XIII

satchmo

Anyone else get this last week? I did, only to find out that if I'd waited until today I could've gotten it half price with KOTOR :rolleyes:.

Anyway, I must say I think it's quite a fun game. The cel-shaded graphics lend a certain style to the levels and characters, and the way the story unfolds and with the cut-scenes and all.. well it feels like playing a comic-book! Underneath it all it's very much a bog-standard FPS, but more arcadey than most. It's very polished, and the frame effects like double-vision and underwater blurring are very effective.

The story begins with you waking up washed up on a beach with bullet holes in you, and a total loss of memory - you seem to know how to handle a gun though (The Bourne Identity anyone?!). Throughout the game certain events will trigger grainy black-and-white flashbacks as you regain your memory. These give you clues as to your identity, and why you seem to have assassinated the president.

It's fun being able to sneak around and clobber people with ashtrays, chairs, bottles or whatever happens to be at hand. The guns have a good meaty feel to them too, although they're frustratingly inacurrate at times. Overall the level design isn't particularly inspiring.. lots of wooden boxes strewn around, canyon levels, snow levels, rooftops... all pretty run-of-the-mill really. The AI for the most part is quite aggressive, making you fall back in a hurry if there's a few of them in a tight space. Not too smart though.

There's some nice set pieces, but I've yet to see something truly new or unique (except for the rendering style). What it does it does well, and is definitely good fun.

As for the multiplayer.. I've only tried a couple of bot matches, but the levels I tried were pretty badly designed, and the game itself wasn't much fun. Don't think I'll be trying to play it online.

Overall? I guess about 7/10.

tman

played the demo a month or so ago...
the beach level was fun, then it switched to a ****ty stealth level.
i promptly quit and uninstalled the demo.

po0k

That mission wasn't stealthy....you could happily run through it blasting cerebrums from the owners' shoulders with aplomb.

tman

d'oh!

i'll give it another lash then...

Matt Simis

I played (and finished) the full game and wish they did actually take the stealth more seriously. Its got a great style and story, but non-existant AI and level design a step up from Wolf3D. Still liked it, but doesnt have the "ingame" atmosphere FarCry, HL2 and Stalker promise.

Mind you, unlike those games, XIII was actually released, on all platforms to boot.


Matt

Doodah7

Originally posted by Matt Simis
I played (and finished) the full game and wish they did actually take the stealth more seriously. Its got a great style and story, but non-existant AI and level design a step up from Wolf3D. Still liked it, but doesnt have the "ingame" atmosphere FarCry, HL2 and Stalker promise.

Mind you, unlike those games, XIII was actually released, on all platforms to boot.


Matt

Which format did you play it on?

Anyone know if there is much (any) difference between the xbox and GC versions?

Matt Simis

Played this one on the PC. I was told there is one diff on the PC version, at one point during play it tells you to "Buy the game to continue" if you have a warez version.*



Matt


* I had legit version, so I dunno if thats true.

angelofdeath

played the multiplayer demo last week, (just with bots tho) the game looks really sweet and plays ok, but so many crates it made my eyes hurt, the ai was crap too, dont know bout the single player, still tho kudos for making the most original looking game of the year

Seifer

There are exclusive multiplayer game types to each console as far as I know. The xbox one is called sabotage; defend or attack a target. Don't know about the gc.
The xbox version probably runs a bit better too.

satchmo

Originally posted by Seifer
There are exclusive multiplayer game types to each console as far as I know. The xbox one is called sabotage; defend or attack a target. Don't know about the gc.
The xbox version probably runs a bit better too.

Wrong, the PC has sabotage mode too. And why in gods name would the xbox version run better? Thats just crazy talk.

tman

methinks he meant that the xbox version runs better than any of the other 2 console versions...
should run nicely on the xbox, its not a very demanding game on the pc (despite using the unreal warfare engine...)

honru

Wow, play.com are selling the PS2 and Xbox versions of XIII for £18 (€26). In fact, most of the newly-released Ubi Soft games (Prince of Persia: SOT, Rainbow Six 3) are selling for the same price. Would be a good time to check it out.

tman

that makes me heart play.com just that little bit more
shame it hasn't extended to the gamecube versions:(

Seifer

Yes I did mean runs better than the two other console versions.
Also with sabotage the exclusitivity only applys between consoles like everything gaming. (before you pick me up on that too its just in general Im sure there are exceptions)

satchmo

Ah fair enough, I read you wrong the first time.
I must say XIII's save game mechanism is very annoying. I guess it does make you play the game a little more cautiously, but having 'save points' rather than just being able to save when you want doesn't really work. I've seen it in other games too, and I've never really liked it.

BKtje

it can be annoying if the save points arent well placed.
Eg in PoP they were and they were often.

Nothing worse than having to re-do the WHOLE level but i prefer them as im always tempted t save all the time otherwise

(i havent played XIII yet btw)

po0k

Press F5 anywhere to quicksave.
i've yet to get the Load function working though

Been paying it there for the alst hour or there abouts.
I really like it. It just feels right when I click the mouse and squeezze off a few rounds. They seem to just thump into the enemies, very satisfying to play.

Played basic DM against 2 bots on the bank level.
Great fun, though the AR runs out of ammo very quickly and the shotgun can be a bit slow to reload, not to mention when he does reload it gets lifted up and to the right, blocking your view of the target for a good 20degrees of your forward fire-arc.

I'm liking it so far.

sci0x

I really like the story line and the range of guns you can use including crossbows, sniper rifles, automatic weapons and even shards of glass, and you can use them with the skill of a born professional.