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31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
My Apology for Liking Pariah, March 20, 2006
Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars
I've read some very disparaging reviews of Pariah. And, while it is certainly all a matter of perspective, let me counter some of the critiques I've read.
First, speaking of perspective, I think this game was short-shrifted by every reviewer because of the time it entered the market-which was pretty much on the heels of Half-Life 2. Everyone had just finished making their way through that incredible epic and was ready for the fun to continue with Pariah. So, when it was clear that Pariah wasn't Half-Life 2 (NOTHING is Half-Life 2, of course) lots of reviewers griped: "It's trying to be Half-Life, but it just doesn't cut the mustard." I think the disappointment in many reviews I've read has little to do with Pariah itself, and more to do with reviewers' disappointment that, for the time being, they were going to have to wait for a new Half-Life 2 saga.
Well, I'm an extremely slow gamer (or maybe I'm just a busy person), and it took me the better part of half a year to finish Half-Life 2 in an utter state of amazement, and after that I followed it with another 6 months of F.E.A.R. shaking in my boots, and another 3 months of Quake 4. But considering the dearth of FPS games on the market at any given time (and wanting to play something new while waiting for the next installment of anything), I haphazardly came across Pariah for a handful of dollars (prices cut no doubt because of bad reviews) and picked it up. I was no longer riding the high of Half-Life 2, I had played F.E.A.R. and busted it wide open, limped through and finished Quake 4 with glee, and decided to give Pariah a try-I was predisposed to like it, having only bought it (new) for $7. What I found was a beautiful-looking game with complex inside and outside terrains, battles, and a nice array of weapons and vehicles. I bet Pariah, if it had preceded Half-Life 2, or had been released at a different time altogether, would NEVER have gotten the negative reviews it has garnered, because it is a fine, fun, entertaining game with decent action and simply great graphics. But I kept seeing reviews comparing it to Half-Life 2-and no game would ever stand a chance at that comparison. A little adjustment to expectations, and I found that Pariah was a VERY engaging way to wait for HL2 Episode One, or whatever. Many reviewers simply never gave Pariah a fair shake because of their own previous "metaphysical" experiences playing HL2. How fair is that?
Next, many negative reviews griped that "In Pariah's story line, some dumb girl who is infected with a virus keeps running away from you and you have to go find her. I just wanted to shoot her and be done with it." Excuse moi, but in what video game doesn't this happen? For example, how many times did Alex Vance (or Barney for that matter) disappear and reappear in HL2? This sort of plot contrivance is simply video game convention-certainly nothing to complain about. Again, the HL2 comparison did Pariah in, unfairly in my book.
Next, I've read many reviews that complained "Pariah just can't make the action of shooting a gun interesting. And the weapons seem weak, and they sound weak." I know these kinds of elements, if not done just right, can ruin a game. But I've got my system hooked up to powerful stereo studio monitors and these guns are vibrating the floor. Now that may seem extreme, but from where I'm sitting, I'm going deaf. I don't see what the problem is. And some reviewers will lamely say, "Yeah, in Pariah you can upgrade the weapons as you go along, and this is an interesting idea, but...(it's no Half-Life 2)...yadda, yadda." I think the idea of upgrading weapons is super cool and really quite innovative. And it's easy to do within the framework of the game. Sheez, I thought having to fiddle with the PDA in DOOM 3 was more complicated and tiresome!
Next, I've read: "In Pariah, your opponents move around too quickly to hit sometimes, and then they run right back up on you after retreating, and the enemy characters keep repeating the same lines like `We don't want you, doctor! We only want the girl!' If I heard that line one more time, I was going to shoot myself," said some chimp of a reviewer. Uh, again excuse me, but this critique is coming from people who played games like F.E.A.R. where every psychic soldier has the EXACT SAME VOICE and has the same range of about 5 phrases? F.E.A.R. is an awesome game, but few people seem to level their sights at its limitations. Again, this sort of AI silliness, or limited dialogue, is either video game convention, or it is a testament to the state of technology right now. These issues are not endemic to Pariah by any means. Check your bias, folks.
All of this is not to say Pariah is a perfect game-there is no perfect game. (I have gripes about everything I play-even The Chronciles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, to which Gamespot gave an orgasmic review.) Let me enumerate my Pariah-problems.
First, many reviewers said that the story line, or plot, was so convoluted as to be senseless. On this point, I must agree. The storyline starts off very strongly and is promising (recently demoted and down-on-his-luck field medic is escorting cyro-sleeping, virus-infected female patient across the battlefield of Earth in 2550, gets infected himself, and tries to stay alive). But that very nice premise, somewhere in the middle, completely falls apart. In fact, late in the game, there are cutscenes designed to drive the story forward-and they end up making no sense whatsoever. I entirely gave up on trying to interpret the story about halfway through. That didn't ruin the action for me, however. And that is also not to say that the main characters themselves aren't somewhat interesting, because they are.
And talking about cutscenes, this brings me to my biggest gripe about Pariah. It seems this game has it backwards a bit. Usually, in the games I've played, the cutscenes are the movie-moments-big in scope and beautiful to look at. Well, in Pariah, the first-person playing screens (everything but the cutscenes) are really quite gorgeous, lush, nice color palette, some nice vistas, good shimmer-effects on the explosions, etc. On the other hand, the third-person cutscenes themselves (which should be awesome if we are talking video-game-convention here) are horrible looking in comparison. When a cutscene loads, the characters suddenly look chopped up, images become super-low-resolution and really quite crappy. The cutscenes almost look as if they are unfinished beta-tests or something. Very strange. But soon enough, the first-person-playing-screen reloads and we are back to the beauty. Unfortunately, every cutscene suffers from this, and it does detract from the game. Who knows what the game developers were thinking? Initially I thought there was something awry with my video card settings. But nope-the cutscenes are simply the pits, graphically speaking.
Lastly, there is one element to Pariah that ALMOST ruins it-at the very least, it causes a lot of grief and swearing. Heads up: There is no quicksave function. Instead there are predetermined loading points where the game saves automatically. Almost finished a level, but you suddenly die near the very end? Guess what? You're right back at the beginning of the level to play it all over again...and again and again and again. There is no overriding this. Want to talk about aggravating? Don't get me started. But I persevered, and the save points are liberally placed (usually), and, honestly, this factor does add an element of extra tension to the game. (But it's still aggravating as hell.)
One review I read said: "Pariah represents forty bucks I'll never get back. If you ever make the mistake of buying it, look for it in your budget bin. Don't pay top dollar." I don't know how I would've felt had I spent $40 on this the second it came out. It probably would've colored my review of it significantly. But as it stands (lucky for me) I didn't spend $40 on it. I spent $7. And what an incredible, great, fun value! You know, in my wait for the next FPS installment of whatever, I went back and played Halo and also the original Half-Life. Then I got Pariah and realized that by playing those older games, I was wasting my time. They pale in comparison-simply from a technological standpoint-to Pariah. Come on, you high-falutin' game reviewers out there! Adjust that bias a bit, and you'll find that Pariah is quite lovely and engrossing. Be aware: There's nothing new in Pariah. You've seen and played it all before-the interiors and exteriors; the sci-fi themes; the vehicles that change from first-person to third-person perspective; the array of machine guns, grenade launchers, and sniper and plasma rifles; the woman you are trying to save that keeps running away from you. But it is a solid, eye-pleasing game that is long-playing (for us snails anyway-I clocked in around 20 hours) and challenging.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This won best of E3 2004 for a reason....., June 20, 2005
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
O.k., this does have some weak spots. Especially the check-point saving only. But, other than that, this game is TIGHT! You are on Earth in the distant future. About 500 years or so. The Earth is a wasteland. Years of War and poverty have turned the world into a disaster. You are in the role of Jack Mason. An outcast doctor with nothing left to lose. Your plane is shot down while transporting a patient who is infected with a serious disease. From there the game is outstanding. The visuals are breathtaking. The acting is moderately good. The scripting is above average. The cut scenes are plentiful and well thought out. I LOVE THE M.A.P. EDITOR! You can even swap and/or share your home-made maps over the internet! It's very easy. The driving feature is primo. The physics are quite realistic. There are some cool ground assault vehicles to pick from, too. This is VERY bloody and quite riddled with language. So, the kiddies should probably stay away from this one. I think this game is great. Hey, what else could you expect? This game was designed by the same folks who brought us the powerful classic 'UNREAL'!!! They know what they're doing.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Pariah is Another Sad Example of the FPS Glut, May 8, 2005
Fun:1.0 out of 5 stars
Just a few years ago Pariah would have garnered praise and a decent fanbase. Unfortunately, in today's market, it sits squarely among a legion of also-ran first person shooters.
I found the single player game to be offendingly tedious. While the creators tried to tell an interesting story, it was lost in the uninspired level design and irritatingly awkward weapons. Props for the healing tool, though. The way the healing tool and health are handled is the only innovative aspect of the game.
The last straw for me was the fact that the single player game is checkpoint based. After ten tries of running over a bridge and methodically mopping up the enemies, only to die from a grenade I could never see coming, I uninstalled the game.
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