XIII

"Way underrated"

Being put off by the reviews, I finally picked this game up when it hit the $9.99 price tag and I was in for a big surprise.

Story: 10/10
Top notch. You have amnesia and you don't remember anything, yet you are being fingered as the one who killed the president. Level by level, you begin to discover who you are and what is going on. The curiosity factor is so big that it is hard to put this game down. The story drives you, like the best mystery comic bok. Why comic? The story of this game unfolds in the frames of a comic book

Graphics: 8/10
It is cell shaded game, presented in the comic form like I said before. The graphics won't blow you away but you will appreciate the huge variety of levels. There are no such things as generic levels, as you go to many places. Beautiful sceneries. There is a small degree clipping, and interiors could have been more detail, that why I took off 2 points.

Sound: 9/10
There is no catchy music that will stick in your mind, sound however plays a very important role in this game, because of stealth. Sometimes the only way to know where the enemy is by listening to their footsteps or catching their conversation. Helping out the sound are comic sub titles, which alert you when someone is coming your way or going away.

Game-play: 10/10
It is an FPS with excellent control. You have huge variety of weapons, most of which have secondary functions. Anything from a harpoon, throwing knives, two handed wuz-ies to a missile launcher. The head-shots in this game will leave on impression on you, guaranteed, as Ubi-Soft presents it in a remarkable way. Since about 30% of the game takes place where you have to use stealth, there are many stealth weapons. Besides weapons you also have items, and can collect multiple med packs that you can use at your leisure, which is quite convenient. One of my favorite items is a hook, that allows you to access different heights. In this game also you can take hostages and you have the ability to pick-up the bodies and hide them away. AI is very smart, since they can ambush you, they call for reinforcements, and use cover very well. Like I said before 30% of the game requires stealth, so your kills have to be precise and silent. Enemy reacts to sight of a fallen body and the firing of a shot. If you think you can go through this game just blasting away, you are going to get owned. It is not an easy FPS, and quite lengthy too.

Multi-player: 9/10
This game supports system link, split screen and XBOX Live. The LIVE arena is still busy at this point and the matches are fun and engaging. It also keep scoreboards. You basically have death match, team death match, capture the flag and sabotage. Oh yeah they have bots and you can adjust the difficulty of those bots.

Final Impression
It is an excellent FPS, and for under $19.99 it is a great value.
I'll give it 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/09/04