Free Radical: Haze not running at 720p

With Haze all set to launch to the PlayStation 3 tomorrow (May 20), Derek Littlewood of Free Radical has clarified that the game will be running at 1024 x 576 resolution. More details regarding this matter are available in the full article.

As the fans may recall, Free Radical had previously released a demo of their upcoming Haze FPS for the Sony PlayStation 3.

While the demo answered a lot of our question regarding how the game will handle, some of the players may have noticed that it didn’t feel like it was running at a full 720p resolution (though it was running at fixed 30 fps). It felt closer to 1024 x 576, which falls short of the HD mark.

Free Radical creative lead Derek Littlewood further confirmed that the game will indeed be running at the aforementioned 1024 x 576 res, citing the studio’s prioritizing of smoother framerates over visual quality. Ubisoft had previously stated in their game FAQ at the PlayStation Blog that Haze would be running at 720p. As Littlewood elaborated during an interview:

We prioritise a nice smooth framerate over a different res. Personally, I donÂ’t really buy the whole thing. People did the same with Call of Duty (4), they did the same with Halo (3), and they say with those games ‘ItÂ’s not running at true HD!Â’ And itÂ’s like, I donÂ’t care. If the game looks good and it runs smoothly, those are the important things to me.

As a point of clarification, the PlayStation 3 will upscale Haze to 720p, although 1024 x 576 will remain as the game’s native resolution. Littlewood further explained that they made the decision near the end of Haze‘s development.

For the guys who may be feeling a little let down by this update, Littlewood suggests they will want to sit down and play the game first before making any sort of judgment. After all, Haze‘s experience is summed up by far more than just its visuals. You won’t have to wait too long either – Haze is expected to hit the PS3 by tomorrow, May 20. Visit us again in case we run into any further updates.