on the system because you suck.
Strandli's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 18:21
Strandli
I would respect their failure much more if they just said "sorry, we thought we could do it, but it was harder than we expected, we could have done a better job."
Better that, then listen to someone blaming the tools. "Sorry, my hammer isn't good enough".

They loose even more credibility when Naughty Dog, Insomniac and those guys actually manage to make good games at their first try, first party developer or not.

Sorry, Free Radical just screwed up, if they can't handle the console, don't hype their game.
Magesx's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 18:24
Magesx
Cry some more.
mix's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 18:27
mix
Um, no.

I bought this for $12 (TWELVE dollars) and I felt I spent too much. Good grphics would not have helped this game in ANYway shape or form!

Does the PS3 control the crappy story line and piss poor voice acting?
mix's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 18:35
mix
I have no idea why I typed good graphics....lol Damn being at work and having to actually work in mid sentence!
Cadtalfryn's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 18:43
Cadtalfryn
Excuses...Saying the PS3's hardware is hard to design for is like saying its hard to make graphics look good on the Wii. It's a cop out. They didn't try hard enough. Obviously it's possible to do, but they didn't put in the necessary effort. Blaming the system won't get you anywhere.
Daxelman's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 18:45
Daxelman
What's worse is:

Sony thought this game was good.
Dr Milkdad's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 18:46
Dr Milkdad
PS3 is known to be tougher to develop for, but the problems are always performance issues or graphical issues. This doesn't excuse bad design. If the design of the game affected by trying to get the game to run properly, then your studio is doing something wrong, or you have a tiny dev team.
themizarkshow's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 18:56
themizarkshow
Haze was just a bad game. It had an interesting idea behind it, but they didn't use that idea well at all. You can't blame the console for the game having a shitty story and flat combat.
bwonk's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 19:17
bwonk
Haze is a derivative shooter that was marketed as a Halo killer. You do the math.
Sarlac's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 19:31
Sarlac
Haze was garbage from the ground up. Stop making excuses Free Radical.
BS3 Owner's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 19:34
BS3 Owner
@ sarlac

Killzone 1 was dubbed the Halo Killer by the Media.
Haze was dubbed the Halo killer by Xbots.
Killzone 2 is the Halo killer.
BS3 Owner's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 19:35
BS3 Owner
I'm sorry Sarlac...
My Comment was directed at Bwonk! *Fixed.
rsquad's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 19:37
rsquad
TIMESPLITTERS 4 PLEASE!

We've been waiting FOREVER!
Kalmah's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 20:04
Kalmah
Ah, the blame game. I see what they did there.
BrainLazy's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 20:09
BrainLazy
Developers blame the PS3, fanboys blame the developers who blame the PS3. Because every developer should be able to easily pick up and start coding for a completely different architecture then what they are used too.
brainderailment's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 20:24
brainderailment
Cell processor can't handle good dialogue or compelling gameplay.
Steel Brotha's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 20:25
Steel Brotha
@ BrainLazy

we're three years into this gen. if devs haven't figured out how to deal with the PS3 by now then that's their own fault. They also chose to cancel the PC and 360 versions so they could've prove this point by picking those back up and releasing them. And I'm sorry but Uncharted was an exclusive launch title done by the guys who did Jak and Daxter. It's not that devs should be able to pick up something new right off the bat, it's just that when other companies have created great things (MGS4, Uncharted, Infamous, Killzone 2, Motor Storm) Free Radical saying the PS3 is too difficu;t just looks like they didn't put effort into trying.
Steel Brotha's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 20:29
Steel Brotha
What's with the comments saying that Sony back this game up? Free Radical for some strange reason dropped the PC and 360 versions completely.
pedrovay2003's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 20:29
pedrovay2003
If you're having problems, then don't release it early. Fix your mistakes.

Not that I believe a word I read up there.
shogunu's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 20:39
shogunu
ZOMG JIM, MOAR ANTI-SONT BIAS!!!!!!1111111
Blackhat's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 21:04
Blackhat
"The bland overall level design and embarrassingly poor plot bespoke problems at the conceptual level, not the technical level."

Keep in mind that technical problems make absolutely every part of your game suffer. And while INNITIAL ideas can be good, they have to be thrown out in order to make things quickly that work.

Also: "If you're having problems, then don't release it early. Fix your mistakes."

You must be new to the industry. Here's how it works: Developer is given a time to finish a game by. This is not including pre-production. That time is flexible by a month or two, generally. If your game is not ready at that time, it is either A) thrown out entirely, or if it shows any promise B) it is released 'as is.' There's the additional 'C' of certain exclusives (Killzone) that are given extra YEARS to make it work.

So keep in mind that they MAY be telling the truth. I'm not defending them -- they very likely could have just screwed up -- but what they are saying is not IMPOSSIBLE.
kavorka's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 21:11
kavorka
I knew this was a Jim article from the title alone.
Los255's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 21:18
Los255
I wonder how much more shitty it wouldve been on the 360.

Cry some more Free Radical.
bwonk's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 21:24
bwonk
@BS3 Owner

Halo will live forever, I think, if something can live after selling its soul.
parrothead's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 21:28
parrothead
No
Brlito's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 22:01
Brlito
NOPE. FUCK THAT.

I'm a PS3 fanboy and even I avoided this like Lair on a silver platter.
Abriael's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/12/2009 22:35
Abriael
To the ones saying that the only developers that get good results on the PS3 are owned by sony should honestly get a clue.
Is Konami owned by Sony? Just as much as Square-enix?

I didn't hear kojima whining about how terrible working on the PS3 is, like i don't hear anything of the sort from the Final Fantasy XIII team, just to make two examples. I don't hear it from Namco, that continues to develop PS3 exclusive titles (like the upcoming Gundam game that looks awesome) or from Capcom, that makes their PS3 multiplatform titles totally on par with the 360 ones, I don't hear it from the vast majority of developers.
That makes me guess that, most definitely, the problem doesn't lie in the console, but in a couple of western primadonna developers that can't be arsed learning a new system that gives great results to others. 'Nuff said.
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