When Pariah came through the post, I didn’t really know what to expect. During previous weeks, a few people had said to me, “Hey, have you seen Pariah? Looks quite promising”, but to be honest I never read up on it. All I knew was that it was a first person shooter with a cool name, so I went into the game almost blind to any hype - or lack of - that might have been stirred up. Maybe ignorance to a title’s anticipation is unwise, or maybe it puts each game on an equal footing to begin with. Either way, I certainly saw Pariah’s true colours.

One thing that a lot of titles lack is a decent plot to accompany their game worlds. I like to be immersed in a consistent and interesting environment, somewhere I can escape to and forget about the real world. Entertain me, inspire me, take me on a journey. You should be eased into your surroundings and allowed to adjust to your situation, with plenty of explanation and commentary to gently weave a world around you.

Sadly, it doesn’t seem that those who designed Pariah share the same principles. A cut scene opens and it appears that you play as Dr. Jack Mason, who is seated in some transport ship with a woman frozen in a casket nearby. We’re not informed of the date, but it looks like a futuristic world. The ship takes off and we’re flying over a battlefield; there’s something about a war on Earth, but it’s barely explained. Suddenly the aircraft is hit, by who it’s not clear, and Mason ends up on the ground at the crash site. Here you first take control of your alter ego, but with no-one giving you any instructions, you’ll stumble around for a bit before finding the path you’re meant to be taking. The obligatory ‘to duck, press a button’ situational tutorial is followed by the introduction of an object to your inventory, although you’re not told of its use. You reach the crashed ship and a cutscene interrupts. The woman who was in the casket is now defrosted and armed, holding you up with some sci-fi gun. A few seconds later, she’s shot by some random guy behind her and there’s a second cutscene about a virus. Have you got it? Did she have it? Who knows? Out of the blue, you’re being fired upon. Back in control of Mason, it appears that she’s run off - even after being shot in the back - and you’ve got to find her. Off you go then.

Pariah doesn’t just communicate its plot badly, it fails to keep you in the loop at almost every stage. Even at the beginning where basic information is most important, you’re left on your own, confused and disorientated. During the first level, I had no idea who my enemies were, where I was or what I was fighting for. The characters are hard to warm to, even if you pick up who they are, whilst the scenario remains unexplained. Pariah gives you very little reason to do what it asks of you and that’s a huge turn-off.

We all know that great gameplay can rescue even the most inept plotlines though, and here Pariah should have picked up points. Yet the actual basic first person shooting mechanics aren’t anything to write home about either. Firstly, the weapons are seriously unimpressive, with all the old favourites brought out from the closet. You can upgrade them - notably including a remote detonation grenade launcher - but they’re often ineffective, slow to reload and fail to pack a punch. The game’s A.I. doesn’t do it any favours either, with enemies simply charging your position and rarely opting to take cover. Health regenerates just like in Halo, but Mason can also boost his condition by using a healing tool which is quickly accessible via the white button. He must be a pretty clever guy to work out where to go though, since you’re never given any directions or a map of any kind. The FPS mechanics are solid and familiar, but there’s little here to really set Pariah apart from the competition.

On the multiplayer front, Pariah features full split-screen, system link and Xbox Live gameplay, with up to 16 players supported. Notably, there’s an offline practice mode with bots, although their A.I. isn’t much better than in the singleplayer, so it always seems like a soulless experience. The game also allows players to choose from a set of pre-defined weapon load-outs, consisting of different combinations of two weapons, while vehicles make an appearance but are sorely underdeveloped. I guess that the multiplayer could be quite fun, but it’s not unique enough and as a result, no-one’s playing it. When I logged on, the most populated game I could find contained only three participants and it wasn’t a ridiculous time of the day either. Maybe everyone else was off playing something far more worthy.

However, Pariah does earn my respect for its map maker, which can be used in conjunction with its multiplayer. Allowing you to create large outdoor environments, it’s relatively easy to use and can produce some stunning results. Land can be manipulated like putty; raised, lowered and flattened to your heart’s content. Add in some buildings, a few vehicles and lavish helping of weapons and you have a unique level which you can share with friends and strangers alike. In fact, it’s so satisfying and has such depth that it’s probably one of the best map makers on any console; a notable achievement I’m sure you’ll agree. Of course, the only problem with this is that you have to play Pariah on your creations, which doesn’t really do them the justice they deserve.

Graphically, Pariah is of a decent standard, although it won’t be pressuring any of its competitors in the genre. Widescreen is a commendable inclusion and there are a number of special effects which liven things up, along with some cool physics. Yet animations are poorly done and the underlying feeling you get is that the game lacks any genuine artistic direction. On the audio front, there’s a well composed musical score, but this isn’t backed up by sound effects of a suitable quality. Some games have an atmosphere and poise that makes you go, “wow”. Pariah isn’t one of them.

When it comes down to it, Pariah is nothing more than just another shooter. While its map maker is excellent, the rest of the game lags behind in mediocrity. The singleplayer is hampered by poor attention to detail and a story which confuses the player right from the beginning. Get together with some friends and you’ll probably have a lot of fun in multiplayer, but at the end of the day, you’ll be wondering why you didn’t choose something better to play. Halo 2 features superior single- and multiplayer modes, better visuals and audio, tighter gameplay and all for the same price as Pariah. This is by no means a bad game, it just doesn’t give you a good enough reason to play it, let alone buy it.