XIII

"Like reading a comic"

Ubisoft is back with its latest game, Thirteen (xiii). Thirteen is one of the most unique first person shooter genres because the game inserts the comic book element into the game. Thirteen is a good game for comic fans as well as first person shooter gamers.

GAMEPLAY (6/10)
Thirteen was adopted from a Belgian comic book is about a spy called Thirteen (xiii) who lost his memory after an incident in a boat and found himself lying in the beach. The problem occur when a lot people tried to kill him so he must run from the killers and search for a lot of information about himself in order to regain his memory back and then try to change the situation.

Thirteen is a first person shooter game and the game play of the game is not very different from the other first person shooter game. It takes a few playing hours to master the basic control even though the control is not as smooth as the other game. Like every other first person shooter games, the camera view also quite difficult to adjust and it takes few minutes for users to master the control of the view. Few cool skills also can be unlocked by users as the game gets further. Users also can use multiple weapons and items choice in the game.

The multiplayer mode also is not very different from the other games. Users can play with 2 players at the same time. Users can choose few locations for battle and type of battle like death match or steal the flag type. The game also included online game for multiplayer mode.

PRESENTATION (7/10)
One of the best parts of the game is the unique presentation of the game which uses comic book style element. The menus, scripts or even option were nicely presented in this unique style. Even though it brought up a unique style in the game, the writings in the game are very difficult to read and may be hard for users to learn and understand the game.

GRAPHICS (10/10)
The graphics of the game is excellent. It uses bright colors to generate a comic style into a game. The graphics of the scenery and the people in the game also very nice and make it feels like really in the comic book world. The scenes of the game are quite impressive and it is really produce very good plots for the story.

SOUND & MUSIC (7/10)
The voice of the character is very good as each character manage to bring the game into a mood. The music and the sound effects are quite good too but still lack the quality for first person shooter game.

OVERALL (7/10)
The style of the game is very unique and it may inspire a lot of game developers to produce same type of the game. Overall xiii still lacks the quality of the first person shooter but the excellence in bringing comic book style overshadows the weaknesses of the game. This game is recommended only for die hard comic fans or first person shooter gamers who look for a different in a game.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/07/04