XIII

"XIII- A must play for first person shooter fans"

XII- In case you don’t already know, this game is based off the French comic “XIII”, hence, the title XIII. I have not read the comic, but from what I can gather, its follows very close to the story.

Gameplay: 9/10
The gameplay of this game is like any shooter. You have a given set of objectives, and you must go around and complete them. What makes me take away one point is that the game is somewhat short. The average gamer can beat it in about a week and a half, while the above average can beat it under a week on the main difficulty level.
You are XIII. There are two types of mission types. The first is stealth. In some levels, you must sneak around the area completing your objectives, without being spotted. A very nice feature is the AI of the enemies. Most of them patrol the area, and if they see a dead body, they will get suspicious, and may even sound an alarm, therefore ending your mission. Or, if they see you, they will rush to get help from other guards. So in other words, you have to go around silently and hide evidence that you have been around. You can even take hostages to prevent guards from shooting at you, or pick up chairs, bottles, and ashtrays to silently knock out your foes.
The other type is just to complete your objectives. You can kill everyone or no one; all that matters is completing your objectives. Sometimes, you will have a twist in it, like keeping a non-player character alive while they are getting attacked, or while they follow you while you complete your objectives.

Story: 9/10
The story is almost like “The Bourne Identity”. A man wakes up with amnesia, and fights to discover his true identity. In XIII, you start off as a washed up man on the beach. A lifeguard comes to your rescue, and takes you to a medical “shack” on the beach. This is where the game begins. People then storm the shack, trying to kill you.
Throughout the game, there are various flashbacks, briefing the player on how XIII lost his memory. Overall, the story is great, even though the ending will leave you hanging somewhat, which is why there is one point missing.

Graphics: 9/10
For cell-shaded game, this game is beautiful. Everything is detailed, included mountains, boats, and houses. There are some places where the graphics could use some work, but overall, they look nice. But if you are really picky, the lip-syncing doesn’t match with the voice, but who cares?

Sound: 8/10
The music is nothing spectacular, but it flows nicely with the theme and mood of levels. Some voices just don’t seem to fit the right character, like XII. His voice is just doesn’t match the personality, if that makes sense at all. Bullet sounds and explosions sound just like they are supposed to. Again, nothing spectacular, but then again, its not bad.

Controls:9/10
The controls of this game are great. It can be a bit awkward at first, with the one throwing people off most is the L-button being used to jump, but after playing a while, the controls will feel natural as your own hair.

Replayability: 8/10
As stated earlier, this game is fairly short. The average gamer can beat it in about a week and a half, while the above average can beat it under a week. On arcade mode, you can beat it faster, while realistic mode will have you pulling your hair out. If you enjoy playing games for the entertainment value and challenge, you will probably play this game time and time again. The only disadvantage is that there is no level select, so you must make saves at different levels. One save is six blocks, and you get about 12 saves per six blocks.

Rent or Buy?
If you don’t play on buying, this is a definite rental. You will not be disappointed

Overall score(not an average): 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/07/04, Updated 02/08/04