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Even at the normal difficulty the enemy AI in general seems to be quite developed with most enemies making good use of cover. Some enemies even take a running approach, darting back and forth in a similar fashion to a live person in a deathmatch as opposed to the mindless straight run of some of the AI we've seen recently. This makes firefights all that more interesting and fun. At the higher difficulties this is even more pronounced, although the overall difficulty of the game never reaches the feverish pitches of the great FPSs.
Possibly the major flaw of the single-player game is the lack of progression. The difficulty of the game remains constant throughout, with no significant learning curve. The best games require players to improve their skills and abilities to a point where the final battles are able to be completed, but Pariah fails to do this. The battles at the outset of the game are representative of the rest of the game, which may leave some players a little cold.
For multiplayer players a number of modes are available to play either on Xbox Live or offline. Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture The Flag and Flont Line Assault modes are all available to play on a number of maps. The interface for this is fairly well set up, and easy to navigate, with skill filters and and online leaderboards available to track progress. Access into a game is easily achieved, even in the middle of a round, although as with much of the game it is plagued by relatively lengthy load times.
To make the multiplayer modes even more interesting, Pariah includes a rather comprehensive Mapmaker mode. Custom maps can be created in a number of styles and environments, and then either played offline or online. Xbox Live gamers also have access to download custom maps others have made, although with Pariah only just having been released there are no maps available as yet.
The map creation interface is well designed and rather easy to use. Large tracts of land can be raised or lowered at will, so that lakes, rivers, deep valleys or high mountainous areas can be created quite quickly. Most of the objects and some of the building types found in the single-player game can also be used in this mode, as well as turrets, vehicles and natural features. In short, the whole map can be customised virtually completely, which will no doubt please some gamers who have been looking for a tool to create their own map.
Unfortunately Pariah is still a little glitchy, including at least one particularly disheartening glitch that removes all the upgrades collected up to that point in the game. Skips in action appear throughout the game, although not to the degree that will affect the overall experience. Enemies also appear to float in the air on some levels, and can occasionally even float away when shot. A little more time clearing these away would have been of benefit to the overall experience.
Above all Pariah is a fun game to play through. The gorgeous levels and waves of enemies seem to blend into each other to create a game that flows together well. While the occasional loading screens and lags in the game as the engine catches up to the action are a distraction they are minor at best. While not quite amongst the best in the genre Pariah still makes a solid showing, especially with its engaging mapmaker feature. In a crowded market for FPSs on the Xbox Pariah seems to have done enough to stand out, with just a little more polish and sense of progression needed to elevate the game beyond that. |
