I'm still trying to understand how Gamespot gave this game a 5.9. I'll take you through this game from my point of view. I'm not saying this is a groundbreaking game, or that this is a perfect game, its not. But then again, most games arent. People tend to compare every new FPS to Halo 2, now i've got that problem myself. Halo 2 is an unbelievable FPS, in online terms, Halo 2 also had the support and money of Microsoft, Bungie and the simple fact that they knew it would sell millions. So its really not fair to review games with Halo 2 as the compared game. The story of this game is interesting, I rarely can get caught up into a game's story and actually be into it enough to keep playing without saving and running back to multiplayer. Its the year 2520 A.D., quite far ahead, although it still doesnt look like it, but I suppose its hard to look that far ahead and make valid asumptions. But games that try to be too far into the future are...well not good games. Anyhow, you play as the main character, Jack Mason, a doctor who aparently has nothing to lose. The action doesnt waste any time getting started, the first opening scene is of your ship being shot down while transporting yourself and an infected patient, as you crash land onto a waste land called "Earth" (Why must they always make Earth look terrible?). You're immediatley dropped into fire and debris, then the game starts off strong. The graphics are underrated in the Gamespot review, sure they have their flaws and the flowing water looks a little weird. But, the water on the multiplayer maps looks a lot better, but still a little flawed. The trees arent spectacular, but still really nice. They have destructable objects, such as cement pillars will crumble as you shoot them while enemys are hiding behind them. As explosions go off, you'll see a pretty "see through bubble", that gives the game a nice plus. The sky is gorgeous at times, and bland at others. The graphics may not be the best, but theyre still really nice. The gameplay is good, smooth movements, floaty jumping which helps you get up to hard to reach places. There is even a sprint button, you can put your gun away for a moment and run like hell away from danger. This is extremely helpful when you're being attacked by a flame thrower weilding enemy, they're quite deadly. The coolest part of this game, is the fact you can upgrade your weapons, which keeps the gameplay alive, something new every couple of areas. You pick up weapon cores that allow you to apply it towards an upgraded weapon. The sound is pretty good, the score is nice, the guns sound somewhat realistic, while others sound a bit wimpy. The crumbling of cement sounds good, wading through the water sounds like they had 2 sound effects that just randomly loop as you go through. Online mode, stable at some points but not at others. You have several levels to choose from, but DM and TDM only have 4 available. This is where you have to make it interesting, by using the M.A.P. (Make and Play) editor. I heard it was very simple, and in my time of trying map editors ive known theyre NOT easy. But this one was surprisingly simple, the load times leading up to it are a little long. You can have up to 16 players to a game, you have to choose your weapons first, not exactly my favorite, but you can change it during the game. I'm going to end this a little different, and probably start rating games this way since most reviews focus strongly on story modes not the online modes. I'll give them a rating seperatley. Story mode: 8.7 Xbox Live: 8.9
Thanks to another GS bad (and, at least for me, incomprehensible and biased) review also, Pariah suffers from a nasty reputation: every single game has its own features, so first of all it’s pointless and unfair making c... Read Full Review
Pariah is a standard fps with no outstanding qualities, although is does have its own high points. Take for example the multi-player mode. It has the basic modes like deathmatch and team death match but it also throws in... Read Full Review
