Pariah - Australian Preview (Preview)

Chris Stead, GamePro Australia

17/05/2005 11:34:37

Pariah is one of the more eagerly anticipated titles coming to Xbox and PC. Built by the same lads who gave us the very sweet Unreal Tournament 2004 and using that game's impressive HAVOK physics engine, Pariah will be as good as it looks. It's certainly ticking every box on our FPS wish-list.

Deep, intelligent futuristic narrative? Tick! The hero is Dr. Jack Mason, a pathologist on his way to a vicious prison wasteland planet called Earth to investigate a possible biohazard. A depressed and fatigued man, Jack's life is given a sudden burst of life when his transport crashes on arrival. He, and an infected passenger, now find themselves in a world of destruction, despair and disease, with only 16 hours to escape before a 50-megaton explosion will be unleashed to cleanse the planet of its contamination. Will Jack - you - survive? Mmm... sounds very fascinating.

Engaging and creative gameplay mechanics? Ken-oath! Pariah is set to introduce some truly advanced concepts into the genre. Of particular interest is your ability to use your senses to navigate the world. While plenty of action is promised, Pariah will also have a healthy stealth component and by utilising your enhanced sight and sound awareness, you will be able to mix up your strategies in trying to achieve your goals. Plus, the Weapon Energy Cores of each gun can be customised to best suit your destructive tastes. And thanks to the use of Emergent Tactical AI (which allows your foes to intelligently cooperate with each other) this arsenal customisation will play a very important tactical role. Getting excited?

Graphics that can bring a gamer (and his computer) to his knees? Tick! Tick! Even as far back as E3 (in May 2004) Pariah was looking unbelievably good. Although crafted from the Unreal Tournament 2004, the models and animations are far more life-like than that title, matching the gritty urban environments in which the game is played. Everything looks suitable sci-fi, with the tense, daunting atmosphere reminiscent of Doom 3. Naturally, next-gen physics will be on display and given the high-production values of what we have seen so far, we wouldn't be surprised to see a bit of Hollywood talent on the vocal SFX as well.

The type of multiplayer options you want to suck on for an hour? Hell yeah! Digital Extremes have already proved their multiplayer worth with the legendary Unreal Tournament 2004, but they have really upped the ante with Pariah. For starters, you can use your customised weapons in both the foot and vehicle based multiplayer modes, which sounds very cool. Plus, a map editor will be included. Early reports suggest that it's one of the most intuitive ever developed and it will ensure thousands of quality multiplayer maps for fans to feast upon.

So, can't wait to get your hands on Pariah? Us either. And the timing is just right considering that most gamers will have completed each platforms signature FPS titles, Half-Life 2 and Halo 2, by its release. Keep an eye on the next issue for more on Pariah.