XIII Single Player Demo

Comic books are pretty good at helping your imagination run wild, since they only provide you with a few sketches and drawings that are meant to represent the entire world in which the action takes place. The rest of the job is yours, which is probably why people are so disappointed by books turned into movies, since everyone imagines the events in a certain way and the visual representation in the movie obviously won't come close to everyone's personal fantasies.

XIII is a first-person shooter based on the graphic novel with the same name and it tells the tale of a man by the name of Jason Fly, who wakes up one day with no memory of who he is, or why are there people trying to kill him the minute he regains consciousness. By making use of the impressive set of skills he happens to posses, together with a hefty arsenal of dangerous weapons, he manages to get to the bottom of the mystery and see things clearly in the end.

However, the game is only somewhat based on the events unfolding in the novel, since most of it is original and specially created for the game at hand. Thus, even if you have read the book, the action should still keep you interested from start to finish. Since it involves amnesia, government agents and the assassination of the US president, things are bound to keep you motivated, as you quickly realize when you first run the game.

The developers did a good job at integrating healthy amounts of dark humor into the plot, complete with funny dialogues, situational humor and a lot of “BANG!”s to spice up the atmosphere whenever something exciting is happening on the screen. The plot itself can get pretty hilarious along the way, but it still remains serious enough to pose a real interest to the players.

Visually, the game uses the Unreal Engine 2 when it comes to graphics, but a lot of work went into making it look more like a comic book. Thus, the Cel-Shading technique was used to get rid of realism and implement the trademark bright colors, lack of proper shadows and the thick black lines that distinguish the characters from the background. Thankfully, all of these elements work together to create a unique experience and quite the memorable atmosphere.

In the end, XIII sets itself apart from the rest of the first-person shooter scene, by choosing to approach certain things from an entirely new direction. The stealth elements are very well implemented and the humor greatly adds to the atmosphere.