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| Game: |
Pariah |
| Genre: |
Shooters |
| Developer: |
Digital Extremes |
| Publisher: |
Hip Interactive |
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| Related Links: |
Coming Soon. |
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Pariah Preview: |
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Hands On Preview:
Pariah’s story is set on a future Earth where things are a lot different to what they are today. It seems that the surface is one big wasteland which is being used to house all manner of criminals in the form of a prison. You the player take the leading role of down in the dumps character Dr Mason. Somewhat disillusioned with his current position as a doctor and on board a shuttle doing a routine transfer of a patient, Mason’s world is set to be unwittingly turned upside down. During this routine flight the shuttle is suddenly shot down from the skies leaving the stranded Dr Mason, patient and a support crew member alone and in a world of hate as they are now at the mercy of the earths not so friendly inhabitants.
After the intro movie was over, and I’m not going to reveal any more about that, other than Dr Mason’s patient is the carrier of something very important; we were shown the opening levels of the single player game.
The first things you will notice in Pariah are the beautifully rendered environments which really do look rather special and full of details. The terrain is very realistic and also very tactical, as inanimate objects such as rocks and trees littered this particular section of the game providing excellent cover. We were also introduced to some of the games features which included the sprint ability. Sprinting is great for moving fast over the terrain or perhaps getting out of tricky combat situations. However as a regular human Dr Mason can’t simply sprint infinitely he has to slow down at times due to tiredness. We were also introduced to some of the game’s weapons, which are available to the player with a flick of the control stick. The Bonesaw is Dr Masons basic melee weapon the sort of thing a doctor would carry for cutting things during surgery as the name suggests. This doubles up as a very handy weapon indeed as its power is perhaps unrivalled during sneak attacks from behind an aware opponent. We were also shown one of the primary assault weapons which is like any other and spews bullets at high speed. The reticule for this assault rifle acts realistically as it simulates the recoil and reduced accuracy of full auto firing. We were also shown a very versatile rocket launcher which as you would expect, blows things up. Now whilst these weapons would appear to be pretty standard fare, Pariah throws something else into the mix in the form of special upgrades. These upgrades can turn what at first appears to be a pretty basic weapon into an extremely powerful piece of kit. For example, an upgraded sniper rifle can offer you thermal vision modes, useful for flushing out dug in foes or perhaps a rocket launcher with added homing abilities; enabling you to fire above and over objects. Pariah promises 3 unique upgrades for each of the 7 main weapons in the game effectively offering players 21 different weapon types.
The upgrades are more apparent in Pariah’s multiplayer modes which feature death match game types and a unique siege mode where it’s your team verses increasingly difficult waves of enemies. It is here where I finally got to have a play against some Bots in a death match game, which should please the bot fans and those not hooked up to Xbox Live. With a wide number of character classes to choose from, players can assume a role and then jump into the action. We were told that over Live that defeated foes will drop upgrades however to balance things out the best upgrades are only given to the team that is losing, to hopefully avoid having certain players completely demolish new players. Whether this can actually balance things is yet to be seen as I’m not sure what would happen if players deliberately lose to gain the better upgrades and then start kicking butt?
Playing the game was pretty smooth and intuitive, as the level I played was quite an open map with some pretty cool terrain and lots of places to ambush foes. Whilst I didn’t fully get to explore the upgrades potential I did play as much to see that this fast paced game is unique enough to stand out in the ever so crowded first person shooter genre. My only true reservation would be on how well the AI will measure up overall, especially on tougher difficulties.
Pariah is not only content with offering a Hollywood scripted storyline and extensive multiplayer mode it also comes with the much touted map making option. This part of the game is looking very comprehensive yet simple to use indeed. Map makers can change the terrain height to create slopes, hills, lakes you name it and with an auto texturing looks good no matter how good your map building skills are. Map makers can also add a wide variety of props such as trees, rocks, objects and much more to any part of the map, offering the chance to add even more individual style to map building. It is here where map makers can add a number of vehicles to the game world which players can use to their advantage and co-operatively. Other props included bases and non discriminating gun turrets which can be placed any where on the map to be a danger to both teams. Some pretty neat looking sky effects can be added such as day or night time settings, even things like fog, rain or snow can be added with a simple touch of a button.
What is really great about Pariah’s map making is the fact that it is comprehensive enough to please those with map experience already and easy to use for those with little or no map making skills. With the option to share your maps over Xbox Live or via memory cards with friends in literally seconds the developers stress how much they want a decent community to be established. With extra map props potentially available through downloadable content it seems that Pariah could offer players that little bit more interaction than other games of this type.
Pariah is shaping up to be a definite contender for one of the better games to come out this year. I think there is enough here for players to find interesting, fun and just damn cool. I think the map making could be one of Pariahs biggest strengths and if a community is built around this then only good things can happen. Keep your eyes peeled for Pariah in a few months.
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