Haze

First-person shooters can all seem the same after awhile, so it's great when a game comes along that changes it up a bit, giving gamers a new experience. Ubisoft is one of the leading producers of first-person shooter games and takes it up a notch with their exclusive PS3 title Haze. In this futuristic game, it's 2048 and world governments have put their military operations into the hands of private military corporations or PMCs. Gamers play as Shane Carpenter, a new recruit for Mantel Global Industries; he is a trooper fighting the good fight. Or is it? Shane is sent into a war-torn country to battle a rebel faction known as the Promise Hand; from the beginning his assignments are action packed.

As a Mantel trooper, Shane experiences the ultimate power of being equipped with the most advanced weapons and vehicles available. Included in the arsenal is nectar, a performance-enhancing drug that increases Shane's battle strength and gives him new abilities like the melee blast, nectar foresight and nectar focus. As a trooper, Shane is nearly unstoppable, but everything is not what it seems. When Shane discovers disturbing information, he ditches Mantel and takes up with his former enemies-the Promise Hand. Even armed with his knowledge of Mantel operations, taking them down won't be easy.

A new enemy AI engine guarantees that all enemy actions are completely dynamic, meaning there are no scripted actions, and gamers are up against a "thinking and acting" enemy force, so don't get sloppy. Online gamers need not worry; there are a number of great game modes including a four-player co-op mode, the opportunity to battle it out as either a trooper or a rebel and the ability to unveil secrets from the single-player game. Haze is that great big shooter that the PS3 has needed since Resistance: Fall of Man was released last year. Haze gives gamers an idea of just what the PS3 can do.