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Home >
Review Archive >
Video Games
> Results: Pariah
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by Michael Anderson
July 29, 2005
A great looking, decent shooter marred by very short length and flawed multiplayer.
Reviewed for PC.
Also available for XBOX.
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Format For Printing | Tell A Friend
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Pariah is the latest game based on the Unreal graphics engine and does a great job showing off what the engine is capable of delivering. The outdoor and indoor environments are very well realized. There are nice lighting and weapon effects as well as detailed characters and animations. But aside from the nice looking graphics and one other unique feature, there is not much of interest. The single player portion is short even by today's standards, and the multiplayer is sub-par in the current competitive landscape. The price is rapidly dropping though, making this a possible budget bargain for a few hours of entertainment.
The story seems interesting enough for a shooter. There is a historic war, and you are a doctor transporting a genetically altered person through a hostile zone. You are shot down, and become infected with some virus. But that is about it because from then on, despite various cinematics and dialogue, there is little that advances the plot very much. So the game is left feeling very thin of story.
I was reminded of Rune as I played Pariah. In Rune, the game begins with a bunch of history and details, then your boat is sunk and you spend the rest of your time trying to get home to avenge your fathers' death. It's a journey that ends just as you arrive, making it difficult to feel engaged. Pariah is similar. You spend about two thirds of your game time tracking down and losing your patient, then hit a boss battle, do a bit more chasing, and then a final boss battle.
Pariah is really short. It took me less than six hours to complete the entire single player campaign. Add in the time to install, play multiplayer and uninstall and my total contact time was less than eight hours. The only unique component is the weapon upgrade system, which is also a mixed bag. You find weapon upgrade cores around the game world and you spend them to add capabilities to your weapons. Some are excellent – like the upgrades to your core Bulldog machine gun and I especially like the vision upgrade for the sniper rifle. But most of the upgrades are hard to quantify, and only result in spending more time scouring the game looking for cores.
Replayability comes from a well-integrated and robust multiplayer component. I was only able to try deathmatch, as that was the only game with any players. I had no problem configuring my search, and joining games. After struggling to get Restricted Area and Dungeon Lords multiplayer working, this was a joy. The action is standard Unreal-flavored multiplayer. But it lacks much that has developed in Unreal Tournament 2004, making it lackluster compared to the rest of the multiplayer field.
That's the feeling you're left with: lackluster. There is nothing bad to say about the game. But there is nothing outstanding either. In almost every way it falls short of another recent solid but unspectacular shooter, Republic Commando. Pariah is too short, has mediocre weapons, lacks purpose, has an unfocused story, low-resolution cutscenes (PC only) and provides an overall unspectacular experience. It's not a bad game, but it won't be remembered for long. Wait for the bargain bin if the setting compels you to play.
There is a large amount of R-rated dialogue, as well as significant bloodshed. It's not gory like Soldier of Fortune, more like Halo. Combining the violence and blood with the rough language truly earns it the M-rating, so keep it away from younger kids.
Format For Printing | Tell A Friend
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Video Games
> Results: Pariah
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