XIII adapts the Belgian comic into a cel-shaded FPS. Onscreen bubbles, bold dialogue and a noir mood. A bold curiosity, more stylish than polished, but undeniably charming.
Your verdict
Category
First-Person Shooter4 players16+
Split screen
Description
A Southend Interactive and Ubisoft FPS released in 2003, the Western edition of XIII based on the Belgian XIII comic book by Jean Van Hamme and William Vance. An amnesiac man named XIII investigates his own identity and a US president assassination plot. Innovative cel-shaded FPS with comic-book aesthetics (bubbles, onomatopoeias, comic visual effects), split-screen multiplayer mode up to 4 players. Original and successful comic adaptation.
XIII review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
4/5
Story
★★★★★
"Captivating"
Inspired by the Belgian comic, the game transposes the ink, the flat colours and the panels right down to the onomatopoeia that burst onto the screen. This nervous cel-shading freezes the action into genuine animated pages of perfect readability. A rare gamble in the FPS, this style made history and keeps a unique cachet.
An FPS from Ubisoft adapted from the comic, XIII casts an amnesiac caught in a state conspiracy, in a cel-shading art direction reproducing the comic's line with onomatopoeia bubbles and panels on screen. The unique graphic style, the conspiracy thriller mood and the polished voice acting make it a work apart. The conventional gunfights and a dated AI weigh on it. A striking title for fans of FPS with a strong style and of comics brought to the screen on PS2.
