Worst Games Ever - Haze

Haze is a PS3 game in which Simon Miller and his friends go to war in the distant future of 2048 and then everyone takes doses of Nectar to make themselves feel posi'ive about it all. And that's okay. Unless it isn't. Which it isn't. Because this is Worst Games Ever. And that's okay.
#Haze #PS3 #WorstGamesEver
--------------------------
Subscribe for more wonderful video game content from Ben Potter, Peter Austin, and Ashton Matthews!
TripleJump provides video coverage of video games - including top ten lists featuring current gen platforms (PS4 & PS5, Xbox One & Xbox Series X/Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch and PC), retro consoles (PlayStation, Nintendo, Xbox and Sega), as well as Worst Games Ever, video game challenges, launch games videos, first impressions, podcasts, livestreams and much, much more.
Careers, contacts, and more information can be found on our website: tripleju.mp
⇨ Patreon: / teamtriplejump
⇨ Twitch: / teamtriplejump
⇨ Merchandise: triplejumpshop.com/
⇨ Livestream VODs: tripleju.mp/vods
⇨ Podcast: play.acast.com/s/triplejump
⇨ Twitter: / teamtriplejump
⇨ Facebook: / teamtriplejump
⇨ Discord: Bit.ly/TeamTripleJump
Follow the team on social media:
• Ben: / confused_dude & Confused_Dude on PSN
• Peter: / thatpeteraustin & / thatpeteraustin
• Ashton: / scrambledashton & / scrambledashton
Follow our friends!
• Billy Ray Walrus: / billyraybotrus
• Rules Boss: / thisisrulesboss
• Barbara Pis: / pis_barbara
The TripleJump Podcast is hosted by Acast, but available on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and more!
Acast: play.acast.com/s/triplejump

[@PILULE-ow9sk]

That game were you could faint dead was Army Of Two. There was a system called "aggro" that, when using noisy, deadly weapons and not taking cover much you would glow red and the enemies would focus on you, in the meantime your partner using more silenced weapon and using cover would appear "see through" like ghost. You could faint death to drop the aggro.

[@Boogie_the_cat]

it's called feigning death. faint death sounds like a happy hardcore artist name.

[@PILULE-ow9sk]

@@Boogie_the_cat words got lost in the translation 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@confidential_lofi]

Thank you so much to Ben and Peter for featuring my remix on this episode and a few of the livestreams. Been watching your content since lockdowns began in 2020 and always wanted to do a remix in order to contribute back to a channel that has kept me so much company during lockdowns and dark times these past couple years. I hope everyone liked the remix, I’d like to do more in the future (unless you all hated it?). Please remember to follow me on Instagram and listen to more of my music on Spotify Thanks again

[@Donarrrghh]

I loved it! Keep up the good work.

[@CloakedReaperGames]

I liked it better actually! Also kinda gave me Pikmin vibes towards the end which is awesome. Nice job!

[@adipramana7]

It’s SO NICE would love more

[@jordanprice172]

Reminded me of Coffee Talk, dope! 👌

[@Bendoverstoke]

It was ace!

[@MrBeardsley]

“Lay an egg” is a fairly common idiom in the US for producing a failure or flop. It came from the vaudeville circuits during the late 1800s where it was used to reference shows or routines that didn’t get over with the audience (“we really laid an egg out there”), but it’s believed to have it’s roots in the 19th century British cricket term “duck egg” (“goose egg” in American sports) which means to end a game with a score of zero.

[@anperson8329]

I remember paying full price for this, then desperately trying to justify that to myself. There was a 'special edition', in a tin box, with a glow stick, which was pointless.

[@Sim0n98]

The glow stick probably more entertaining than the game

[@Nov-5062]

All special editions are practically pointless if you think about it

[@anperson8329]

@@Nov-5062 I like the ones with soundtracks.

[@mattstevensms60]

Me too

[@TheAshCooper]

No cap. I also did the same. And maybe its the trials of memory. But I remember it better than this video depicts.

[@SemiglossOyster]

"The game that killed Timesplitters." That's a tough pill to swallow...

[@thekingofoldskool2]

Matt McMuscles did a excellent 'What Happened?' video on 'Haze'. It's had quite the tortured production.

[@Nbflowers1989]

Would be great to have an actual cameo from Simon Miller!

[@Seebsy87]

Danhausen

[@speedwaynutt]

Honestly that era of gaming featured so many generic shooter it was hard to keep up with them all.

[@jacksonteller3973]

This one was OK, it did have a pretty cool twist that did the whole "the army you belong to isn't actually good and the enemies you're fighting aren't really evil" message several years before Spec Ops the Line did it, and I have to say I think this game pulled it off better as it was more subtle and less heavy-handed and overly judgemental in regards to tackling the message.

[@TechniqueSan]

7th gen is where gaming came to die.

[@quinnmarchese6313]

if you think this was "generic" you have no idea what that word means. this game was anything but generic. did that make it good, no, but it was very unique at the time

[@KingOfThaDead64]

@@quinnmarchese6313 Stop with the unique bs 😆 it was generic and no different from an other shooter.

[@MrBeardsley]

Janky FPSes were to the 7th generation as janky third-person action games were to the 6th and janky platformers were to the 5th.

[@RenegadePandaZ]

Run faster, jump higher? Man, I'm not gonna let you poison me. I'm not a part of your system.

[@juicepouch1]

I THREW IT ON THE GROUND

[@GeriatricFan1963]

I'M AN ADULT!

[@rivaraptor4277]

YOU CAN'T TRUST THE SYSTEM! MAAAAAN

[@ddjsoyenby]

"I THREW THE NECTAR ON THE GROUND............NOW THERE'S WAR BEES!"

[@NikSwiftDigs]

How weird that the game introduces a cool sci-fi concept and then keep missing obvious moments to play with that concept. The fact that ‘nectar’ puts you into an idyllic other world when you’re fighting is very fun, but its execution is incredibly odd, considering that the game implies ‘idyllic’ is simply just ‘colourful.’ Better would be a reveal that they’re not fighting in the jungle at all, but seedy dystopian streets: that the entire forest is an illusion. And the idea that you cannot see dead people is interesting, and the conversation with the dying pilot seemed to be building to him disappearing right as he speaks to the protagonist, which could even have been the catalyzing moment for the protagonist’s character growth. Instead it’s just a conversation and then he dies without pointedly disappearing: his ‘vanishing’ seems like such a small afterthought. Considering how many missed opportunities there were for something clever in this game I think it may be one of the worst the boys have played on this show.

[@SoCalJellybean]

I wanna play YOUR game!

[@NikSwiftDigs]

@@SoCalJellybean thank you!

[@ncthriller4465]

Thats a killer idea

[@missmoanypants]

I worked at GameStop when this came out and had a coworker who would tell anyone that would listen that Haze was a Halo Killer.

[@Nathanelsematters]

Were they paid extra to say that or did they actually really enjoy it? Genuinely curious.

[@rickyrosay33977]

Same thing happened to me when Kilzone came out on ps2 a friend (a huge ps fanboy) was telling me "kilzone is going to kill halo fuck master chief the helghast are superior we finally have our own Sci fi fps and it's going to be better"

[@mikeburns4874]

The game they were talking about were you can fake your death is Army of 2.

[@trenteaston3515]

Which is ironic that Haze and Army of Two both came out at nearly the same time but Haze seems to be a direct parody of Army Of Two, since it has the exact same plot (Frat boy mercenaries fighting for an evil PMC) but Haze tries to make a political message while Army of Two just goes with it.

[@poisonive45454]

@@trenteaston3515 Army of Two had no illusions about what it was, and it was made with co op in mind.

[@teddyboukagain9985]

This is one of those bad games I secretly really like.

[@porkchopexpress84]

Sniper 3 ghost warrior is one for me

[@WolfWalrus]

Secret's out

[@iDaVisionEnt]

Hey its the halo killer

[@jacksonteller3973]

the 2nd one you mean, the first Killzone was also marketed as a Halo killer.

[@iDaVisionEnt]

@@jacksonteller3973 I think Activisionless bungie, could make a wonderful game, D1 was so goo D2 let me down that I'm even interesting in that new DLC

[@notmus]

@@jacksonteller3973 And Killzone trilogy was just as good and nostalgic as Halo.

[@tetsusiega2]

I mean, Halo is dead now, so I guess it worked?

[@joshuastedford1670]

Great to see another PS3 title - I know it's more of a hassle to setup than a PS2 emulator, but I really appreciate the effort and bigger potential library

[@AlmightyPolarBear]

I like when they play newer terrible games (like Mass Effect: Andromeda).

[@shafaatoo9328]

Honestly ps3 emulation has come a long way, it honestly feels easier to play and setup than ps2

[@Nov-5062]

@@shafaatoo9328 that's true, but you need a strong PC to run those games. It was almost unplayable on my average PC.

[@Southized]

Ps3 modding is so easy these days🤦🏻‍♂️

[@shafaatoo9328]

@@Nov-5062 yeah at least 6 core 12 thread cpu to play those. I find my ryzen 2600 struggling in some games, but most games run fine.

[@BigPhil2024]

I remember buying a ps3 bundle with this and uncharted. I didn’t read any reviews. The guy at the store looking at me with a sadness in his eyes, knowing how much I was gonna be disappointed 😂

[@seanfogarty5559]

God, I remember Haze being hyped up so much it was nearly inescapable. Then the receptions in early previews started to turn on it, and then the abysmal reviews poured in... I remember that I didn't hate it, per se, but it was so generic I don't remember the actual gameplay 😂

[@jeremyroberts8822]

Same, it had an insane amount of hype. This was during the era where a lot of these FPS games were obsessed with marketing themselves as halo killers lol

[@AshLilburne]

I only saw the vod yesterday with the Simon Miller "Even your Nan could play it'' script reference.. Perfect timing ;)

[@pauladams485]

This really is my favourite KZbin series, the guys just lark about like a couple of mates and I find the videos so weirdly relaxing

[@babygio725]

It was army of two that had the rag doll death physics

[@MovieEggman]

I remember when Sony called this the “Halo Killer”.

[@JJJackson777]

i remember playing this as a child at a friends house in the early hours, that jumpscare scared the shit out of me & it's still what i remember most about this game, even above the abject slop that is this game

[@MonarchDWolf]

Army of Two the 40th Day had the feign death mechanic

[@BethNote]

Way back when I was still in school, my classmates and I considered this "Cursed Media" because a particular Lad was looking forward to it and everything he looked forward to turned out to have a mixed reception at best.

[@MrBeardsley]

Matt McMuscles did an episode of What Happened about Haze, most of the development issues stemmed from Free Radical’s decision to build a whole new engine for it. While there was nothing fundamentally wrong with the engine, having more flexibility freedom that they would’ve with a licensed engine led to both the studio heads and Ubisoft dictating all kinds of additional mechanics that were neat in theory but totally unnecessary (for example the “play dead” gimmick and ability to make various grenades). That forced the dev team to distract itself from working on core aspects of the game, which is why the second half of it kind of falls apart.

[@Psycorembrandt]

I remember Haze. I won a PS3 and the top selling PS3 game that week in a competition at an event. For that one week, this tosh knocked GTA IV off the top spot of PS3 sales. That made me sad. Haze multiplayer was awful.

[@doomnarok]

One of the few WGE I've played. This one had a game ruining glitch a few hours in. A doorway would turn white. Each time your try to progress, you'd fall through the doorway into an endless abyss. The way to fix it? Delete the game and start over. 👍

[@seanthebluesheep]

Oh cripes. Oh gravy. Good Christmas. I just realised the whole Nectar/Hexagons/Drones = Bees thing connects to the main character's name John *Carpenter* What a disgraceful thought to happen inside my own mind.

[@SlapadelicMusic]

wow that scene with the "can you see me" line is great. the voice acting is really good and it highlights how this concept could really work. this game doesn't seem like it's quite shitty enough for this show lol but now I want a remake of it

[@brycestrife5605]

Melee to flip over a vehicle was Halo and Halo alone. This wasn't a halo killer this was a company trying to be bungie. It's like a child trying to replicate the adult. Kind of cute, kind of sad, and kind of a piece of s*** company for charging US 60 bucks for it.

[@RobColbourne]

The faking death game I believe was Army of Two, unless other games did it too

[@rewarddrawer]

This is the game I was thinking of. I knew I had played one with that mechanic. There might be more but Ao2 was the one I remember

[@justsomeguy2743]

Army of two was soo good

[@LikeaGlove90]

oi that low fi cover of the intro song is soooo goood

[@StillOnFire]

It appears to be a beefy Ben Potter sitting next to Simon Miller around ten minutes. ;)

[@widowmakerx7]

The coop game where u can fake your death is probably Army of TWO

[@GhostNappa2k10]

Ooh, I bloody love that remix.

[@confidential_lofi]

Thank you so much for the love, it means the world to me. Please give me a follow on Instagram (handle shown during intro) and check out my new album on Spotify, which may or may not have a beat written for an old WGE mascot

[@lShishkaBerryl]

This channel is criminally underrated

[@OrgaNik_Music]

So the actual game starts around 12:20. It seems to me the that the problems with this game isn't the gameplay itself, since that all looks pretty okay. It's just... well, everything else, really.

[@DaCaptainDerpy]

I liked the concept of Haze but the execution was poor

[@Jeff-ok6dr]

Sadly it become another game that could of been fun and sadly fell way short.

[@onglogman]

that intro was top shelf!

[@TheSteelStallion]

The death fake game was absolutely Army of Two. Feignin death was one of the few co-operative actions both players could use. Other actions included dragging an injured buddy to safety, moving behind a riot shield, and parachuting all while the other person is doing the shooting.

[@mastersirus1985]

That Intro was awesome!

[@wavnino1]

I literally had that same expression as well when the bloke began getting "extra friendly" feeling on your character 🤨 @6:59

[@TheMartinChronicles]

Thank you for pumping up the jam.

[@finch600]

I forgot this game existed! My 8 year old cousin just played it all the time back in the day but he didn't exactly have many options.

[@exocolt15]

Matt mcmuscles has an excellent video in his series “wha happun” that goes over haze

[@WolfCyphr]

Did no one else laugh harder than they should have at Smooth Criminal? @24:04

[@MikeTheVA]

Even at 50p this game isn't worth it. Also I genuinely had no idea Free Radical were offered to make the Goldeneye remake.

[@METALisLIFE89]

i love how they didnt mention the "Definitely Not Warthog" growing a gunner at 38:30

[@MeddlTitan]

everyone had this avatar on ps3 but no one knew where it came from

[@cac9926]

The game that was always on the shelves at GameStop

[@roguerifter9724]

It sounds like Free Radical's fall was a lot more their own fault then I thought. They should have finished Haze then focused on Timesplitters 4 instead of neglecting the latter parts of Haze to focus on Timesplitters 4 Obviously the Battlefront 3 cancelation hurt but I'm confused . Did anyone explain why the game was canceled? At anything close to the level of completion described it would be more logical IMO to finish the game and get what you can from it because the few resources you save scrapping the game would be dwarfed by what has already been invested. Was Battlefront 3 canceled before or after Haze came out?

[@BEARDEDRICANGAMING]

The game you was referring too at 19:15 was Army of Two I believe

[@thisjustin6529]

Grunt: Nectar is tight. Other Grunt: Yeah yeah yeah!!! Taking nectar is super easy, barely an inconvenience.

[@confidential_lofi]

Pitch Meeting! Haha how cool would it be if Ben/Peter/Ashton did a collab where Ryan George was a guest on Main Menu or something?!

[@KrazyKain]

Unreal tournament had a feign death option, but you're probably thinking of Army of Two, I think you could feign death so the other player would get all the aggro

[@inmedx]

I remember the bots on local multiplayer being so stupid. All you had to do was stand at a ladder and you'd hear them climbing up - thrn you'd just pick them off 1 by 1 as soon as their head popped up. Unlimited kills 😂

[@ssjkara224]

the game y’all were talking about at around 18:00 is Army of T.W.O., great game franchise that should’ve gotten more entries

[@insertgenericusernamehere2402]

Both this and the order 1886 get so much crap. Yet they're both solid games. (overhyped to shit but still fun) also that lo-fi intro music was 😘👌 B-E-Autiful

[@confidential_lofi]

Thanks a million for the love with my remix! I’ve always been curious about Haze, but was put off my the negative reception. I like the concept a lot, so it’d be cool if it got a reboot or something? Please do give me a follow on Instagram for more lofi music from me. I also have a track on Spotify called Steven Seagull, from my new album, named after the old WGE mascot friend

[@insertgenericusernamehere2402]

@@confidential_lofi no problem it's a clean mix and deserves credit if you could upload it to KZbin that would be dope I don't use Instagram all that much.

[@LobsterPuncher]

Sweet Chilled Cow intro.

[@confidential_lofi]

Thank you so much! Please give me a follow on Instagram and check out more of my beats on Spotify - there's one on my new album called Steven Seagull. Guess where the inspiration for that came from ;)

[@markcarey87]

Thumbs up just for the remixed theme alone.

[@lordlelouch2379]

Army of two you played dead to trick the enemies.

[@SeOnMika]

Damn, I loved those games. Totally forgot they existed but my and my friend used to play them a LOT

[@pushon10]

Luis Enrique's in this game? Wow! I wonder how much an old football manager can offer Mantel

[@glassesman15]

Lol Bens Orange Cassidy thumbs up

[@kaimactrash]

Since yous lost an episode, I'm gonna sun and follow your fb page, it's admirable that yous went out your way to film another episode after the first one went wrong. Nothing worse than having done work and nothing to show for it.

[@crane8819]

A game where you walk around seeing and doing nice things but then later find out you were drugged/brainwashed and were actually killing people the whole time would be interesting. Disturbing, but interesting.

[@TheEmperorHasSpoken]

I did always have fun shooting nectar packs and watching the soldiers go full nutters before dying.

[@griskin_8202]

I think I remember Dr Doak saying in a few interviews that they had some real teething problems moving to the, at the time, next gen technology which also really marred Haze's development

[@theocan]

Oh awesome, can't wait to see them get hit by one of the loudest, most out of nowhere jumpscares in gaming. Genuinely got me everytime I tried this game.

[@tylarjackson7928]

Did it happen in this video? Could you timestamp it if it did?

[@callmealx]

weirdest games and worst games on the same day??

[@Tommygun-gn5nb]

Really treating us today!

[@ThatShyGuyMatt]

I remember I couldn't get Haze to run right on my PC.

[@LordmonkeyTRM]

Two vidyas in one day thank TJ❤️👌

[@mjnomy]

The Nectar Injectors rock! (Sounds like a band name to me)

[@matthewburden7757]

Army of TWO had the feign death feature, my guys :)

[@Bendoverstoke]

Really enjoy "IS THAT LEGS???" as a catchphrase

[@FortunateFox_]

Oh hey its the guy from the ps4 profile icon selection

[@pushon10]

18:32 is that Leo Varadkar?

[@raviamodernepic]

Leaving a like for the Smash Mouth parody only, again

[@Cam-pe3nd]

The remix is so much better than the actual song.

[@insignificantaftermathPROJECTS]

I seem to remember this game being cool when I had the demo but thought it was just me not being used to the PS3 in terms of the dodgy gameplay mechanics.

[@dbone3356]

As Rare made both Goldeneye and Perfect Dark it should be no surprise that Perfect Dark was very Goldeneye.

[@good0lespens972]

I believe the game that had the feign death feature that Peter was asking about was definitely Army of Two. I remember also being at a friends house playing this game and seeing that happen, never actually owned this game

[@kieransp2010]

The apparant Halo killer 🤦‍♂️ I was so disappointed once I bought this on launch day

[@kez963]

When part 2 where you guys play a coop 😅

[@TheSubZer0HEro]

I remember playing this with mates and having a lot of fun just running around getting high on the nectar.

[@tychodragon]

I fucking love you boys your satirical comedy is perfect!

[@johnnyfatsacks5209]

One of the things that immediately turned me off about Haze was it seemed to all take place in the jungle or wilderness. Maybe I just like urban warfare more?

[@capthavic]

I actually remember when this came out, it feels like a lifetime ago...

[@PeterCleff]

I had a few friends who went ps3 over the 360, and although that platform got really good later, you could not convince me that those early ps3 games were good. This one had so much potential though. Almost had me there.

[@therider04]

I remember that I cancel my preorder few weeks before released. Glad I did.

[@BeardTech]

Free Radical NEEDS to be able to make a new Timesplitters game. It has to happen. On their own terms, their own way

[@TomassoCZ]

Immediately thought of the Canaries from Red Dwarf.

[@gibzotta]

I can't agree with this one.. My memory might be a bit Hazey (see what I did there?) But this wasn't all so bad of a game on the PS3 A six or seven out of 10. Definitely not terrible.

[@neondreams0514]

Not terrible just really generic, Killzone 2 and 3 were much better Sony exclusive fps games

[@GapeHorn]

Thinking the game that Peter mentioned was Army of Two 🤔🤔

[@Zuzzy4399]

"Laying an egg" is a phrase meaning they laid a metaphorical rotten egg.

[@Seanwithones]

I really enjoyed the Maze joke.

[@MichaelJBrar]

I just followed you lads on Facebook 👍

[@pushon10]

This game having a soundtrack by a has-been nu metal band is just so apt lol

[@Jabberley55]

Fake death thing is from army of two what a shooter that was

[@munchmandrifta]

Okay here is my issue with this game and I need to introduce another game for clarity. So one of the early games on PS3 was TimeShift which was criminally underrated imho, playing it now it's a bit meh but at the time it wasn't so bad, but I digress. In both Haze and TimeShift you could steal an enemies gun, a mechanic I feel should be in more games. In Time Shift you controlled time so you could pause the world, run over and grab an enemy gun then restart timeand he'd be like WTF? Where's me gun? Well better surrender. They would surrender if you faced them (FPS so you'd be pointing your gun at them), now here is the thing if you killed another enemy nearby they'd have fallen and dropped their gun so the surrendering soldier would roll and pick up the dropped gun and keep fighting. It was pretty cool to see, though annoying. However if there was no gun around they would remain surrendered and you DID NOT HAVE TO KILL THEM To Advance the game/story... I capitalised coz it's important. In Haze the ENTIRE Game is based around "War is bad, stop warring, stop killing, end the bloodshed". You could approach an enemy and steal their Primary Weapon, however they wouldnt' surrender they would just pull out theri sidearm... and YOUCANNOT STEAL IT, nor do they EVER Surrender also you HAD to kill EVERY. SINGLE. SOLIDER. to advance most areas/story. So in TimeShift where you are just trying to fix the timeline, you could "technically" do a pacifist run (though some areas you did have to destroy stuff and might have ben kill all enemy areas, I can't remember it was 2006/7 when the game came out leave me alone dammit), but in Haze where they tell you OVER and OVER Don't Kill, it gives you NO CHOICE but to kill... it was like ARGH!!! Note: TimeShift released first so you can see why it made me angry, I'd SEEN surrendering enemies you could choose to spare then got a game telling you to not kill but leaves you no choice. Anyway Haze was pretty bad in alot of other areas, but that was my biggest issue, the hypocrisy of the story/mechanics.

[@MirrorKnight]

I once played a demo of this. I was not impressed.

[@tomleggett7000]

DOUBLE UPLOAD