Backwards Compatible Installment 1
------The Story Thus Far-----
As stated above, Pariah is a game that deals with a virus that threatens to wipe out humanity. Or maybe just wipe out this one dude. A war is being fought (called the Shroud war) for some reason. To control the virus maybe. Or something along those lines. It starts off with a shuttle crash, a shuttle which you and your prisoner (?) Karina are on. After the crash, you have to find her. And after you find her, you have to find her again. And again. But none of that really matters at all.
This is one of those titles that the story takes a complete back seat to the game play. There is very little development to be found. That includes plot, character, or anything else that might make for a more thematic experience. In fact, any time an explanation threatens to rear its ugly head, it is completely crushed by the terrible dialogue.
For example, after you have found Karina for the first time, she doesn't trust you. Then you guys go on a short (and poorly implemented) jeep ride, and all of the sudden you are BFF. That's about as deep as character development gets. Couple that with a seriously awful ending, confusing cut-scenes, and plot twists that make no sense because no one bothered to explain the plot in the first place, and you have a story that no one wants to hear full of characters that no one cares about.
-----Powered By Unreal!-------
But you'd never know it by playing the game. There are a few interesting lighting effect here and there, but for the most part you are trapped in a world subdued by browns and grays. The textures are muddy at times, and completely non-existent others. There will be moments when you keep expecting the rest of the ground you're walking on or the walls you're walking past to finish loading; as if the game were simply "drawing" them in. but it doesn't happen. They just keep looking crappy and don't stop. This might be forgivable if the title had come out early in the life of the platform, but this just isn't the case.
-----Do You Hear What I Hear?-----
In terms of sound, there isn't really anything terrible to be found. Explosions and weapons fire sound ok, but the soundtrack is easily forgettable. Though it seldom detracts from the game play (with a couple of grating exceptions) it never really adds to it either. It just kind of "is," and that's all.
-----Loosely Based On Fun-----
Overall, the gun play is functional. Though you'll find some odd issues with the targeting reticule from time to time (namely with the rocket launcher and the plasma spheres), for the most part you'll be able to hit what you aim at. And you can apply upgrades to your weapons in order to make them more powerful or carry more ammo. Not a bad idea, but it isn't enough to make up for the lackluster collection of arms. And the back story for these upgrades is ridiculous. Left over from some war that everyone wants to forget, it seems people are afraid to even touch these greenish hovering discs that you apply to your weapons. And yet there they are, scattered throughout landscapes, bases, etc. It seems like the enemy would at least cover them up with a sheet to keep you from finding them.
Unfortunately, a big chunk of the game is spent using the Bulldog. A fully automatic rifle, it sounds ok when fired, but it's pretty dull to shoot. Other additions to your ordinance include pretty typical fair. A shotgun, a sniper rifle, a grenade launcher lifted from Quake, and so on. Among all of these however, there are a couple of standouts. A rocket launcher upgraded to seek heat is fun to use, as you can target your enemy, point into the air, and have it come down on top of them. The grenade launcher isn't bad either, as you can plunk shots at interesting angels to drop them on foes.
Though there are some minor instances of destructible pillars or walls, for the most part the landscape remains unchanged after a firefight. All in all though, it really doesn't matter. You will more or less have forgotten this detail by the time you get about 2/3 of the way through, which works perfectly because it seems the developers forgot it as well. Eventually, it just stops happening.
And speaking of levels, most of the levels you'll wade through here are pretty uninteresting. In fact, you'll more than likely begin to develop a sense of déjà vu as you fight your way through the expanses of dirt and steel. They all start to blend into one un-entertaining mess as you wander your set path. There are, however, a couple of levels that are a bit more intrusive in terms of their craptacity than the others. Both of them are of the "on rails" variety, and one of them actually forgoes the metaphor all together, and puts you on a train.
You'll find yourself manning a turret at the back of this train. You are tasked with defending yourself from a series of flying garbage trucks with over-shields. A less well-thought-out version of the last level in "Enter the Matrix" (yes, it's possible), this segment is so dull that the developers decided to end it with a cut scene.
Off the rails, and on the linear dirt road to the heavily guarded fortress, you'll find that the battles are predictable. Fight the enemies until you reach the switch, flip the switch, and out come more enemies. You can set your watch to these "ambushes." From time to time, you'll trigger alarms, but they don't really do anything except for stab their way into your spine, crawl up into your brain, and rattle around in your ears until you turn them off. Once every one in the room is dead, that's the end of the fight. Everybody else is probably sleeping.
-----Special Mention: Enemy A.I.-----
If lines such as "Do Re Mi Fa So long sucka!" or "I hope you like poker, because we're about to flush you out!" are your cup of tea, then you are in for a real treat when it comes to the enemy A.I. Never before has the dialogue found within a game so encapsulated the mental abilities of a player's opponents. You see, it doesn't stop with ridiculous lines of dialogue, it starts there. In any given battle, you are likely to see your foes take cover by ducking. Sounds smart, right? Wrong.
It seems this motion is only the first step in their training, as often times after they duck, they will start advancing on you, through open ground, on their knees. And that's just the beginning. Anyone who has seen "Now for Something Completely Different" knows that you don't stand up if you don't want to be seen. Apparently these guys don't get cable, however, as they seem perfectly content to stand up and stand still when you approach them from any angle except for head on. A lot of times, they don't move when you shoot them.
Saving the best for last, watch for a special treat on the train mission. They will come out of doorways on the train, start to strafe when they see you, and strafe their way right off the side of the train. CIassic.
-----The Low-Down-----
Odds are you'll see the prompt "Press fire to continue" more than a few times through this game. It pops up whenever you die, after all. But don't be surprised if at some point during the game you find yourself wondering why you should.