XIII (GameCube)

"Loading..." First impressions are everything. You can have a quick scan of the box art whilst your waiting; engrossing, comic, colourful... everything is set to be consummate. It has loaded. So then... first impressions. The menus and the set up system are gorgeous. Original designs and artwork that are so very very lush to view. And the game proceeds this way. It's beautiful, and there are no shortcomings in the art design. It's simply a gorgeous world to play around in. Each of the different areas of the game has it's own feel and fashion, there's never a time when you can halter the visual accomplishments. Everything from the characters, weapons, scenery, it has all been polished wonderfully.

The game follows a typical storyline format, it isn't meant to dive into an original plot, but it is meant to be discursive and fulfilling. It follows the familiar superhero type comic story lines. Now, you're no superhero, but you are the hero of the game. The cut scenes are intuitive and original, similar to the Max Payne story telling scenes, but more stimulating. And whilst the game covers all bases of what you'd imagine an action comic to have, it's far too complicated to grasp and only gets more so throughout. You keep thinking everything is getting wrapped up and then the game throws a whole new area at you. And at first, this is welcomed. There's over 30 single player levels to explore and whilst some are shorter than others, there's so much to take in and enjoy.

But there are more drawbacks to come. It is nice to have such an easy to use interface, the controls are easily handled and you never struggle to pick up items. But, the concept is very linear. Often in large places, the game is good at giving the impression of a large size. However, try exploring and in reality you'll find there's generally only one path to take. There are also many pre-scripted events, which are mostly really well composed, but again, it strains the ability to explore. So the game's challenge doesn't really come from finding where to go, apart from the odd puzzle, but from the enemies themselves. XIII switches you quickly between stealth and all out action. Snapping necks or crazy gun firing is a good choice to have and most of the time you do have a choice of how to approach the enemies, which is always welcome.

Unfortunately the AI isn't particularly well executed. You can open fire killing a guard and only metres away you see other guard walking by unaware. It is very odd. They are well incorporated into the gameplay, though. You can be creeping up behind some barracks and overhear the conversations they have. It is all very well polished. You'll find yourself re-trying a lot of the time because the difficulty curve isn't really very accurate. Sometimes you stroll through, others you're overrun with enemies. Thankfully the checkpoint system works well, so you never really have too much ground to recover.

The real annoyance of the game, is the aiming. Whilst initially it seems alright, when you come to disposing enemies at a distance it can require patience. Fortunately some weapons have a scope to zoom in, but many a time, without this option frustration can grow.

And so to conclude, it's lovely to look at and most of the time to play. The stealth sections particularly are a joy to complete, if a little overpowering. Whilst how to complete an objective in a level isn't always immediately clear, on the whole you never have much trouble progressing. You always get pulled into the story, you get a real sense of progression and you are consistently enjoying it all. The multiplayer feels more of a last minute extra, than a full addition to the main story. But you can have a few bots and when you get a 4 player game going, it can be a good lot of fun.

The game's loveliness outweighs its flaws. XIII is a game definitely worth buying.

The unravelling of the conspiracy is at the heart of this game. It's fortunate that it keeps you gripped, as you soon realise the levels are not free roaming slugfest. You are gently guided along from one scripted event to the next, restricted from exploring by locked doors or inaccessible hillsides. This may seem like a criticism by it's not. As I say, it's the story that will keep you coming back. The tasks are varied, from rescuing an ally held in a remote military base, to taking a hostage so you can escape from a bank without killing any innocents.

This objective based gameplay is well accomplished, but is not the best executed example (see N64 Goldeneye). The tension is further enhanced by your limited ammo and health and the levels get quite difficult pretty quickly, but you rarely feel cheated by an unfair death.

Some problems; the controls are fiddly and aiming your gun is more awkward than necessary. Restarting a level after you die results in waiting 20 second for it to load again. which grates after the 25th time. Also, the multiplayer is not great (see N64 Goldeneye, still the best) and people can't just pick up a controller and expect to win against the bots (which turn out to be quite stupid, when you know what you're doing.)

That all said, I still find myself very engaged by this title and can't wait to unravel the whole conspiracy. You will enjoy it.

Graphics

Cel shaded and FPS shouldn't be used in the same sentence, but here it works well. The games artistically styled like a comic book, but don't be fooled by its appearance.

Sound

Great, weapons sound as they should and peoples voices aren't overdone.

Gameplay

Somewhat lengthy loading times, but its worth the wait. This doesn't feel like level after level of mind-numbing rubbish, and is actually, quite good.

Replay value

This may have a multiplayer, but it doesn't do much for the game. That's not to say its bad, but just that like most games now-days, once its gone, its gone.

Overall

A decent game that looks like a cartoon but plays like a bad-ass mafia boss.