Pariah - under the radar Xbox title?
 

I must be out of it... I didn't even know Pariah was going to be an Xbox title until someone told me about it last week. I thought it was only going to be pc. Anyhow, is anyone here going to be getting it? It's by Digital Extremes (of Unreal fame) and it will have mapmaking (like TimeSplitters: FP) with maps you can share online. Looks pretty cool, but before I buy it, I'm trying to figure out if anybody I know will be playing?

So...anyone interested?

If you're looking for some good videos of it in action, check out
http://www.gametrailers.com/gamepage.php?id=897

Homepage is www.pariahgame.com

I've been keeping my eye on this game for some time. It looks pretty impressive and so far from what i've seen it doesn't come off as "just another FPS", which will be a key to success. I got a kick out of the second official trailer that was just released, some funny bits in it.

I'm always interested in another FPS for XBOX....we'll see how this game turns out. TimeSplitters and the mapmaker are working pretty good

Could be interesting. As my gaming time increases I find that me and FPSs don't mix too well. When kicking ass, I prefer to be in the third person. Not sure why, but these kinds of games just never clicked with me, even GoldenEye.

I don't know the "history" behind Pariah but I did see enough of the demo on Gamespot Live to give it a look.This might fall in the sleeper category. Another one though coming up shortly for Half Life fans is "Area 51". I'm waiting to hear more about levels and overall length of gameplay first on both before jumping in. Right now my sights are on "Unreal Championship 2".

Kenny J

that looks like a game rental for sure and a buy if it is any good

EGM has a review for it in next months issue (May 3 on sale). The one thing this game has is a 'Map Editor" and from what I've heard and read it works very well. Not only you can change the landscape but you control trip mines, vehicles and fortress. Also up to (16) players at once so that's a plus. There's also four different vehicles to ride. It might sound like another FPS but just the thought of a Map Editor included has this game looking like a hit.


Kenny J.

Check out TeamXbox for some of the latest on this game. Any Halo fan will want this and for certain any shoot'em up fan as well. Don't have enough players for online? Well just enlist the bots! They really brag about the "Map Editor"! There's some new screen shots that just...well take a look for yourself.

http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox/965/pariah/p1/

Another game to take a serious look at and online don't sound bad.

Kenny J.

***The above link should work now.

Ok, bump....anyone pick it up today?

i was hoping to, but there weren't any in stores around where I live yet...hopefully tomorrow...then I will post my impressions....it has been getting between 7s and 8s on most online review sites. I am a big FPS fan so I will more than likely enjoy it.

wlj

I'm looking to pick this up for my PC but will wait for some user reviews first.

I almost picked it up yesterday, but read some reviews first. 7s and 8s are good, but I have to go with IGNs review. They say there is no weapon balance. You get the grenade launcher early in the game and once you do, you won't go back to the guns. Enemies die pretty easily from shots across the board, making for very little close combat.

Ahhh, I guess this is another one to add to my price drop list.

Well, hopefully my GameRush has it today (they only had rentals yesterday). I ordered it with their pre-order deal, so if I don't like it....I'll trade it back. It seems promising....we'll see.

I am gonna get it today at Sam Goody if they have it...I like the demo...so I should like the game.

wlj

I didn't realize this. Is it a GameRush policy that if you open a game and try it, you can return it? Exchange only?

No, sorry...but they have the BEST trade value. I pre-ordered it for $30 (with trade 2 deal), so more than likely the trade value would be $30-$35.

I've heard some MIGHT take an opened game back the next day...but that is REALLY a YMMV

Got it.
The only problem I see there is, after you've returned the game, you're given $30-$35 in cash but are down the two games you had to trade in. Kind of like you just did an expensive rental of the new game.

Not if you pick up two $3 game to trade in....it's a great way to get credit at GameRush (also, they only give you CREDIT back, not cash)

Believe me, GameRush is great....I have accumulated $150 in credit there, plus have got a 2nd XBOX and probably 10 games and eight more preorders. This is without spending very much of my own money....just keep recycling games.

They ARE pretty good with trading in old games.
I did a trade-in yesterday, as a matter of fact, to preorder Forza on Xbox.

The guy scanned the 8 games I brought in and took the two cheapest towards the trade-in:
Turok Evolution $1
Aggressive In-line $3

Because I traded in 6 others, there was an additional $5 added to EACH of these games as well. :thumbsup:
I think the guy said that you have to trade 5 or more to qualify for this.

Edited to add:
Almost forgot...the fact is, you're still down the two games you traded in. I mean, you can continue doing this, and soon enough you'll run out of games to trade in and be left with nothing. :)

It's 3 or more games....some GameRush combine the deals also (mine does not though)

They always have NEW deals there....

Anyways...back to Pariah now, hopefully I can pick it up today

I read somewhere (TeamXbox.com perhaps ???) that there is bots in the Multiplayer mode of the game if you need more players on Live.
I hope the bots can be accessed for offline play too.

Yep, IGN stated that there are BOTS in the game....that's a neat feature. I know TimeSplitters: Future Perfect had bots also....they are decent too. Makes replay that much better...especially with MapMaker for each game.

Pariah's mapmaker looks "easier" to use....we'll see when I get it. I really did not like TimeSplitters MapMaker much....tended to be a bit tedious when using a controller and figuring things out.

Well I broke down and got the OXM demo today since it also has Doom3, video of Black Hawk Down, SW; Revenge of the Sith, and a game called Darkwatch.

It was hard just to pass judgement on this for a short demo but it seemed to be pretty good. By using the Unreal engine the landscape design really looked astounding. The weapon layout was good with the Grenade Launcher with remote was really cool. The explosions were good with bodies flying in the air. Movement was about right and the sound was above normal with little effects like leaves and birds in the background. It's a shame though that you're not able to test the "Map Editor". From what I've read what you see in the demo is what you'll get after you design you're on map.

I just glanced at some sites and here's the reviews from the folllowing...

Gamespot...5.9
Gamespot Community...8.8
IGN...8/10
Teamxbox...8.2/10
Totalgames.net (UK)...91/100
EGM...7.5/10

Kenny J. - Buzz

EGMs was techically a 9.0, 6.5, 6.5. The lower scores mainly sighted terrible enemy AI.

The high scorer said they were too harsh and expecting it to be Halo. I see nothing wrong with that, I only purchase the cream of the crop games in each genre, so I want every game compared against the best that genre has to offer.

Ok, I picked it up yesterday....pretty decent game.

Single player seems really fun
- Nice large outdoor environments
- Weapons are nice....upgrades are unique
- Graphics are GREAT
- AI seems decent, even at the easy level
- Vehicles are ok, controls are a little odd for those

I played multiplayer for a bit...just death match. Seemed ok, I didn't like how everyone could pick what weapon set you wanted from the beginning. For example, most people will chose grenades and something else. I wish it was more Halo 2ish where you had to FIND and pick up weapons.

Did not try Map Maker yet

i really like it on the computer better than the xbox, some games should stay on console some should stay on pc. this game really doesn't do anything new, but it is fun as crap to play online. i don't know about the xbox version how live would be, but the pc and the servers are crazy fun.

http://beandip0001.home.mchsi.com/screen.jpg

http://beandip0001.home.mchsi.com/screen2.jpg

I got the game yesterday...I am probably on Level 5 or 6 now...can't recall. I wouldn't rate it a 5.9 like Gamespot, but I wouldn't rate it higher than a 7.0. The main thing that aggravates me is -- the story....you really never know what the hell is going on!! There is no back story whatsoever. I don't understand why I am fighting who I am fighting other than they are trying to kill me. These impressions are from the single player campaign only:

Graphics -- 6.5 -- not impressive at all...they look 2 years old in my opinion -- the water doesn't even splash when you shoot it.

Sound -- 6.0 -- very uninspiring soundtrack...weapon sounds are decent...I think the dialogue in the cutscenes is too low...I have turned the music volume down to try to hear it better.

Control -- 7.0 -- The bonesaw is useless...I would rather use the L trigger to throw grenades like in Halo, but no can do. Weapon switching is more aggravating than it should be, and the healing tool can frustrate you -- especially in the heat of battle.

Gameplay -- 7.0 -- Nothing special -- it's really a poor man's Halo, and I am not just saying this because i am some kind of "Halo Fanboy"...I am not...I haven't played either Halo in 3 or 4 months. It tries very hard to be Halo...you will see this especially when you drive the vehicles. The gun fights are decent, I wish you had grenades to THROW besides just a grenade launcher. The combat is just not very exciting so far...maybe it will improve.

Fun Factor -- 6.5 -- Like I said I am only on Level 4 or 5, but I am not really having all that much fun yet. I don't really like the Dr. Mason character, I do like the Karina(sp?) character -- she's kinda hot . The game just kinda has a "bland" feeling -- if that makes any sense. I really really want to like this game.

I advise to rent first to see if it is your cup of tea -- I had the demo, and I thought I liked it --- but I don't...I really thought the story would be better and more engaging.


wlj

Regarding the review scores and AI:

I'm one that always thinks that the difficulty setting should be adjusted the very FIRST time you play a game. Long time veterans or experienced players should bump it up from the default setting. First timers or those still new to FPS's should leave the difficulty setting at default or crank it down a notch.

Of course, there's always the fact that the AI just plain sucks no matter what difficulty setting you're on.

The point is, you'll never get a second chance at a first impression. :rimshot:

Thank you! Thank you! I'm here everyday until noon. ;)

wlj--

Perhaps I can take this monstrosity off your hands. Send it my way and I will take care of this evil Halo imposter. :)

How much of a story do you want?

The plane was hit by a missle, it crashed. Katrina was imprisoned for some TEST experiment it appears....you can see the blood in the cut-scenes doing crazy stuff. The blood splattered on Dr. MAson, thus it appears he is infected also....I'm sure we'll find out what is behind it all.

Anyways, the gameplay is decent, yes not GREAT...but good. I agree and disagree with wlj

Grapics are pretty darn good in my opinion. Look at the screenshots....I would classify them as Halo-ish. Sound is good too....nice surround effects, nto quiet on my setup. (Maybe it was intended for a widescreen & 5.1 setup).

Control annoys me a bit too. I would rather have a melee button rather than bonesaw. The dash button is rather pointless too...maybe in multiplayer, but that's about it.

I also feel the game may have a "bland" feeling. I'm debating whether to keep it or not. I'll probably beat it, then decide....I'll assess the multiplayer more also. I'm debating whether to keep this or Timesplitters:FP for my Halo FPS backup

DJ Longfellow -- I guess I have just been spoiled lately by great graphics...Doom 3 and Unreal Championship 2 smoke Pariah from a graphics standpoint. I have a Widescreen and 5.1 setup...it doesn't help with "Pooriah" ;) sorry I couldn't resist. I am also still debating on whether to finish the game before I get rid of it...I would rather spend my small amount of gaming time on something else.

Centurion -- Hey...maybe we can make a deal :)


wlj

According to some of the reviews the "story" is pretty weak up to the half-way mark. After that it's suppose to get real interesting and you finally understand what the heck is going on.

Concerning the graphics I was more than impressed. Allot of XBox gamers have become way to spoiled on the eye candy out there and they seem to forget it's a"XBox" not a freaking Pentium 4 with a $500 video card. Games like Doom and Unreal are pushing the XBox to the max. This game uses the Unreal engine and it shows. Also this is a new game altogether so yes it's not perfect.

If Pariah came out about a year ago I'll bet the overall score would be like 8.5-8.9. But because there's been a heavy dose of FPS in the last 6-8 months it's getting downright picky and lots of griping. Over at the offical Unreal forum you think the game got a 6.1 instead of a 9.1.They're whinning about everything. They're worse that the people that rate the games.


Kenny J. - Buzz

Yeah buzz but the XBox doesn't do the game justice in the graphics department. The game plays awesome on the XBox and looks great, but the screen shots I posted are off my computer which is a big bad game machine. I like playing the game on both my computer and XBox, but I’ll take it on the pc for the simple fact the graphics are hella better, at least on my system. Then again were talking $3000 or $149 hmmmm XBox wins the majority vote.

For anyone who hasn't played it the multiplayer is a blast.

:later:

As I said above I think that's fair and how games should be reviewed.

Games need to be compared against the best in their genre. The bar is continually being raised. Every time I buy a game, I expect it to be at least as good as the best game I've played in that genre, else I feel like I wasted my money.

As such, I like reviewers to hold games to that standard so I can have a good idea of whether I'll be satisfied with purchasing it or not.

I think people got TOO hard off of Doom 3's graphics. I personally thought they were good, but not revolutionary for the XBOX. Yippee...lots of shadows and dark corridors....it was a lot of the same rooms over and over.

Gamespot:
"The weapons in Pariah seriously lack punch"

IGN:
"The guns in Pariah pack some serious punch."

I found that amusing.

Always interesting in different views. I think the weapons are OK. It's NEAT to upgrade the weapons, but it can get a bit annoying too. The weapons are pretty good though.

Not just off by a little bit, but complete opposites of each other. :)

Any hints/clues/suggestions on how to be the final (?) boss would be appreciated.

Overall it was a pretty standard FPS IMHO. The graphics were ok, the controls on vehicles was wonky (never could quite get the hang of it), the AI was decent enough (atleast they didn't just stand there and "take it" like in some FPS), the only really interesting/new thing about IMHO was the upgradable weapons.

Overall I'd say it's worth a rental or a cheap purchase.

This is from the Pariah forums.

First, kill the assasins when they become completely visible & just before each one lunges at you shoot.

You'll have to kill them one by one after each recharge if I remember correctly.

After killing all assasins take cover near the recharger column & blast at her then take cover till she fires back & keep repeating this process till she's dead.

You should see her health go down after each shot with the Titan's Fist.

Remember to kill assasins first.

OR

I just found an extremely easier way to beat the final boss. All you have to do is go directly up to her and just keep firing. Don't mind the other enemies. When you run out of ammo or are low on health, go back and recharge but make sure to hit her before she powers up. Once you hit her, she will stop recharging her health.



Overall, I thought the game was prettty good. Single player was rather short, nothing TOO great about it. Multiplayer is fun...the Map-Editor is a nice touch. Some GOOD user created maps