Pariah Preview

Some days I wonder who's more pessimistic - me, the misanthropic everyone-hating spinner of game reviews, or your average pulp fiction sci-fi writer. Let's face it people, you have to have some serious rage for your fellow man if you're going to write sci-fi. If you go to the library or your local bookstore, for every uplifting sci-fi piece like "I, Robot" there's about 10-50 trash novels spelling doom for the human race. If it isn't the invasion of Martians or giant carnivorous insects, then it's some post-nuclear apocalyptic horror, or maybe the fascist rule of three great empires that are constantly in war against each other. Or maybe it's an Earth decimated by human carelessness, pollution, and greed where humans are retreating from nature's fury into some self-imposed prison. The possibilities are mind boggling - and yet highly unoriginal. Its one of the reasons I don't read any novel written after the year 1920.

You sure don't save on ammo, buddy.

Earth of the future doesn't look so bad. Maybe a couple of pink flowers...

However, I do play a lot of video games, and I still have hope (I think). Pariah, the upcoming FPS from the co-creators of Unreal Tournament, Digital Extremes, follows the story of a mysterious disease that threatens to spread around the remnants of a once vibrant and living planet. The year 2520 has not been kind to Mother Earth, as it has become the largest prison in the galaxy. This future is not a very nice place to be, so the hero of the game, Dr Jack Mason, is some sort of a loser character entrapped in a very hostile environment. Mason is a doctor in the twilight of his medical career, and that fact slaps him in the face as he's transferred to Earth. Worse still, he has the dubious role of escorting some mysterious woman, who is carrying an even more mysterious virus.

Dr. Mason soon realizes he should have had another V-8, as his ship is shot down, and our anti-hero is suddenly faced with the prospect of getting killed by the hostile prisoners - unless, of course, he does something to prevent them. The rest is simple: he will have to find a way out of his troubles, while making sure that Karina, the woman he's in charge of, doesn't get hurt, and is delivered in one piece. I am stressing that because, as soon as Karina dies, it's game over, man. Game over. She also provides you with valuable nuggets of information during the game, telling you where to go and what to do next, so it is obvious that she is rather irreplaceable.

Sound like Mission: Impossible, eh? Ah, but our doctor will soon demonstrate he's quite capable of taking care of himself. Still, the time that Mason has on his hands is rather limited: only 16 hours stand between him and the final destruction of the planet by a satellite. In the meantime, he will have to evolve from a simple doctor to a hero with superhuman powers. Piece of cake.

While the game resembles Halo 2 in many things, it also bears a passing similarity to Unreal Tournament. (Ahem. Dr. Mason, meet Dr. Freeman. - Ed.) Having different game elements that are reminiscent of those two titles cannot be something bad, as Pariah isn't supposed to be a blatant copy or unoriginal drivel. After all, it's a game that's been in development for more than two years - a fact that Digital Extremes have kept for themselves and decided to share with the rest of us only a while ago (Why does two years sound like such a short time for game development? - Ed)

This time, the accent has been put on the single-player portion of the game. Pariah is in some ways a typical first-person shooter that takes place in a distant-future. It features the 'damsel-in-distress' story with a hint of mystery that needs to be revealed before the nukes hit the planet. However, there are some nice elements incorporated into the game helping it to rise above brainless shooters, asking for a little more engagement on the part of the player. But let's just take this one step at a time, shall we?

There are several different settings featured in the game but, for the most part, Pariah takes place in large outdoor settings. This means we will get to see everything from bleak and dreary futuristic settings to more common outdoor settings such as deserts, plains, or dense forests. Some indoor settings with claustrophobic corridors of prison facilities are also present. The game is supposed to have a rather dark feel when it comes to the environment, the story, and the enemies.

There are altogether 18 levels in which Mason needs to keep his protégé alive and uncover the mystery behind her strange illness. In order to keep everyone alive, Mason will have a range of different weapons suitable for dealing with various types of enemies he'll come across. All of the weapons can be found scattered around different levels, together with weapon upgrades. The correct term for upgrades is Weapon Energy Core (WEC), which helps Mason upgrade the basic weapons and provide them with more firepower or a special ability. The weapon upgrades are gained by eliminating bad guys (they drop it as 'phat' loot). These cores help you turn your simple weapon into powerful and deadly machinery. They also help make your play style unique in multiplayer, as the use of different weapon upgrades allows you to form a team of weapon specialists.

The three possible weapon upgrades in the single player and two in the multiplayer add some variety to the game. Upgrades allow you infrared scanning, an expanded ammo clip, or armor-piercing bullets, which is the case with the sniper rifle. They can also protect your vision from temporary blindness affected by the rather deadly plasma rifle. This definitely makes the selection of weapons seem more varied and functional, and the transformation from a simple weapon to its more destructive counterpart has been handled rather effectively. Maybe the programming team decided the players wouldn't be satisfied with seven simple weapons such as the MXB-4 (the Bulldog), the frag rifle, the sniper rifle, the grenade launcher and such. The two latter are made of separate components. The grenade launcher for instance is very destructive. It uses several different ammo types; its most destructive version is the Mag Grenade that, thanks to its magnetic powers, uses metallic objects as ammo. The most powerful weapon is the one you pick up at the end of the game - the Titan's Fist. This impressive weapon has the power to create a huge blast with massive splash damage.

Apart from blasting things to Kingdom Come, Mason has the ability to heal himself, as he is a doctor after all. Our hero is in possession of the so-called Health Charges - a necessary requisite for a doctor from a distant future trapped in a hostile environment. The only problem with it is that it can only be used to a certain extent - if he recovers too fast his vision becomes blurry, which affects his aim.

Apart from different weapons, the game will feature several controllable vehicles such as the Wasp and Bogie. These vehicles are particularly useful in multiplayer where you can find more ways to use them to your advantage, such as running your enemies over. The three-wheeled Wasp with a mounted machine gun is a light-armored vehicle, suitable for some fast action. On the other hand, the two-seated and somewhat slower Bogie can boast with heavy armor and dual-mounted cannons. It allows both passengers to mount the cannons, which is why it is indefinitely useful.