WarPath

May 22, 2006

In these waning days of the Xbox, it's certainly understandable that developers aren't going out there and trying to reinvent the wheel when it comes to novel games or gameplay for Microsoft's original console. Of course, that doesn't mean the Controller-S crowd should resign itself to uninspired retreads as the bulk of the time, brains, and money goes into coming up with cutting edge concepts for the 360. Groove Games and developer Digital Extremes have done a little recycling with WarPath, but the game -- a follow-up to last year's Pariah -- should have enough nifty little wrinkles to let old-school Xboxers feel like someone out there still cares about them.

The original Pariah was hit and miss with the critics. We weren't bowled over by the thing, giving it two-and-a-half stars out of five, but our brothers at IGN dug it and blessed it with an eight out of ten. It was a first-person shooter that was definitely trying to find a home in the consoles of Halo lovers. WarPath has set its sites elsewhere. Gone is any attempt at epic storytelling. While keeping many of the elements of Pariah, this one is aimed at the fast-twitch fans of Unreal Championship. After blistering my thumbs on some preview code, it looks like it should be a hit with those who like a good fragfest.

As is the case with any good fragfest, it's at its most fun when you're going headhunting for live targets. While the single-player game is okay, you'll probably think of it more as practice for when you take things online. To its credit, development did try to add some backstory to the single-player game, but the whole thing -- a three-way conflict between The Ohm, The Kovos, and The Coalition over scarce resources -- is explained in somewhat of a throwaway text paragraph at the opening.

The single-player campaign does progress in somewhat of a novel way, though. Instead of a traditional linear storyline, it's basically a series of multiplayer games that take advantage of the game's surprisingly good AI teammate system. Between skirmishes, you're whisked back to a Risk-style interface that lets you decide where you should make your next move. But instead of simply being able to annex all of Europe, here your decision will affect which of the factions you're going to make headway with, what type of multiplay-style combat you'll be fighting, and what the reward will be. While each of the three factions begins with two weapons, by maneuvering about the honeycomb-like grid, you'll be able to stock your cache with arms previously available only to your enemies.

While the range of weapons is nothing spectacular -- you have your shotguns, machine guns, plasma dealies, and rocket launchers -- the game's upgrade system gives each of these death toys three potential levels of powers and abilities. Your foes will drop weapons upgrade points that can be spent on whatever weapon you want to ratchet up. It gives things a nice RPG-like strategy element when you have to decide if you want to be able to hand out more carnage or be able to improve the recuperating speed and power of your handheld healing device.

Not for nothing, but I think the guys that come up with names for weapons in shooters could really make a ton of dough if they got a gig coming up with names for yoga positions. As it is, I would never take a yoga class -- regardless of how good it's supposed to be for me -- solely because I don't want to spend an hour all pretzeled-up in something called "The Pigeon Pose." But give that same contortion a cool name like "The Vindicator" or "Apocalypse's Ire" and then I might stop by.

What you do with all these weapons permutations is the same whether you're going it solo or playing online. You can hack away in either every-man-for-himself or team deathmatches, play Capture the Flag, or a take part in the cool squad-based Frontline Assault where the goal is to infiltrate deeper and deeper into enemy territory. (For the record, multiplayer isn't limited strictly to online action. There is system link multiplayer for those who like to haul around their consoles and a spare TV, but sadly, there's no split-screen play. While not the easiest way to keep track of everything that's going on onscreen, a split-screen option would have given you the chance to chase a real-life buddy around with a pimped-out rocket launcher. And that's always fun.)

The look of the game won't disappoint. Using both the Unreal and Havok engines, the thing flies at a solid frame rate, and there's no shortage of bodies flying ragdoll-like through the air. The various maps offer a decent array of settings, from open field venues where sniping skills are important to close-quartered corridor crawls where split-second reflexes are necessary.

While it's still almost a month before WarPath gets released, it's kind of a drag that a few of the gaming mags have already released reviews -- a couple of them none-too-stellar. Sure, they may be dealing with about-to-go-gold code, but for a game like this, the ultimate test of whether it works or not is when you're able to go online and see who's out there playing the thing. From what I've seen of the single-player game, there's no reason that the online multiplayer shouldn't be even cooler.

While your AI buds are on-the-spot, it's always a kick to play with real-life allies to see who caves under pressure, who rises to the occasion, and who bails at the least opportune time because they have to do things like go to work. Early reviews released before real gamers actually get a chance to road test things online can often be misleading and can definitely generate some negative buzz. I have a feeling that's what may happen here. WarPath looks to be a solid shooter that should raise the adrenaline levels of action fans -- and at a bargain $29 to boot. My advice? Ignore the mags and check back here for the post-release review to get a truer sense of how this online-centric fragfest plays out.