hile Free Radical has been known for their previous successes with the TimeSplitters franchise, and Second Sight, the team is putting the final touches on their drug induced cooperative frag fest, Haze.  We had the opportunity to chat up creative director David Doak about the game, and why the team decided to release Haze first on the PS3. (It’s still coming next year on PC and Xbox 360, despite reports.)

Regardless of how compelling Haze’s drop-in-drop-out 4 player cooperative play is, Free Radical fans are looking forward to what the ex-Rare-Goldeneye-team members are really known for. A little monkey business called TimeSplitters. TimeSplitters 4 is in the early stages of development and we get the goods on what gamers can expect with the next iteration of the franchise. Plus, find out which game Doak would like to bring over to the Wii? And it's not TimeSplitters.

Game Informer: Where are you at in development right now with Haze?

David Doak: We’re at the crazy time of trying to finish it stage. [laughs]

GI: Do you have a release date yet?

Doak: This year. Obviously, Thanksgiving things are important, so the end of November is the target.

GI: Do you try to say, “We want to totally get out of the way of Halo 3,” or does it matter to you at all because you’re PS3 only?

Doak: I think it matters less because we’re PS3 only. It’s funny—I don’t think people generally find themselves in a position where they can choose release dates. The big things you try to move apart, but it’s a funny business. It is a bit scary as well, because even if you’re on a different platform than something, the fact that something’s out in the same window can take everyone’s money.

GI: Why PS3 first?

Doak: Only. [laughs]

GI: Only. This is where in the interview I write “[laughs]”
 
Doak: You’re a weasel. [laughs] The opportunity is there. I think PS3 needs good shooters. We have some previous with Sony consoles, and that’s good for us. We’ve delivered very well on PS2 with the TimeSplitters games and the opportunity is there. Also, it’s not just previous experience; there’s some know-how as well. PS3 is an evolution of PS2, so the expertise we have with the vector stuff is useful. It’s a good platform to be on. I think it’s mainly the opportunity.

Haze

GI: You said it’s the evolution of the PS2, and the PS2 was a pain to develop for. Is the PS3 the super pain to develop for?

Doak: It’s a very specialized piece of hardware. It’s useful to have people who have worked down to the metal on other similar things before, and we have a few guys who really, really know this stuff. We also in fact have a few new guys who I’m really impressed with who really know their stuff. It’s all very techie—it’s pretty techie beyond me these days, as well. But it’s a really important part of the industry now. Code’s getting really complicated.

GI: What’s your target for graphics? Are you guys going 720p, 60 frames? Thirty frames? What do you think you guys are going to be able to hit?

Doak: I think we’re going to be hitting 30. I like games running at 60, but I think with new hardware you always have next-gen-itis, where everyone wants more more more more more, and at some point that more means that you can’t go for the absolute maximum frame rate. I think in terms of resolution, again, I think it’s one of those things where you need to make a call on that. I think the people who have been chasing 1080p and stuff will see that they have to compromise elsewhere.

GI: How much more of a challenge has it been doing this on the PlayStation 3 than trying to pull off a TimeSplitters on PlayStation 2?

Doak: When we did the original TimeSplitters, it was always going to run on the PS2 only, from day one. With this, it’s the first game on this engine, so the engine has been built to be platform non-specific. So, we built the engine first, and then we looked at putting it onto the hardware. So although we had an eye for what was happening with the hardware, there’s still that thing where we’re taking it and specializing it later. Also, when we started making the game, we weren’t particularly targeting a specific hardware. Art assets and things were made in slightly different ways, so we’re kind of addressing that now. I think if you’re doing something exclusive for some specific hardware and that’s your goal from the very, very start, you can cut the cloth accordingly to what you’re doing. If you’ve got something that’s more general and you’re subsequently looking at it, it’s another thing. You make quite a bit of work for yourself, but then the upside is that we have an engine that we know works on other hardware as well.