It's the ultimate barrel experience. Jack Mason has been given yet another milk run. Assigned to escort a virus-infected prisoner between prisons in the not-so-distant future, Mason finds himself with yet another boring assignment at the twilight of his once illustrious career. However, after his transport plane is struck by a well-fired SAM missile, Jack and his now awakened Typhoid Mary find themselves confused, lost, and behind enemy lines.
Pariah , the futuristic first-person shooter from Groove Games, seems to have all of the elements of the more successful adventure-based shooters out there, such as Doom 3 , Unreal Tournament , Halo , and Half-Life. But how does it stack up against these heavyweights in the FPS world?
Let's look at the good first: For graphics, Pariah uses a modified Havok engine, which has been very successful with Unreal Tournament, among others.
This makes for crisp skins, 'rag doll'? In game vehicles are also fun to use and very effective in usage throughout the game. Controls are easy to use The WSAD keys default for movement and simple to modify, so getting control up to speed for the average FPS fan is quite easy.
What this makes for is a game you can get into quickly and enjoy all of the scenery while you're at it. Alas, this is where Pariah starts to show its flaws. Though the game starts off well, the storyline in the game becomes almost completely incomprehensible after just a couple of cut scenes.
Audio is well done for the most part, but becomes repetitive VERY quickly, and dialogue is weak at best. Enemy AI is not exactly something to strike fear into the hearts of competitive gamers, even at the highest settings. Though in game bots tend to be fairly accurate with their armaments, their movements become quite predictable. Speaking of weapons loadout, what is up with the cookie cutter FPS games out there?
You have your obligatory automatic Bulldog , the completely ineffective shotgun Frag Rifle , and the high end exploders, and that's about it. Pariah tries to innovate a bit with Weapon Energy Cores, items that can modify and boost your weapons stats, accuracy, or special abilities, but they're mostly hit and miss. They can make some weapons very effective, but add almost nothing to others.
Pariah's single player game is also obscenely short for an FPS. I finished the whole thing in under 6 hours, and I'm no power gamer anymore. Add to this the almost incomprehensible story and absolutely no connection with your protagonist, or even an understanding of your enemies and friends, and you'll understand why I was less than please with the single player game.
Pariah does have a small but loyal multiplayer following, with multiplayer games following the basic standard of death match, capture the flag, assault, and variations on these themes. The action tends to be fast and furious, and one feature I found surprising and actually likable is that all players are limited to two projectile weapons per person.
These are selected via prepackaged loadouts before you begin fighting Bulldog and Grenade Launcher, or Rocket Launcher and Sniper Rifle, for example. While I at first found this somewhat restrictive, I soon began to enjoy the ability to specialize in certain weapon types and boost my skills with others, while learning to use tactics on teams. Still, unless you're only into multiplay, Pariah quickly loses it's appeal. First person storyline has low appeal and almost no replay value, and frankly, there are other titles out there that do it much, much better.
Fair to good multiplay keeps this from being a complete waste of time, but not by much. It is an unfortunate thing when we can see what a game could've been, but ultimately was not.
Pariah is one such a game, that from the very beginning roped me into what I thought would be a satisfying ride through a cinematic paradise. Opening with what I'd call one of the best cinematic title sequences I've ever seen, it was a painful realization that I came to, understanding that this game wouldn't blow my expectations away. First, the gameplay in Pariah couldn't be blander. The only thing saving you from essentially the most default and basic of arsenals is the upgradeable nature of the weapons, and using them against the enemy is definitely not the most enjoyable experience.
Prepare to kill lots of goons that don't seem to stand a chance of defeating you, and pilot a great many vehicles that couldn't survive impact with a gnat, let alone actual combat. Pariah's plotline, while somewhat interesting, is wasted by a game that fails to appropriately deliver that story to the player. A normal problem in games like this, you'll go from objective to objective, literally stumbling across elements of the major plotline, with virtually no explanation helping you understand what they represent.
Fortunately, the plot does see fit to deliver you in to some really visually appealing scenes. While the level design itself is dull, repetitive, and fails to take advantage of the environment present in the game, the backgrounds and production design makes the game seem big, with epic settings that show you at least a glimpse of what the design was meant for. A very crafty drum build is flitted in and out of the beat, giving the impression of some 'Filth' drop is around the corner.
Thankfully that is just a phase and it all collapses into some very James Blake styled majoratively synth based 2step. A very dreamy track, the 2step really compliments the vocals and layered synths, creating probably the most atmospheric track here. Despite my seemingly negative approach to it's pressence in The Slump , in the habitat created by Pariah in this track, the fast paced beat seems right at home here.
There are some teasing vocals that are dispersed across the song, and also some great side partings of ambience that recall the opening of Joy Orbison's classic Hyph Mngo, before resuming back into the very choppy vocals. Easiest description would be a funky update of last EP highlight, Orpheus, however I feel that it required a more in depth description.
The vast drop in bpm is noticeable, but not worried about, some very Zomby-like skittley jabbing synths carry the expansive beat along it's path. Some wailing vocals are welcomed to bring some light to this increasingly dark track, before some Balam Acab style bass jumps are stabbed in.
The purple sounding synths seem to work so well at this speed, that it is a wonder that Joker, Peverelist or Pinch haven't considered attempting this. If they have and Ive missed it, apologies. Gonja Sufi — Mhe Unreleased 2. Gonja Sufi — Sheep Warp 3. Gonja Sufi — Blaksuit Unreleased 4. Gonja Sufi — Feedin Birds Unreleased 5.
Gonja Sufi — Shes Gone Warp 6. Cooly G — Is It Gone 3. Cooly G — Wat.. Airtime 4. Cooly G — Phat Si 5. Cooly G — I Made Love 6. Cooly G — Full Ah Sensi 7. Cooly G — Darrn Computer Jay — Maintain Ikonika remix Ramp Rekordah — Butternut LoFiFunk Plus a repeated mix from Tokimonsta to celebrate her presence in the UK.
An exclusive preview of the semi-mythical lost album Cloud Seed by Vex'd. And by the end, things are not quite what they seem.. Breakage — Vial feat. Andrea — Got To Forget Daphne 3. Kavsrave — PClart Numbers 4. Addison Groove — Footcrab Swamp 81 7. Surgeon — Compliance Momentum Dubplate 8. Milyoo — Dasein Opti Thom Yorke Warp ASC Mix 1. Postmodern futures clash with untamable rave energy across this four-track EP from veteran Berlin producer Ellen Allien.
The Kaizo Manifesto by Kaizo Slumber. Libyan-German producer Kaizo Slumber channels the optimistic spirit of '90s and early s retro-futurism into a stunning vaporwave suite. Reflection by Loraine James. Zero Fucks by Special Request. Travis ascended to godhood thanks to this album. Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp. No matching results. Explore music. Get fresh music recommendations delivered to your inbox every Friday. Safehouses by Pariah.
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