Review of Pariah - Xbox

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Let's face it, the press has been kind of hard on "Pariah," an Unreal-powered shooter that admittedly lurks in the shadow of games like "Halo" and "Far Cry." That said, in reality there are more reasons to recommend the game to first-person shootists than there are reasons to condemn it, as it's quite a worthy sci-fi effort once you get past its laundry list of problems.

"Pariah" starts out with promise aplenty. A mysterious ship transporting a cryogenically frozen woman crash lands on Earth, which as a planet is now the refuge of criminals and mercenaries. Shot down by unknown attackers, Dr. Jack Mason and said token femme seem to be the only survivors, but as luck would have it she's infected with some kind of super-virus that could be all kinds of trouble in the wrong hands. And, as is par for the course with these things, the wrong hands are certainly trying to claim her so that they can harness the power she possesses. It's seemingly up to Jack to forego his Hippocratic oath and thwart these evil ambitions by killing lots and lots of bad guys. After that, the story gets quite muddled and certainly wouldn't be one of the game's stronger points except for an ambitious twist at the end that breathes fresh life into something that seemed virtually D.O.A.

In terms of gameplay, "Pariah" flirts with a few innovations that truly are interesting. First, the hero character's medical background makes him adept at healing himself. The tool he uses for this task is located in Jack's inventory alongside his weapons, and is in fact used like a weapon, complete with ammunition that must be gathered to make it of any further use. When selected a quick pull of the trigger initiates the healing process. The fact that this item is used much like a weapon and cannot merely be summoned with the press of a button for an instant resurgence of health adds a strategic element to the game's firefights. Run in with guns blazing and you'll die almost every time because using the medical tool is a deliberate and time-sensitive process. Not only does this fit in extremely well with the hero character's profession, it's a unique spin on health recovery in the FPS genre that I hope to see again in other games. It promotes an attack and retreat philosophy similar to the regenerating shields in "Halo" (which is no doubt the source of inspiration).

Second and perhaps even more importantly, "Pariah" offers several satisfying weapons, each one with no less than three available upgrades (apart from the useless melee weapon and an energy canon found late in the single player game). Upgrading these weapons further adds a dose of strategy, pure coolness notwithstanding. But because you never accrue enough points to enhance each weapon in your arsenal, there is the aforementioned strategic concern. Do you upgrade your shotgun to deal maximum damage to your opponents in close quarters, or do you enhance your more well-rounded assault rifle instead? The choice is yours, and these upgrades really do make a discernable impact on how punishing said weapon becomes as you near the end of the game. Again, this is a feature more shooters should pay rapt attention to.

Apart from these innovations, however, "Pariah" is fairly derivative in its structure, owing a tremendous debt to the aforementioned FPS hits "Halo" and "Far Cry." The game's drivable vehicles are testament to this fact, but add little to the experience thanks to their poor implementation and less than stellar driving mechanics. On top of that, many of the game's levels are boilerplate science fiction and offer little in the way of originality. That said, a few of the missions do stand out as particularly enjoyable primarily two later ones which take place on board a speeding train and a flying carrier ship respectively. It's just that the art direction, which envelops the enemies as well as the landscapes, is just so bloody trite.

Clichés aside, the game sure is pretty. It takes the aging "Unreal II" engine to the max, and despite a few polygonal jags here and there, it ultimately provides some pretty sumptuous eye candy on the Xbox console. The sound effects are equally excellent for the most part. Weapons discharges in particular really enhance the sense of power each weapon emits.

Unfortunately, "Pariah" is chock full of bugs. On at least three occasions I slipped through the very floor and fell to my death. In no way shape or form is this acceptable in a supposedly finished product. Another grating issue is collision detection, which is spotty at best. Sometimes you can shoot a baddie three times and drop him dead where he stands, while other times your enemies seem to absorb your attacks and keep on coming without regard. Their herky-jerky movements, a holdover from "Unreal II," compound the issue, making them more difficult to drop than they should actually be.

Another negative feature on loan from its big brother is the overblown rag doll physics present in "Pariah." When reacting to explosions, the aerial death spins of your opponents can be quite satisfying, but when merely shooting them to death they drop to the ground, bending at angles so awkward you know there's nothing even remotely resembling a skeleton anywhere inside of them. It's as if they've all been stuffed with rice. Add into the mix an automatic weapon switch that can put a rocket launcher in your hands at close range when you just used up the ammo for your assault rifle, an insanely unpredictable check point system, and vague mission objectives such as "disable the turret," and you certainly can't order "Pariah" without its fair share of lemons.

In the end, though, "Pariah" softens its hard edges with a few key features that really should become the fashion in shooters, as well as decent production values, slick, responsive controls, and a story that redeems itself with a ballsy conclusion. As far as FPS games go, "Pariah" is far from king of the hill, but just as far from the bottom of the junk heap. If science fiction shoot `em ups are your bread and butter, you'll feel right at home here.

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I'm a guy that swears by the unreal series (particularily the original unreal and the return to na pali mission pack) so when I heard that digital extremes did another FPS, I immediately went to amazon and ordered the game.

it was only AFTER I ordered the game that I found out how much crap this game gets and now after playing it, I wonder why there are a lot of bad reviews for it.

most of the crap it gets is for the storyline which, I thought, was excellent. you just need to get to the last level to really understand what's going on. you're INTENDED to not have a clue until the end.

anyway, onto the gameplay...I love it. weapons are great, levels are great, and this game introduces a few cool new aspects of gameplay to the FPS scene. also, the drop-in/drop-out 2 player coop is really awesome. the only reason I gave this game 4 stars was because of the multiplayer aspect of the game. there were far too few maps if there were more, this game would definetely rank up there with some of my favorites.

so...yeah. in a nutshell, I highly recommend this game.

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Pariah has been beaten down time and time again, but the funny thing, is that it gets back up every single time. Many people say it sucks even if they haven't played it but the truth is they have no freaking clue what they are talking about.

The graphics are insanely good and the characters are way better than Halo or Halo2 COMBINED. It is a much better game than both Halo games as well.

After playing this I really think that first person shooters will actually have GOOD stories of wich Halo greatly lacked.

Multiplay is a little crazy and I only like to play it to see what kind of maps people can come up with.

I love this game and would choose it over any other fps out there. WAY, WAY better than Halo 1 or 2. I never want to put the controller down when I play this game.

Ratings

Graphics:10

Sound:10

Replayability:8

Controls:9

Drawn In Atmosphere:10

Fun:10

Multiplayer, Co-Op:10, Multiplay:7

Overall:9.25

Adios, and I'll see your maps on Xbox Live.

Honest reviews on Pariah - Xbox

This game is terrrific. It is by far on of the best xbox games to come out since halo 2. For those of you who love to play co-op, this is the game for you.

The graphics and colors could be a little better, but the game is so much fun and that is all that really matters.

The boards are huge and some and the weapon upgrades are awesome.

basically a watered down version of halo but just as much fun.

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Pariah's a title that a few people have been waiting for. In the end it's probably better if we waited longer. The game doesnt really break any molds or even really try.

The graphics are good enough from a distance but look cheap and thrown together at closer distances. It's obvious the Unreal engine needs to be put to rest once and for all. Havoc adds a little level of fun but what good is it really when the enemies vanish practically before they hit the ground? Weapon and player character animations are smoothly done but nothing really awe inspiring.

Although the first "song" you hear is quasi entertaining, it gets old fast after looping for an hour over and over. The worse offense in the sound department has to be the enemy "barks" The programmers gave enemies about three phrases for the entire game and it is etirely common to hear ten enemies say the same exact quote as you kill them in succession. " Doe Rae Me Fa So long sucka!" is corny the first time you hear it and just as bad the millionth (per level)In essence it feels like you're gunning down the same zig zagging target over and over. Ambient noises, weapons and voice acting pull the experience together. The weapons genuinly sound lethal and vehicles do sound powerful.

One of the games selling points is the AI. Every interview from creators claim that the AI is among the best on the market. It's more like the most dissapointingly mediocre. Enemies ignore walls in front of their faces and fire missiles trying to kill you. They also don't co-ordinate like in other games. Between mediocre enemy AI and poorly designed levels, I found myself accomplishing half of the game and wishing at some point it would start becoming enjoyable.

Finally, I've read a lot of bravado about how Hollywood screen writers are collaborating to create a compelling story for Pariah. Ok...where's the evidence? half way through the game you know as much as you did just reading the back of the box. Cutscenes don't really tell you what's going on and most of your objectives are to find Karina.

In all, Pariah leaves a bad after taste and the sense of being scammed for $50 that could have better been invested in another game. If this was a game three years in the making, the Pariah team must have spent two of those years fooling around. The verdict: bland graphics, average soundtrack, inexcusable AI and no real plot. look for it in the bargain bin in a week or two before spending the full 50.