Developer(s) – Ubisoft Paris, Southend Interactive (Xbox) & Feral Interactive (Mac)
Publisher(s) – Ubisoft, Marvelous Entertainment & Feral Interactive
Director – Elisabeth Pellen
Producer – Julien Barés
PEGI – 16
XIII was a game based on the comic book of the same name written by Belgian novelist Jean Van Hamme. According to Ubisoft president Laurent Detoc, the game would create “a world so unique and enthralling those gamers will become instantly engaged”. Even with a very new form of visual presentation in video games, I wouldn’t entirely agree with this.
Graphics – 7/10
The graphics were fairly well done for the time. This was, after all, the first-ever comic book-style first-person shooter. Its visual style is indeed the best thing about the game not only that, but it is also very well polished. I couldn’t see any glitches or anything like that while I was playing through it. I think the weak point about the game’s style is that the settings are extremely similar to that of games like Perfect Dark and Goldeneye 007, which would suggest that influences were somewhat too obvious. For example, the level whereby rooftops have to be traversed in order to elude police recapture was very similar to the opening level of Perfect Dark in conceptual design.
Gameplay – 5/10
Although this game was revolutionary for its time in terms of visuals, it wasn’t in terms of gameplay. Even for the time, this is a first-person shooter, which plays out pretty typically for most games in the genre. Any element of challenge in the game is presented through the stealth mechanics. Which again, are not as elaborated on as those found in games like Metal Gear Solid, or the first Sly Cooper. The game also has a small amount of incentive and variety. The more the player progresses, the more the main character’s memory is regained. Thus yielding more skills as the game progresses. But even so, this game can become very boring very quickly, in my opinion.
Controls – 7/10
The movement in this game is also particularly stiff. It can become an unnecessary chore to aim at times, and the auto-aim system can be particularly confusing. As the crosshair doesn’t fix itself onto targets properly. Also, the grapple hook used to traverse buildings or mountains can be difficult to get to grips with at first. But other than that, the game plays out fine in terms of controls.
Lifespan – 5.5/10
Typical of any standard first-person shooter, XIII can be finished within 6 hours. Visuals alone are never enough to keep people playing a video game. At the end of the day, it’s all about the gameplay. And there wasn’t enough of it in XIII to make it last as long as it may have been able to. The problem with developing linear first-person shooters. Or even linear games in general, is that very few of them have side quests and therefore contain next to no replay value apart from playing through it on a harder difficulty.
Storyline – 7/10
The game’s story is about a man named XIII. He wakes up on a beach with amnesia to find out he is the prime suspect in the president’s recent assassination, he must fight his way through the FBI, the CIA, and the criminal underworld. In order to uncover his identity and clear his name in the process. The game’s story is actually not bad, to be fair. There are a few decent twists and turns to it but the voice acting is a bit off. The standout performances, in my opinion, are that of both David Duchovny and Adam West, who play XIII and General Carrington respectively. This was based on a fairly popular comic book series. So it was always bound to have some depth in the story, at least. But overall, I think the developers chose to concentrate more on that and visual style than on gameplay.
Originality – 7/10
Obviously, the most significant features of this game are the stylized visuals, which would become a stable part of game franchises in the future. And the pretty compelling story. But as I keep pointing out, it’s all about gameplay ultimately, and there wasn’t enough innovation in that department to keep it enthralling in my opinion.
Niiutral
Overall, I think first-person shooting fans should play through this game at least once, but I think it should probably be left at that. It’s terrible by any stretch of the imagination, but I think the novelty wears off after a while, as there doesn’t seem to be enough substance in gameplay to keep it entertaining throughout.