Description
XIII is a cel-shaded first-person shooter based on the popular Belgian cult comic created by Jean Van Hamme and illustrated by William Vance. The game is loosely based on the first five comics. The main theme of the game is based on
Robert Ludlum's book
The Bourne Identity, and features a man who is suffering from amnesia and quite possibly involved in the recent assassination of the President of the United States. The hero knows almost nothing except that he must be important, since everyone is trying to kill him. Gradually uncovering the mystery, the hero, learns more about his secret agent past and his curious name: XIII.
The player unravels clues, trying to solve a conspiracy set in an environment that breathes a comic book ambiance. Footsteps and shots are visualized in text and actions: for example, head shots are shown in a series of still images. Aside from that, the game I has all the typical FPS elements: both stealth and action, more than fifteen weapons (shotguns, crossbows, rifles, ...), interaction with environmental objects and plenty of enemies in levels spread all over the world. During the game, the player can learn a number of skills such as silent walking, lockpicking and dual weapons handling.
Alternate Titles
- "杀手十三" -- Chinese spelling (simplified)
- "XIII: le jeu vidéo" -- French title
- "Thirteen" -- Common title
- "Shashou Shisan" -- Chinese title
Part of the Following Groups
User Reviews
There are no reviews for the Macintosh release of this game. You can use the links below to write your own review or read reviews for the other platforms of this game.
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Trivia
Characters
Not all the enemies in the game are pure fantasy. The look of at least two of them is based on real persons. One of them is Niels Bogdan, German PR-guy from Ubi Soft, the other one is more interesting: In cooperation with the German games-show NBC GIGA GAMES, the designers gave the viewers of the show the chance to get themselves into the game. They just had to send pictures - and the other viewers decided, wich was the meanest looking villain, you could imagine.
Well, in the end, they didn't choose some mean looking guy - but a very, very mean, in a strange way, looking, young, ultra-nerdish guy. So, if you come across some really questionable villain who looks a bit like Bill Gates, you know why...
References
In the Canyon level, you can find three deserted graves. Unlike the tomb in the garden of the mansion, later on in the game, the names written on them do not refer to in-game characters, but to members of the development team:
Olivier Dupin (2D),
Marc Chevalier (3D Artists and Special Effects) and
Nath Moschetti (Artistic Director).
Soundtrack
The groovy seventies music is composed by artists associated with the San Francisco's Future Primitive Sound art collective. The soundtrack has been made available exclusively in a
XIII game bundle that could be ordered from the Ubisoft site. There are no song titles, just 13 unidentified tracks that flow one into the other in one continuous mix.
Awards
- Computer Gaming World
- March 2004 (Issue #236) – Special Achievement in Art Direction
Information also contributed by
Felix Knoke
