Pariah accepted by stores

Today, first-person shooter fans got another game to stick in their arsenal. Pariah, Groove Games' sci-fi actioner, shipped to retailers across North America. It is rated M for Mature by the ESRB and retails for $39.99 for the PC and $49.99 for the Xbox.

Developed by Toronto-based Digital Extremes, Pariah takes place in a dystopian future. Players slip into the battle armor of one Dr. Jack Mason, a world-weary physician who has all but given up on life until he and an infected patient crash-land on Earth--now a less-than-friendly prison planet. To further complicate matters, Mason learns that the powers-that-be plan on sterilizing the whole planet in just 16 hours--giving him precious little time to evade a massive prisoner-guard conflict and escape.

Besides its single-player story mode, Pariah will have a range of multiplayer modes, including deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, and frontline assault, which is a goal-based mode in which an attacking team must capture and hold specific control points to push back the defending team's front line. Both the Xbox and PC versions of the game will come with the MAP (make and play) multiplayer-map-editing tool. The MAP will let players edit many aspects of their maps, including terrain, lighting, textures, and object placement. Xbox players will be able to share their created maps over Xbox Live as well as via system link and memory cards. The PC version will feature a whole suite of Unreal-engine editing tools.

GameSpot's previous coverage of Pariah has more details. Check back later in the week for the full review of the game.