History VideoGame / Haze

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* {{Deconstruction}}: It's clear that the developers intended ''Haze'' to be a {{deconstruction}} of the typical military-style FirstPersonShooter. Critical reception would indicate it was not appreciated.

* NotSoDifferent: Duvall and the supposedly-good Merino: Merino gives a worried soldier almost exactly the same "it's all just chemicals in your brain" speech Duvall gave Shane much earlier. Then, at the end, Merino talks about using Nectar on his own people, saying that it's like a sword: only bad in the wrong hands. Mantel were the wrong people to have nectar because, according to Merino, [[IronicEcho "They're just animals."]]

* PlayingThePlayer: Unfortunately, it's given away pretty much everywhere on the game, including within it, advertising, and on the box and title screen.

A 2007 FirstPersonShooter with a storyline akin to UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror, about a bunch of drugged-up macho frat boys with assault rifles and glowing neon armor into the jungle to hunt stereotypical South American guerilla types, unfortunately with a lot of ExecutiveMeddling.

* EliteMooks: Mantel Black Ops, professional soldiers covertly used by Mantel to cover up their dirty deeds by eliminating any standard RedShirt stormtroopers who get out of line (such as yourself). They're introduced by having a group fastrope down onto a cablecar you're riding, followed by, in all likelihood, at least half of them walking off the sides and falling to their deaths.

* BananaRepublic: The Goal Of Mantel is to secure the region to make them grow Nectar plants for the consumption of the people back home.

* BrokenAesop: The supposed message of the game is that war is not the [[BlackAndWhiteMorality good-vs-evil]] affair that video games portray it as. However, this is undermined by the fact that Mantel is ObviouslyEvil while the Promise Hand are borderline angels. As a result, once the player defects from Mantel to the Promise Hand, the story turns into the same BlackAndWhiteMorality it claims to criticize.

A 2007 FirstPersonShooter with a storyline akin to TheWarOnTerror, about a bunch of drugged-up macho frat boys with assault rifles and glowing neon armor into the jungle to hunt stereotypical South American guerilla types, unfortunately with a lot of ExecutiveMeddling.

* EnemyChatter: And ally chatter, to the point of a possible MostAnnoyingSound.

* IndecisiveDeconstruction: The game purports to deconstruct military FPS' by showing how war isn't as morally simple as they portray it to be. However, only one side of the conflict is actually subjected to severe critical analysis; the initially-villains are shown to be borderline saints, with the possible deconstruction aspect on them only coming up at the end seconds.

* AxCrazy: Pretty much every Mantel soldier once you get past the Nectar's attempts to blur this behavior to you. Duvall stands out head and shoulders above the rest, though, justifying all of his murdering and destruction while screaming at the top of his lungs about the rebels being "[[Hypocrite nothing more than fucking animals]]" and meat for the slaughter.

For another {{Deconstruction}} of military [=FPS=]s, see ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine''.

A FirstPersonShooter with a storyline akin to TheWarOnTerror, about a bunch of drugged-up macho frat boys with assault rifles and glowing neon armor into the jungle to hunt stereotypical South American guerilla types, unfortunately with a lot of ExecutiveMeddling.

Initially planned to be a key multi-platform title, ''Haze'' suddenly narrowed to the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 alone and was briefly built up as the [=PS3=]'s ''Franchise/{{Halo}}''-killer. Marketed as a hard-hitting {{Deconstruction}} of modern shooters, the game was initially quite hyped. Upon release, critics quickly declared it to be an average shooter with mediocre gameplay and graphics, combined with over-the-top voice acting and dialogue. The critical pummeling it got on release and its devastatingly low sales made it a [[CreatorKiller disaster for its creators]]. Free Radical went into financial administration within months of the game's release and was later acquired by [[VideoGame/{{Crysis}} Crytek]], thus becoming Crytek UK.

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: The game tries to subvert this trope, but ends up playing it straight after the player switches sides.

* DrugsAreBad: The depiction of Nectar seems to have been [[ExecutiveMeddling ramped up to anti-drug PSA proportions]], which rather undermines the idea that anyone would want to corner the market on it.

* ShoutOut: Mantel's troops are a lot like ''FriskyDingo''[='=]s Xtacles.

* AnimalMotifs: Well Insect. There seems to be an analogy between the Mantel troopers and bees, seeing as they wear bright yellow uniforms and consume a drug called Nectar

Initially planned to be a key multi-platform title, ''Haze'' suddenly narrowed to the PlayStation3 alone and was briefly built up as the [=PS3=]'s ''Franchise/{{Halo}}''-killer. Marketed as a hard-hitting {{Deconstruction}} of modern shooters, the game was initially quite hyped. Upon release, critics quickly declared it to be an average shooter with mediocre gameplay and graphics, combined with over-the-top voice acting and dialogue. The critical pummeling it got on release and its devastatingly low sales made it a [[CreatorKiller disaster for its creators]]. Free Radical went into financial administration within months of the game's release and was later acquired by [[VideoGame/{{Crysis}} Crytek]], thus becoming Crytek UK.

''Haze'' focuses around the soldiers of PrivateMilitaryContractor / {{Megacorp}}oration Mantel Industies, and their battle to "liberate" an unnamed South American country from the guerilla forces of the Promise Hand, led by Gabriel "Skincoat" Merino. Mantel doses its soldiers with the performance-enhancing drug "Nectar".

Of course, it quickly becomes apparent that Mantel's troops are immature, testosterone-driven [[ManChild man-children]] to whom war is a big video game, and Mantel itself is an [[MegaCorp evil corporation]] whose supposed humanitarian reasons for intervening in the country are merely propaganda to cover up their [[WarForFunAndProfit real motives for storming in and killing the indigenous folks]]. And Merino turns out to be saintly old man who, despite what Mantel propaganda claims, does not, in fact, eat people or wear their skins. The player character, Mantel trooper Shane Carpenter, eventually defects from Mantel to the Promise Hand, trading his Nectar-enhanced PowerArmor for guerilla-style tactics such as playing dead, disarming enemies with melee attacks, and using Nectar knives and Nectar grenades to overdose enemy soldiers and cause them to go berserk.

* BiggerBad: Mantel, oddly enough. A "General" is vaguely hinted at at one point, but in the player's experience Mantel doesn't even have any commissioned officers with the BigBad a Sergeant, and the corporate aspect doesn't really come up.

* WarIsHell / WarIsGlorious: The ''real'' theme of the game; war is more of a drug than Nectar could ever be. Even Merino can't get away from it.
* YouBastard

* WarIsHell/WarIsGlorious: The ''real'' theme of the game; war is more of a drug than Nectar could ever be. Even Merino can't get away from it.

* YouBastard

* WholePlotReference: To ''{{Platoon}}'': Duvall is Barnes, Shane is Taylor, Teare is Grodin.

* YouBastard: The Mantel troopers embody the stereotype of FPS players as "macho frat boys", the YouBastard undertone disappears once the player switches sides however.