Analysis: How BORING Is Pariah Really?

[@Jarekthegamingdragon]

Head to keeps.com/jarek to get 50% off your first order of hair loss treatment. BIG thanks to every one that kept me entertained over on twitch. Man this game is boring. If you want to come hang out in the future, come give a follow! www.twitch.tv/jarek4gamingdragon

[@DrQuagmire1]

i'm in my mid-40's and still have a good amount of hair!!! But I will admit, I tried pulling off the bald look years ago when I shaved off the Mohawk I was trying to rock, yeah......the bald look didn't really work out for me. now if I was suffering from male-pattern baldness and had absolutely no choice but to shave my hair off, i'll probably make an exception then.

[@RedBeardedGriff]

I started experiencing male pattern baldness before I was 20, and after having long hair throughout my teenage years, it upset me that I was losing so much hair on my scalp, and I ended up looking like I was in my late 40s rather than my early 20s. So, my wife encouraged my to shave my hair off completely, and I never looked back. Now, I embrace my baldness, and it's nothing to be ashamed of.

[@chemergency]

This game suffers from what I call "Unreal II Syndrome." Another example of an early/mid-2000's FPS that learned all the wrong lessons from Halo and Half-Life.

[@TheOro44]

Well it does run on UE 2.5 lel

[@chemergency]

@@TheOro44 The engine itself isn't the problem, it's the game design. It's so slow and dull and generic.

[@BoisegangGaming]

Clearly what we need are uninspired worlds, milquetoast gameplay, and the most generic story ever.

[@AParticularlyConcernedCitizen]

Unreal 2 was made by an award-winning adventure game studio breaking into the FPS market. They failed so hard that it ended the company, and that's mainly due to their actually good one, Wheel of Time, getting ignored like a one-night stand who you gave your phone number cause you were drunk. It's no wonder they shifted to entirely generic, copycat gameplay, it's probably what Atari told them to do.

[@WTFisTingispingis]

You fucking nailed it on the head, dude.

[@flippedoutkyrii]

Hot damn, this is a memory rush. This game was SUPER hyped by online retailers and ads were everywhere both online and was plastered on practically every gaming magazine I had at the time. It was just one of many "Halo Killers" trying to get their time in the spotlight. Two weeks after the game launched all those ads disappeared when the mediocre reviews started rolling in, like it never even existed lol.

[@ThommyofThenn]

Frankly I have no memory of this title at all

[@immitationstation3369]

Yeah I remember that all too well 😅 I was getting fatigued of Halo 2 for a brief while and was looking for other Xbox titles and I was really looking forward to both Pariah and Far Cry instincts and man was I ever disappointed in both

[@flippedoutkyrii]

@@immitationstation3369Honestly FC:Instincts became a personality trait of me and my brother as it was the prettiest game on the Xbox near the end of it's shelf life. We must have spent days alone in the editor making and sharing maps for online play.

[@immitationstation3369]

@flippedoutkyrii Hell yeah the map editior was one of the best features in the game and was even waaay better than Pariahs one. The graphics were sick and I miss that early to mid 2000s foliage for some reason. Game was fun but the later levels in single player were mad rushed. Honestly I need to replay both those games again

[@mitchcoppo]

Oh man, exactly! PC Gamer even put the demo proudly on their issue's CD. Then it vanished from what I remember. I think the demo I played was just 2 bot match maps.

[@R77ification]

Feels like a direct sequel to a game that doesn't exist

[@Revanchist2]

Lmfao true

[@nonenothing4412]

Lmao

[@Princesaelika]

Resistance para Xbox

[@southplaq2887]

Pariah is a Digital Extremes game in name only. The actual developer was Brainbox Games, which was a lower budget studio that was owned and operated by DE. Normally, Brainbox used their own name and logo in their games, but Pariah was an exception for some reason.

[@DuckRotation]

Brainbox Games changed its name to Digital Extremes Toronto.

[@krystalalien3344]

Didn't Brainbox Games also develop Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green, considered one of the worst games of 2005?

[@southplaq2887]

@krystalalien3344 Yes that's correct.

[@thatoneguy229OG]

Gosh, I remember this game... It was during the period of my childhood where game purchases were at GameStop and based almost purely on the box art and back of the box screenshots. I don't think I ever beat it, and I think this video sums up why hahaha.

[@lds_drive]

I used to think the box art was cool as heck but never got to play it.

[@mongoliandeathworm2994]

My fondest memory of this game is the one where i buried it in my garden

[@strikeforce1500]

Ah, the OG lootbox of "Will I like or not this game, solely depending on the bpx art"

[@ericw48]

XPlay told me this was good. A decent shotgun and an ambitious map creator could not save this boring slog.

[@SomeoneStoleMyHandle911]

I grew up in the 90s so I've gotten to see gaming and tech grow so much in my life from little to no internet to phones that can get amazing speeds from a sim card!I used to always do the same unless I saw a gaming magazine talkin major releases and reveiws. I lived in the countryside too so we got dial up/phone line internet long after it was out of style. I relate so much but I don't regret anything I got dead rising and dragon's dogma in a bargain bin and they where worth every penny!

[@mrfilcritic]

this really makes killzone look like a true halo killer

[@RADIOACTIVEBUNY]

Killzone was no Halo killer but man, what an incredible game.

[@kingdomkey2262]

@@RADIOACTIVEBUNY Killzone 1 was mediocre at best, but Killzone 2 and 3 were amazing, especially the multi-player

[@mrfilcritic]

@@RADIOACTIVEBUNY yeah I really liked killzone, I've actually never played the sequels but want to. I don't have a ps3 anymore. Wish Sony would port those along with resistance to pc.

[@oscarkabowski8413]

Lol this was still better than original KZ.

[@nelsonsham2368]

Killzone is dead though, thanks Sony, killing every shooter game they had before

[@SNOWDUDE13]

I felt all my hair jump off my head trying to comprehend this game.

[@Gatorade69]

Sounds like you need Keeps.

[@Racc_Oon]

@@everythingsgonnabealright8888 whinnin’ ?

[@Deodank]

Inb4 we get a prequel to jarek where he has a pompadour that doubles as a rocket launcher.

[@Kane.JimLahey.]

SOUNDS like you need keeps! BUY IT. It works perfectly! I mean just look at what it has done for Jarek! It fix's everything!

[@phantasmastriker6157]

Heh that ending is like damn, we ran out of story or budget so they go boom. The end.

[@justinr9784]

My favourite thing about this game back in the day was the level editor. I snapped up anything with a simple level editor on the console.

[@Cam-pe3nd]

Was hyped for this during previews back in the day. Digital Extremes was good pedigree, the visuals looked neat for the time, and there was a map editor! On console!

[@ghosterino]

I learnt pretty early to never trust game journalists

[@AdahnFlorence]

Bruh this might actually be the second time I've ever heard someone talk about Pariah in all of my time on the internet.

[@JohnSouls7]

I always thought I was one of the 10 folks that know about this game.

[@Kane.JimLahey.]

Do you wish to remeber your past nameless one?

[@lennartvoogt1817]

Definitely a bargain bin purchase, even back in the day. I do remember the map creator for multiplayer the most XD

[@Joylock]

As someone who's overly fond of the "Fat Space Marine" era of FPS (I'll take zoom over ADS any day), I probably like Pariah more than I should. For me it's "not great, but not terrible". Sure, I like the better games from that era a lot more, but still find Pariah okay. One thing Pariah does do that most modern FPS don't is let you hotkey quickswitch between all your available weapons. I got into a decent rhythm of airburst grenade to take out the largest enemy cluster, plasma rifle to penetrate the shield guys, and machine gun to mow down the stragglers. Had some decent fun doing that. Games like Quake 2 or Prodeus do the same thing WAY better, but hey it's something. I made the same post a couple hours ago but it seems to have been removed, maybe because I mentioned [the AI race from Tron Legacy] and [the abandoned warehouse], so apologies if this is a duplicate post.

[@NexusKin]

This game was definitely a let down in many ways, but it did have some bright spots. The on-foot gunplay was actually pretty decent and well-balanced, I played on the hardest difficulty and it almost never felt like the game was being cheap or unfair. The health system was a nice balance between regeneration and traditional health pickups, and I liked the fact that you could store a number of health injectors for use whenever you needed them. I also liked the weapon upgrade capabilities that you unlocked by finding special artifacts scattered throughout the environment. The graphics were not too bad either, although I've definitely seen other similar games with more environmental details.

[@Kane.JimLahey.]

No no no

[@SergioHdez]

I love how many games that I had no clue existed I keep discovering on your channel

[@Blank137]

Been hoping you'd do Pariah for ages! This is awesome :)

[@UncleLootDayZ]

Map editor in this game was wayyyy ahead of it’s time

[@Jayalen]

Fun fact: Pariah has a spiritual sequel Warpath which is multiplayer only and has the same weaponry as Pariah

[@swolzer]

art design went hard on warpath

[@strikeforce1500]

Wait, and this was made by Digital Extreme?, damm, they really got better with the years.

[@dennisdavidov782]

Thanks for covering this, I remember being curious about this game as was development by DE who co-developed UT. Still surprised how well this reviewed (69 on Metacritic) while being so bad. Some other games which would be interesting to revisit: Project Snowblind Chrome + Chrome: Specforce Devastation Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter Project I.G.I + I.G.I 2: Covert Strike Close Combat: First to Fight Deadly Dozen 2

[@matteodelapaz1698]

I think he covered half of them

[@mrpoopiebungholio4871]

I used to play with a loose thread from my shirt for hours during homework back in school, but I would never play Pariah. Now I know why.

[@pvtsiltmanfoxx464]

I like how timesplitters 2 multiplayer theme is the background music In the beginning

[@TheSimpleMan454]

"Hey Doc! It's not you we want. It's the girl!" "Dyin' fast or dyin' slow. Your choice doc!" "Hey doc! It's not you we want. It's the girl!" "Hey doc! It's-" "-Your choice doc!" "Hey doc!-"

[@DesertWolfpup]

This is a core memory for me growing up for some reason. That and some western first person PC game I can't remember the name but I'm pretty sure your guy is on a revenge plot

[@jacklloyd4376]

at 4:30 that beep sounds exactly like an old cash register lol

[@VinnyFromTheBurb]

I remember my local Walmart had this game on the shelf full price for years.

[@Payasoplas]

This one had a sequel planned which was released and turned more like a spiritual sequel called WARPATH. WARPATH was a multiplayer only game that was dead since day one and re uses many assets from the original PARIAH, the single player mode is only MO with bots.

[@TacoMan850]

Dig the videos man! Never heard of a lot of these games but somehow am always interested in the next one lol

[@ThommyofThenn]

I just turned 30 a few months ago and I realise I'm very fortunate to not have the hair loss experience. For a long time it didn't seem like a big deal to me and I even shaved all my hair off for a while cause I was tired of having it be too long. This video had me thinking about hair loss more seriously and gave me some insight into it. Luckily for me, my Dutch genetics overrode my Filipino genes and my phenotype allows me to grow a full beard. I've maintained the beard for like seven years now because double chins are a huge thing on my mom's side of the family. Even when I'm in shape, the chins are still there regardless. I gained a new sense of appreciation for my beard. If I experience hair loss, I can still conceal the chin at least.

[@DapperManDuke]

I bought this when it was released, it actually reviewed pretty well too. It wasn't the best game by any means, but I kinda enjoyed it back then

[@Pyke64]

Reminds me of the health system from Resistance too.

[@LieRenThePope]

oh hey, since you're covering a digital extremes game, why not WarPath? it's also a digital extremes game and a first person shooter that i think you might be interested in checking out

[@Night_Owl_4668]

Oof I remember going through Pariah back in the day with a friend on the OG Xbox and both of us were going wtf at that ending.

[@SynthLizard8]

This game's plot confused the fuck outta me, like you're transporting this woman for some reason, fight bandits or whatever (ok so far), then you start fighting your own side? and at the end you...are suddenly hand her over to a doctor? (This was my interpretation at the time BTW.)

[@HQ_Default]

I kinda wanna play this now, weirdly enough. Despite how generic it all sounds, the graphics and art design look interesting enough, and I'm of the opinion that sometimes you need to play a completely average game to cleanse your palette for the good shit

[@armjustarm]

The reload sounds identical to the cash register when im punching in the items at checkout 😂

[@DerKrazyKrautGaming]

Am I the only intrigued by the story? I mean it's not presented well, but the opening scene with Corina getting shot kinda worked I think?

[@ThommyofThenn]

5:55 this seems like it has to be an edit but the more of this cutscene I watch, the more it seems like that's really just this game's idea of storytelling

[@GmodCaboose56]

I still have my Xbox copy. I remember thinking how cool the weapons looked, but that was about it.

[@aldoelektrika]

As a kid I got hyped for this game because of what Game Informer wrote about it.

[@boomerpatrol2838]

played this on the Xbox a while back with my sister cuz it had a co op campaign. it ran like shit and crashed a ways through the first level, never came back to it.

[@plaguedoctorjamespainshe6009]

The stare the protagonist did at 5:53 made me think the Better call Saul would start playing

[@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive]

Wasn’t this the game with the ability to alter the geography or have a map editor for the console version?

[@LungoScrungo]

14:06 Dawg they really used the Combine APC rocket sound from Half Life 2 😂

[@GameModTech]

Funnny thing is that I played this game, I didn't remember about it anything except for some character saying "THE SHROUD" in a corny way while being really silent and then some enemies turned up.

[@InfernalMonsoon]

Digital Extremes did make a pseudo sequel of sorts called Warpath and I feel that holds up a lot better, since it takes the game's multiplayer and bot matches and uses those elements in a somewhat simplified Star Wars Battlefront conquest mode. It's quite literally the same gameplay but the splitscreen bot matches and mapmaking stuff in Pariah were decently fun and they're somewhat better in Warpath, nothing special but a few hours of fun at least.

[@sonofragments7472]

OMG someone actually remembers this game existed. I loved the art and music of Warpath. If you looked outside the maps you could see huge yellow spider-robots and awesome spaceships bombarding each other. It looked so epic I was so disappointed it was just a skybox

[@InfernalMonsoon]

@@sonofragments7472 It was certainly an interesting game for sure, never knew about those skyboxes but that definitely sounds like DE's attention to detail :)

[@turtleperson3538]

@@sonofragments7472 I fucking love the spider bots, honestly I love the entire art direction for warpath. I dunno what you'd really call that style (specifically the spider tanks and the yellow cyborg guys), but I really wanna know because it looks really cool.

[@allengordon6929]

Jarek should do Warpath Next.

[@krystalalien3344]

I remember this game because it came along a monthly issue of a gaming magazine whose price was around 4 dollars (this was in Romania back in the mid-to-late 2000s, I was 11 or 12 when I first saw the game) and even then I was confused by the story and the cutscenes. Liked the gameplay, even though it was generic. And regarding the ending, to quote Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons: Worst. Ending. Ever.

[@Albert-Freeman]

That noise from when you are trying to reload, but you can't because u have full mag or whatever, it's the default error sound from old unreal engine versions lol

[@cursedhawkins1305]

I can't even call those rocket enemies "rocket flood" at least those at least had an in-universe lore reason (granted it was later down the line) for them not really wanting to preserve themselves.

[@pushon10]

I like that you did a sponsorship for keeps and in this game, the main guy has a receding hairline.

[@Shnowz]

My older sisters friend gave this game to me when I was a kid and I was so hyped to play it, but the disc would never read :(

[@Harvester88]

I played the demo for this game back when Actiontrip was still a thing and they hosted a server to download the demo. That’s all I remember, I remember more about Actiontrip than anything else…. RIP Actiontrip.

[@swolzer]

lol i didnt expect you to review my childhood game

[@SpecShadow]

I remember playing it after return from the Woodstock. My only though - "they could do better". If this was their lowest then surely they can create good stuff easily, right?

[@matthewgill8332]

I forgot this game existed

[@justinbrandt8415]

You missed a really good opportunity to show Shrouds picture every time talking about the Shroud.

[@spiritwolf5774]

I love your timespliters background music

[@maxwellvindman7212]

Can we just talk about how that lady has the same power as an angry bird

[@MartianManHunter2258]

Other better games that came out in 2005: Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, and Condemned: Criminal Origins.

[@randommidimusic1489]

i love this game so much i even got physical copy as this is not sold digitally and probably never will

[@impthewolf5492]

Jarek you ever thought of reviewing The Suffering Ties that Bind

[@ClarkKentai]

I recalled enjoying it, but I don't think I ever paid more than $5 for a copy.

[@Goldenmulletcollector]

I enjoyed this game...when the main characters aren't talking...I liked having the weapon wheel and the ability to upgrade them by finding the weapon core upgrades. I went back and played it earlier this year and I loved the "boomer shooter" feel to it. The OST is really well done, too. Overall though, the voice acting and characters just blow. It's a mixed bag that I enjoy.

[@bigboi7817]

You're reviewing all the games I never got to rent. bless you

[@The_Unpunished]

Considering this game was developed by DE, the people who were involved in things like Unreal and Unreal Tournament, you would think this game would be at least decent. But it feels like they were mostly a support studio, because every time you don't see a bunch of others developers around, the game is mediocre at best (I look at you, Dark Sector). This game screams generic Unreal Engine 2.5 graphics, probably the most decent thing about this, hence I am not surprised the FOV and Resolution (kinda) worked. Physics and ragdoll, which are the things Unreal 2.5 is proud of, are underused.

[@AKBeats1]

Timesplitters music in the background, instant subscribe

[@ghosterino]

This game actually has a special place in my childhood, because it was through this game that I learnt my first swear words XD

[@Mabswer]

Funny, everything you said, matches pretty well to warframe prior 2016 (dumb ai, same 3 enemy types like dude with gun dude with melee and a drone. Repeating corridors etc) One positive i could remmember was that the console version had sort of an map editor which was never heard of on original xbox or consoles in general.. Infact only other game that had something similar was original farcry but that was on xbox360 and ps3.. Twas fun for a total of 4 hours and then i refunded it and got brute force instead which was a better deal

[@KevTheGalaxybender]

I also hate games that force a zoom after reloading. Borderlands does this as well unless you set aim to hold then its not a problem but I have a disability where hold is advantageous for me.

[@treetheoak8313]

I'd recommend cold winter. Although thats gonna have to be emulated.

[@Jarekthegamingdragon]

Already did

[@treetheoak8313]

@@Jarekthegamingdragon damn, I'm gonna have to dig deeper in your videos then!

[@ManinTidyWhities]

I see that game all the time on game shelves of Blockbuster when I was little, and thought it was a cool game. Glad I didn't get to play it, to save me from disappointment

[@Savoritas]

Okay I gotta say something. I have never seen this game in my life before but like many other games from that time it has a very interesting visual style. Maybe its just me but I feel like modern gaming has lost a lot of personality and often stays very grounded and "clean". Its not just visuals but audio too. Halo CE, Half Life or even the console boot up sounds of the 360 or PS1 have so much charme and were unique, almost ethereal feeling. I miss that.

[@andrewwilliams3207]

I remember renting this from Hollywood Video when I was a kid

[@vallis1339]

With this game and Dark Sector I'm curious to know if there's any actual good games Digital Extremes made that aren't Warframe. Also Are you interested in checking out Deathloop at all?

[@coleshores]

They worked on the original Unreal

[@vallis1339]

@@coleshores huh, neat I didn't know they've been around that long

[@kazuhiramiller1616]

Remember one of my uncle's got me an original xbox way back when. Got me 3 games, some CSI game, a random arcade party game, and this. I hated all 3 so much my parents went out with my sister and picked up Halo CE. Don't think I ever booted Pariah up again. Didn't even get past that first turret thing.

[@ethanhall9650]

Hey Jarek, not trying to be rude, but I wanted to ask if you'll possibly be doing a review a bonelabs anytime?

[@Jarekthegamingdragon]

My bonelab video will come out this Friday

[@ethanhall9650]

@@Jarekthegamingdragon ah ok thank you for your comment

[@isaakfaulk8067]

I really like the early 2000s aesthetics of this game

[@unrealdevon]

This is very sad as this could have been awesome. The talent behind is good, I don't know the reason why this got so bad as it did. But i want to believe it has something to do with a publisher or investor.

[@morkgin2459]

Can you give an example of much worse shotgun in games?

[@TheOro44]

The one in Medal of Honor Frontline is pretty dog shit, if only for just 1 level

[@OneSmallStepWeb]

Great sponsor. Great video

[@PyroTBag]

Jarek you should review the Boiling Point game when you have the time. I have some bittersweet memories from that game.

[@Josephrace1991]

I remember seeing this game back in 2005 and it looked like every other FPS title that was around at the time as far as I can remember people said the game was okay at best.

[@Armageddon-yt3so]

Wow. To think I got super lucky not being able to play this game back then lol. I remember going to a discount store and seeing this game in one of their bargain bins. Bought it for like $10, got it home, and returned it the next day because the game wouldn't even load past the Main Menu lol.

[@lukaspalsson9880]

This video triggered a repressed memory. Bought this game when it came out on OG Xbox because of the map editor. Experimented a bit with said editor and got bored. Then I payed the Champaign until I go an autosave where I would spawn outside of a cliff pathway and just fall to my death. I haven't thought of this game until now.

[@raresmacovei8382]

Pariah was one of the full games offered from the monthly gaming magazine, LEVEL, in Romania, back in like 2007. I played this game. Aside from the game looking nice enough for 2005 (it's Unreal 2 after all) and performance being great, everything else about this game was pure tedium.

[@coffee0093]

That yellow grenade launcher thing is ugly in the most beautiful way

[@bisceg181]

I’m so glad you made this video despite all the flaws I remember this game fondly as a kid lol no clue why

[@matteodelapaz1698]

Just realized this game came out the day I was born! (May 3rd, 2005)

[@Chonkems]

Wake the fuck up samurai, new Jarek video is out.

[@GhosTSpartaNFtW34]

That doom shirt that's halo is really cool where did you find that

[@corbinschannel7566]

Bruh idk but the first couple of missions reminds me of like a halo 2 earth multiplayer map

[@arkanizar]

I still remember when It came out and for some reason I really, really, really wanted It, but in the end I never bought It. I guess It was the right call

[@davidthorson2036]

Half of the weapon upgrades are worthless. The assault rifle, sniper rifle, and the rocket launcher upgrades are the only ones that make a noticeable difference. The 2nd and 3rd upgrades for the shotgun are especially egregious. I've played this game a dozen times and I still don't fully understand the point of them.

[@russelledwards001]

I remember the hype because it was a game that might be as good as halo. It wasn’t.

[@ThisIsGlitch]

1:37 just called us eggheads lol

[@TheAkrillion]

This game so boring, I came back to this video because I didn't remember that I actually watched this.

[@plaguedoctorjamespainshe6009]

Ok gonna agree with you, you really pull the bald look amazingly My fear of balding is that i just can't pull that But at the moment I only lose hair because of the unbelievable amount of stress

[@havoc3-243]

If you ever plan on reviewing a Half-Life mod, review Prospekt. It's bad so you will like it.

[@nojuanatall3281]

I remember renting this game and after about 3 hours I was so bored and confused that I gave up on it.

[@garlicbread1107]

Since youre trying Pariah you have to check out Techlands first game Chrome