My XIII review, a VERY underrated game

[FPS=BEST]

This is my first review ive ever done.

XIII(thirteen)
XIII is a fun game with a lot of interesting ideas. It is based on a french comic book, with the same type of graphics also.

Graphics:7/10
A lot of people like the comic book graphics but i didnt as much as other reviewers. XIII has cel-shaded graphics, which means it could have been for 1. to hide problems in the game and make it basic, or 2. To make it like the comic book. The thing i did like was one of the guns you get, if you shoot the enemy in the head, it shows three panels of saying things like BAM! or AAAHHHHH!! If the game had better graphics, it would have even been better!

Audio:8/10
Not much to say here, but the audio is fantastic. It has great sounds from the guns, enemy's, the main character, and just other sounds while trying to accomplish your objective.

Levels:8/10
XIII's levels are fun but some of the levels are a "one way" game so theres not much wondering off to other places except for three or four levels(outside). They ranged from inside a hospitable to a canyon to (my favorite) the begining level Brighton Beach.

Weapons:9/10
Some of the weapons in this game are really fun to use. They have your basic pistol, gernades, sniper rifle, shotgun, assault rifle, and bazooka. But the game has some other weapons not ordinarely in other games; like the .44 special, machine guns, a knife, kalash, crossbows, pump action, and mini guns. There are a lot to choose from as you can see.

Story:8/10 POSSIBLE spoilers
You play has XIII. You wake up on a beach in New York, with the roman numeral XIII tatooed on your shoulder and badly wounded and no memory what so ever. He is being targeted by the Mongoose, and is also wanted for the assasination of President William Sheridan. He wonders why the number XIII is on his shoulder, and you will learn why later in the game. The only bad thing about the story, and why i gave it a 8/10 is because the ending ends with a cliffhanger.

Controls:8/10
The controls are a standard FPS controls.
R-primary fire
L-Alt. Fire
Y-Next weapon
B-Inventory Next
A-Jump
X-Grap
Black-Reload
Right analoge-Move Character
Left analoge-Look/view
Im pretty sure you can choose betweem differnt types.

Gameplay:9/10
Amazing. Its a first person shooter. The game has some pretty good physics also. for instance, if you get a headshot on a mercenary at the top of a cliff. Its always fun watching them fall in to the rock bottom or into a ocean, with their floating bodies.
You get these skills througout the game. Things like having a longer time underwater, (which is VERY helpful) better hearing, which is when you see "tap tap" behind a wall. If the words get biggger that means the enemy is getting closer, and a whole bunch of other skills.
The framerate had know problem in this game what so ever.
Skill levels in the game contain arcade,normal,and realistic. Arcade being the easiest of the three is mostly for a gamer who isnt really expirenced with the xbox. Normal is self-exlanatory. Realistic is the hardest, which is ,of course, the most challenging.
Enemy A.I. (artificial intelligiance) is really good. They will hide behind boxes,walls,they will here you if you are not using croutch,and are just plain smart. Of any game, this is one of the best.
The game has a lot of little things that can be fun. Things like shooting glass and picking them up and throwing it at the enemy. Shooting icicles off the top of a building, and a whole lot of others.
This is not a run-and-gun game. There are alot of things in this game where you need to hide bodies,and a whole selection of others.

Replayability:5-8/10
It all depends if you like the game. For me, i know i didnt see everything the first time through. Using differnt guns and changing the difficulty setting.
The game will probably take you about 10-15 hours to complete. It was actually a pretty long game for a FPS.

Multiplayer:7/10
You can play system link, live, or play with the bots. The multiplayer features; deathmatch,team deathmatch,sabotage,and capture the flag. The A.I. just didnt feel like they were as smart as they are in the single player.

Recemendation:Rent or Buy?
I would have to say buy. it would be worth $25, even though you could probably get it for less then $6.00. This is really a game where you have to play.

Final Score:8.8/10
Get this game, it really is worth it.

[DesR85]

Graphics:7/10
A lot of people like the comic book graphics but i didnt as much as other reviewers. XIII has cel-shaded graphics, which means it could have been for 1. to hide problems in the game and make it basic, or 2. To make it like the comic book. The thing i did like was one of the guns you get, if you shoot the enemy in the head, it shows three panels of saying things like BAM! or AAAHHHHH!! If the game had better graphics, it would have even been better!

Well, I'm not sure if better or next-gen graphics will suit a game like XIII. Considering that it came from a comic book, and the developers want to retain the comic-book look, cell-shaded graphics is the way to go. Sure, it may look like the developers want to hide the basic look of the game but with cell-shaded graphics, it gives the game a comic book look and feel. Also, it does stay true to the source material of the game (because, it looks similar to the comic book itself). Quite a number of Japanese games use this method such as the Legend of Zelda: the Wind Waker for example.