Scott Jones writes:
''Set in the not-too-far-off year of 2023, the first-person shooter Haze features an introspective soldier with the wholesome, church-going name of Shane Carpenter. While his squadmates, the Mantel Troopers, chug a performance-enhancing drug called Nectar and exchange bits of leatherneck wisdom like "If two guys are dying on the battlefield, but you can only save one, save the guy with the bigger gun," Shane shows off his bleeding heart by empathetically listening to the final words of a dying pilot.
About an hour or so into the game-minor spoiler ahead-Shane defects from his squad of sociopaths and takes up with the opposing Rebels, who come straight from central casting: They wear aviator sunglasses and bandanas, and speak with thick Spanish accents. Stripped of your armor and weaned off Nectar, your only advantage on the battlefield as a Rebel is to-brace yourself-play dead. Shoot your way through various clichéd indoor/outdoor environs, commandeer a vehicle or two, and do some of the requisite fussing over which weapons to keep and which to toss, and around 10 hours later, you'll watch the credits roll.''