Conclusion
The big question is whether Pariah is worth getting over its competitors such as, ooh, Halo 2? That’s actually a damn hard one to answer as I think Halo 2 is a massive improvement over Halo which Pariah easily beats, hands down. There’s been a flood of FPSs onto consoles recently, so there’s a pretty choice on offer.
Pariah has superb graphical effects and in the main, the environments are well drawn and textured, though in places it does look blocky, something I hoped developers might have got past by now. That said, it handles the large and generally well detailed areas with ease with only those two or three mysterious pauses being encountered while I played.
The storyline is interesting enough, but to be honest, the twists and turns aren’t unexpected nowadays with most shooters using the same tricks as Pariah. The inclusion of vehicles is a must, as I said before, but the control of them is tricky and needs a fair bit of practise before you’ll be able to use them as an advantage of anything other than moving faster.
The M.A.P. Editor is an absolutely inspired bit of work though. It really is a brilliant bit of software which will allow anyone, even total map novices, to get a personal map up on the net for others to enjoy. It also lets you customise your games far more, so you can have grenade launcher only DMs, which are an absolute scream to play though sometimes it taxes the engine a little with that heat shimmer effect popping off all over the place.
All in all, I’d say that it’s a toss up between Halo2 and this and it’s too close to call. I think that in general terms, Halo 2 just sneaks it in the single player stakes. Don’t get me wrong, Pariah is an extremely polished and playable game, it just has a few niggles that let it down… On the multiplayer side though, I have to go for Pariah, even if it is lacking a CTF mode. The game itself, the official maps and the sheer fun of DM or Siege are just too good to ignore… and then there’s the unlimited scope of the M.A.P. editor too, giving Pariah longevity way after you’ve finished the single player mode.
If you’ve finished Halo 2 and are looking for something else, Pariah is well worth the dosh.
Pros
Excellent graphical effects
Subtle use of the HAVOK engine
Split screen 2 player mode
M.A.P. Editor makes doing your own levels simple
Unique weapons upgrade system
Cons
Tricky vehicle controls
AI can be dumb in places
Environments blocky in some areas
