Plenty of interesting snippets were packed into Ubisoft's recently released fiscal year 2007 Q3 report, including the promise of a Prince of Persia game in 2008 and another delay of Haze's release. Another noteworthy mention is the upcoming Shaun White snowboarding game. For more details, head over to the full article.

Back in the day, abundant bloom was the coolest thing in the block. Now that developers have access to more powerful hardware, some gamers will call them lazy if a next-gen title doesn't have parallax mapping, high resolution rendering, and all that. Free Radical co-founder Dave Doak, however, would rather be creative than make generic eye-candy.

"A typical next-gen look has often got all the next-gen stuff like specular highlights and normal mapping turned up to the max... But if it's not turned up to 11, people think it's not next-gen enough," he said in a recent interview with PC Gamer in its issue # 180. Yet, the TimeSplitters series took a more cartoony approach over super-realistic graphics, and Doak seems to favor that style.

Even with powerful tools around, it looks like TimeSplitters will stay true to its roots. After giving Valve's Team Fortress 2 props for standing out, noting how developers are starting to ponder if they really have to do realistic rendering or go for a distinct look, he said:

TimeSplitters has always had that [distinct look] and it's something we want to go back and look at again, specifically taking that cartoon look and doing it with the interesting rendering you can do now [with next-gen].

We haven't heard much about TimeSplitters 4, but if Doak's words hold true, then we're getting more of the quirky first-person shooter that offered hours of fun. Who cares about complex physics engines and extremely detailed character models? Give us rocket launcher-wielding monkeys and we're sold.

This year is certainly shaping up to be the year of the FPS. One of the most promising new additions to the FPS genre is Ubisoft and Free Radical's Haze (PS3, Xbox 360, PC). Rob Yescombe recently spoke to GamePro about Haze, giving out a lot of details about the game and the Nectar effect.

Even though Haze is an FPS, Yescombe noted that the player's main weapon isn't a gun but Nectar, the "nutritional supplement" that can give Mantel soldiers godlike combat abilities. Nectar usage is a double-edged knife: it can enhance combat abilities, but it can also cause soldiers to go berserk when ingested in extremely large quantities.

Yescombe's comments about this is a sort of spoiler, so we'll just say that Haze is all about seeing war from both sides of the fence. The game also features what Yescombe describes as "an extremely intelligent and adaptive AI." Even though players can go through the entire game using only their favorite high-powered gun (ammo can be recalibrated to fit any kind of gun), the AI still won't make things any easier.

Yescombe also revealed a few juicy bits about the game's multiplayer mode. Haze will feature four-player co-op and online multiplayer support for up to 24 players. The coolest thing about the multiplayer mode is that it can alter the single player storyline. The same also holds true for the single player game.

All in all, Haze is shaping up to be a ready contender amid this year's slew of triple-A FPS titles. The game currently looks on scheduled for its November release on the Sony PlayStation 3. For the full interview including talk about PS3 weapon controls as well some spoilers about the game's storyline, click on the Read link below.

Some would argue that if there's one thing all First Person Shooters has got to have, it's good multiplayer - and some are certainly happy that Free Radical's upcoming title, Haze (PS3, Xbox 360, PC), is sporting what could be one of the most intense multiplayer experiences ever to hit the FPS genre. Yes, armchair marksmen, this gameplay video update of Haze is all about having a ridiculously fun time with other people in Haze - and it doesn't look half bad at all.

In these videos, we see two aspects of a typical multiplayer round in Haze - that is, utilization of the knife and some of the many projectile weapons in the game. In Multiplayer Knife Fight, we see the player not using the aforementioned sharp object to slash and cut, no - he throws the darn things, and we're all but floored as he literally clears a hallway full of enemies with 'em.

The other video, Shootout Cam, gets us behind the sights of a player raining fire and brimstone down on his opponents - the fact that you can see how many shots you have left is pretty neat.

Free Radical certainly looks to have an FPS classic on their hands. Add to that a riveting storyline that's not only mature but deals with today's world matters, and Haze looks considerably epic from this viewpoint. Updates as we get them, so enjoy the videos!

The other video after the jump!

It's one thing for a game to give you a vehicle you can drive around in - it's another thing entirely when that vehicle becomes your only hope of surviving a full-scale attack against you and your mates. We see that and more in this particularly hell-on-wheels flavored gameplay video update of Haze (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC) from GC.

In this video, we see the player and his nectar-guzzling buddies pile into what looks like a monster truck crossed with a tank, before manning the thing in what appears to be the Haze equivalent of a dirt racetrack filled with mines and bombs and other nasty things.

What's really interesting in this video is that while it may look like the player's barely dodging the things that go kablooey to the left and right of him, upon closer inspection, his team-mates appear to be dying - and that's not a good thing. Even the bloke who's manning the gun gets offed.

While Free Radical's Haze may seem to share a few similarities here and there with a certain FPS on the Xbox 360, there's no doubt that it looks to deliver one of the more intense gaming experiences yet. Enjoy the video!

 

The biggest understatement you can ever say this year is Haze being just another FPS. Beyond astounding graphics and Nectar-induced action, Free Radical's latest offering features more than your average American shooter - special skills are available, unique to either Mantel soldiers or Promised Hand rebels.

For those who didn't know, Haze follows the cat and mouse story of soldiers under the effects of drug-like Nectar against rebels who don't want to yield. Players can choose either side, each with their own arsenal.

Those under Mantel Global Industries have access to Nectar, which greatly enhances their physical abilities. There's a catch though, since their perception of reality is distorted. Shooting people don't show blood and dead guys disappear, just like in video games. Still, these skills should give them an edge:

• Nectar Perception: you’ll be able to spot rebels even in the darkest parts of the environment
  
• Nectar Focus: allows you to pull off incredible head-shots from long distances away
  
• Nectar Foresight: gives you a heightened sense of things, e.g., nearby grenades emit a warning in the form of a ripple effect before exploding onto you
  
• Melee Blast: send rebels flying with an overly-powerful strike

More after the jump!

One of the most anticipated FPS titles this year is Haze (PS3, Xbox 360, PC), but Free Radical has more in store for fans of new and old. The latest IP is sure to attract a wider audience, but loyal followers of TimeSplitters also have something to be happy about. After OPM UK revealed that a new TimeSplitters is in the works, Free Radical's Rob Yescombe confirmed that they're working hard on the fourth installation in the series.

"In the past TimeSplitters has been very satirical at the expense of movies, this time it will be satirical at the expense of video games," Yescombe told Kotaku. What crazy ideas they're planning with this promise, we do not know.

The game is still in very early stages of development, so no confirmations on which platform it will come out yet. All Yescombe could say was they're "unsigned at the moment." As long as the monkeys and hilarious weapons are back, we're all good.

 

The release date of Brothers In Arms: Double Time for the Nintendo Wii fell back a month more, despite a previous release target set for September 21, 2007. The hopefully non-port of Brothers in Arms should hit Wii consoles by October 19, 2007 as claimed.

Although missing in the list, Ubisoft has reaffirmed the release date of Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway is still on track for November. The WWII game's absence in the release list was a mistake, claims Ubisoft, and will be coming to the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as previously scheduled.

Titles going to be released along with it are the highly awaited Assassin's Creed (for the PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360), the insane Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 (for the DS and Wii), Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (for the PC and Xbox 360) and Free Radical's Haze (for the PlayStation 3), although they are vaguely listed simply as "November release."

Those who were wishing to see the head boss of Free Radical might want to take a first glimpse here. As the first of a series of developer diaries, developer and director Dave Doak shares Free Radical's complete rehashing of the first-person shooting genre with HAZE (for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC).

Once again, Doak explains just what they're aiming for with the multiplatform shooter, which Free Radical has repeatedly identified as turning HAZE into a blast-fest with much deeper thought and feelings. Personal views, reservations and all of that being skewed with bittersweet Nectar is the name of the game.

But this time around, each explanation comes with some eye candy to take a gander at, and since Free Radical is releasing the highly-awaited title to the PlayStation 3 first, you can be sure these are real-time captures of the PlayStation 3's gameplay. Four-player co-op, visuals that controversially tails one other visual masterpiece title, and subtle clues of Nectar overdose and its effects are weaved into the Doak's video journal entry, so keep a keen eye out.

HAZE may be about the most elite Mantel troopers enhanced by the effects of Nectar, but it isn't about going "all gung-ho," blasting everything that moves and isn't clad in a Mantel combat suit. Thinking shooters and feelings aside, much of the design of HAZE (coming out first for the PlayStation 3, then for the Xbox 360 and PC) is based loosely on just you.

 

Unlike much of the American shooters, where the it's all about the hero in you, your gun and the nameless baddies you steamroll through, HAZE doesn't revolve around that. In fact, it doesn't even revolve around the conflict or the war; instead, it revolves around the soldier fighting someone else's war.

"It's not John Wayne. And a lot of videogames are John Wayne," Free Radical's David Doak explained in a recently published interview with EuroGamer. But he did admit that most gamers will be buying the game to experience another typical shooter, so HAZE will incorporate mechanics for gamers to jump in shooting from the start right to the end.

But then that would only remain skin-deep for HAZE. In fact, Free Radical wants to slowly convince the player that it provides a lot more than just mindless shooting. "We have to somehow change your opinion about that as you go through, and make you uncomfortable about it, make you pleased about it, make you upset or whatever," said Doak.

Click on Full Article for more of Doak's views of what they're doing with HAZE.