The Xbox may not have as comprehensive a library as the PlayStation 2, but one thing it's certainly not lacking is quality first person shooters. Into this crowded space headed by the likes of Halo 2 and the recently released Unreal Championship 2 comes Pariah, a new futuristic shooter from Digital Extremes.
Pariah screams Halo-inspired from the get-go. From the sci-fi setting to the damage model employed and the occasional bouts of vehicular-based combat, Pariah will remind many Xbox FPS fans of Master Chief's adventures, which is not necessarily a bad thing as the Halo titles still rate as some of the best action you can find on any console. But while Halo was propelled along by story as much as action, Pariah's stilted narrative forces the game to rely too much on action to maintain interest. Unfortunately, that's to the game's detriment, as the action in Pariah -- while decent -- isn't anything you haven't played before.
Set in the not too distant future, players take the role of Jack Mason, a disgraced military doctor tasked with escorting a female prisoner with an unnamed disease. In an all too brief opening cutscene that doesn't really explain much, Mason's ship is shot down as it passes over a dangerous prison region. It's now up to you as Mason to track down your prisoner and make it out alive.
If you've been tracking Pariah during its development, then you'll know you're actually on Earth, which has been turned into a prison planet and is now populated with hoards of dangerous and well armed prisoners on your trail. Unfortunately, if you're a newbie most of this will be lost on you, as the game doesn't explain this all too well in the beginning, nor does it explain the historical background underpinning Pariah. Not that we're asking for the plot to be sledge hammered to us, but a bit of explanation to help suck you into the game world at the start of Pariah would have been nice. Things don't get too much clearer as you progress through the game -- most cutscenes are brief and tend to leave more questions hanging, and you feel like you're always one step behind in comprehending the plot.
This story looseness is a pity, as Pariah does have all the elements for a gripping (if not clichéd) sci-fi thriller. Without a strong story propelling things forward, players will find themselves playing through the game's levels by rote rather than through any sense of discovery or urgency.
Thankfully, the game's action is solid, although it's by no means outstanding. Controls are your typical console FPS -- the joysticks for movement and aiming, and the right trigger for firing. Health is handled similarly to Halo's, where if you back off from a firefight long enough, any depleted health will eventually recover. In Pariah, you receive four bars of health -- if you ever lose entire bars, you can recover via a healing tool, which uses ammo much like any other weapon.
Pariah's biggest innovation in the FPS field is the weapons selection system. Instead of cycling through your available weapons, Pariah presents all your gear in a radial menu -- press A to bring up the menu, then press the control stick in the direction of the weapon you want. This system makes for quick changes in the middle of firefights.
There are seven weapons to be found in the game, which include your stock standard FPS fare of shotguns, assault rifles, rocket launchers, sniper rifles and more. Each weapon can be upgraded up to three times using weapon cores found throughout the game, with each upgrade adding abilities such as armour piercing, expanded ammo clip and heat vision. The grenade launcher, for example, can be upgraded to have remote detonating rounds. Its next upgrade then attracts debris to the grenade before exploding for more shrapnel, while its final upgrade sticks grenades to enemies or vehicles. Weapon cores are fairly rare, so you'll have to be selective about which weapons you do upgrade.
Enemies in Pariah are intelligent for the most part, although they do display some bizarre behaviour that lets down the game as a whole. In many instances, enemies will charge directly at you in a straight line, making them easy pickings. Other times, they'll break cover and kneel in an open spot, practically inviting you to fill their obviously empty heads with lead. Or if you pick one of them off with a sniper rifle, the others will continue to happily mill around without a care in the world. It's strange, then, that the various enemies you'll come across are all ace shots despite their dumbness, with most of them being able to do damage to you from a fair distance away.
As well normal run and gun, Pariah throws in vehicles for your occasional use, with some levels based entirely on driving vehicles from point A to B without blowing up. For the most part, the vehicles in Pariah are heavily reminiscent of Halo's, with the vehicle missions themselves being fairly non-taxing.
Beyond the single-player campaign are some Xbox Live support, bots, and a mapmaker. The Xbox Live support is functional, letting users play deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, and so on. You can also play against bots, but they aren't much smarter than the single-player enemies. Perhaps Pariah's most well developed feature is its mapmaker, which is surprisingly easy to use and fully featured. You can raise and lower land quickly and easily, and dropping prefabricated objects around the map doesn't take much time at all. You can even get online to trade these maps through Xbox Live.
Graphically, Pariah is impressive, with plenty of detail to be found in the various characters and locales you'll come across. Rag-doll physics are especially good, with your enemies displaying realistic movements when shot down.
Despite its flaws, Pariah is a solid FPS that fans of the genre will find instantly familiar. Unfortunately, its uninvolving storyline coupled with its decent but not outstanding gameplay means it can't stand on equal footing with the big boys of the Xbox shooting gallery.
Additional reporting by GameSpot.com.
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dfain2
02/06/2008, 12:16 PM
rating
8/10
A Game worth playing and A game worth selling
Pros: Good Grafs
Cons: Bad Story Line
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DNT
02/06/2008, 12:02 PM
rating
10/10
This game was great and as I got through it it got better and better but it was as good as halo exept the story line was hard to get
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07/05/2005, 07:07 AM
The Next Halo
I thought there would never be another game as good as Halo, made by a different company. Halo 2, the same deal. But after playing Pariah, and comparing the 2 games, I may have been proved wrong. Everything about Pariah is awesome: the sound, the levels, THE MAP MAKER, the Live feature, etc. This is a must have for any Halo lover or FPS (First Person Shooter) Lover
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picky gamer 2012
14/04/2005, 04:55 AM
Demo was really good...
..Finished the Pariah OXM demo for the May issue and I was impressed. The game was def. pick up and play. Everything felt natural and smooth. Good targeting, VERY sensitive and smooth camera. Good AI. I'm really looking foreward to this one. I have to say for me Pariah beats Halo 2 hands down,... so far. Believe the hype about the graphics... the unreal engine is unreal for sure. Can't say enough about this one!!! More than likely will be an addition to the collection.
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Bob
09/04/2005, 10:55 AM
BEST PC GAME EVER!
I got my video card installed a couple months ago, and my first game was Battlefield 1942 which is also a really fun online game, I'd still have to say Halo PC is still the best.
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Nomenclature
06/04/2005, 05:20 AM
Its a definite..
I've been reading most of the previews for this game and it just might be the one that brings me back to first person shooters. I was so glad to read that "it does not play like Halo 2" in most of the previews. The map editor, from what I read, is powerful and easy to use. No more waiting for DLC except for maybe new things to build with and on!! Vehicles, upgradable weapons, great AI, Havok Engine to the max. I'll make sure to take Halo 2 back and make Pariah the game I trade it for! From the previews it seems to be a "full circle tribute to the old and new school shooters"! Just hope it has all the live features incorporated correctly. I really want to see a good first person shooter with a map editor thats not so cartoony or filled with aliens and purple worlds Can't wait.
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30/03/2005, 04:55 PM
Shows promise to replace halo as a revolutionary new shooter
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{eVo}Ceribrus
28/03/2005, 09:49 AM
Yeah great but doesn't look like there is anything new.
With the exception of a different sytem in selecting weapons, there is nothing new and impressive about this. why is it that developers always go for a quick buck by reinventing old ideas? come on guys really, apart from improving how life like the graphics can be, why not give us, (the hardcore gamers), something new and ground breaking to really get our teeth into? somthing in depth with a storyline to match? somthing thats not too complex but gives us plenty to do and even use our own initiative to create things in game? I have plently of ideas for things like that surely some one who is getting payed by a company to do the same thing would be better than myself?
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