XIII

"Stylish, but where the hell is the depth?"

A cell-shaded first person shooter with what looked to be a fantastic story and interesting gameplay, but to some dismay, it really came up short. Really..

Graphics-9/10
They really have a sharp and colorful feel that brings forth the comic book nature and awesome detail throughout the levels, even character models (as goofy as they appear) have a good amount of detail to them, great palates and facial expressions. No problem in the graphic department.

Story-7/10
An amnesiac named Rowland awakens on the beach and doesn't have much recollection of what happened prior to waking up to a splitting headache and a semi-concerned lifeguard. Piece by piece he starts putting together the puzzle that is his exploited past. At first glance upon the premise, it hooks, it supplies mystery and interest, but how it's presented is what really bombs it right into the depths of hellish-blandness. It's not convincing, they prepare these mission based objectives that somewhat flow with the story while providing clips of back story that's of no particular interest because it's just not presented well.
The developers didn't really seem to keen in immersing the player into the plot nor the gameplay.

Sound-6/10
Passable on accounts of both music, effects and the voice acting. The music is dry with some jazzy tunes that just don't seem to fit the action and circumstances. The effects are muffled and drowned in the music. And the voice acting is decent for the most part, Adam West who plays Carrington does a good job as does Duchovny who voices XIII, however, the script that they read from kills any conveyance.

Gameplay-6/10
As with first person shooters, there really isn't a plethora of things to delve into, due to the simplistic nature of combat. Interestingly, XIII did implement a couple of things to break away from the 'norm', but just didn't do them well enough to be satisfying.

The controls seem a tad bit sluggish, after awhile the learning curve fades, but still retains a very low pressure sensitive right analogue control scheme, which is used to look around, needless to say, it can be a pain to target the enemy with such a small reticule.

As XIII, there are a few tactics to be used. For instance, Rowland has skills he can use, which are displayed as stunning enemies, a sixth sense awareness to your enemies, dual fisted weaponry, picking locks, etc. In the staggering amount you have, only a few prove to be necessary, let alone of interest to gameplay, others are seemingly there just to irritate you, like the lock pick that looks like an electronic flossing instrument that takes awhile to unlock doors making you easy cannon fodder.

Speaking of cannon fodder, that's usually the main setting of play, as the enemies you encounter have quite the aim, capable of blasting you into submission rather easily. It's not much of a gung-ho game, but more along the lines of stealth, which is rather humorous considering a conflicting issue in regards to the stealth aspect of play. Most if not all your opposition are impervious to your tactics of incapacitating them during these covert operations (or any mission for that matter) that undoubtedly produce some anger and unwanted frustration. The difficulty is obtrusive once you sit down and play it, what makes matters worse is that there aren't any damn evasive maneuvers other than duck and cover, it gets worse, once taking cover, the enemies usually flank you, immediately in most instances, run to your location the second you duck which screws your life span dramatically. There's a big difference in a challenging AI and one that exploits your moves and tactics continuously.

Moving past the unrewarding challenge or cheese... There are a couple of things that were particularly interesting whilst playing this game. The weapons are of the same weaponry you've come to see in most games, but what tends to make them different is the option of secondary attack/fire. Some examples include, the 44. special, instead of firing elapsed shots, you do it cowboy-style, slamming down the trigger incessantly that pulls off fast and consistent fire, able to floor most of your foes within the six bursts. Sniper rifles and crossbows have a zoom, the shotgun has a melee attack, and the assault rifle has grenade fire, which helps clear out a room rather fast. These aspects were pretty refreshing, along with the using dual weapons to blast the stiff bad guys and watch them fall like bricks.

In all of the the range of weaponry and secondary assistance, unfortunately, it doesn't portray a very intriguing gameplay, it seems stale with no depth that doesn't keep it motivating. The comic book styled deaths that occur once a head shot has taken place is cute for about the first five times you see it, after that it becomes tiresome.

Replay Value-4/10
The only replay value that I see would be the multiplayer or setting up bots, other than that, the story is rather dull and so is the gameplay, but does have it's entertainment in parts throughout.

Over All, its lacks in depth and feel, it seems stale with no sense of satisfaction from delivering death through the weapons you acquire. Adding insult to injury, the plot drags its shame throughout the course of the game with no present reward of amusement in gameplay.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/29/03