XIII Preview

E3 2003 - First Look

Based on a comic series with a cult following, XIII (pronounced thirteen) puts you in the shoes of an amnesiac whose only clue to her past is a safety deposit box key and a tattoo reading “XIII”. The game combines this comic book narrative with cel-shaded graphics to make an experience that stays very faithful to its source material and makes you feel as though you are playing the comic. The game provides some cool little touches to add to this immersion, like the word “NOOOOO” will leap from an enemy after you kill him, kind of like something you’d find in a comic book. Also, if you kill an enemy in a cool way, the game will stop and show you the kill in grizzly details in comic panels.

The aesthetic touches aren’t the only cool things, however. If you kill someone yet want to remain undetected, then you can move the body to a more hidden location so enemies won’t find it and search you out. You also have a little timer when you cook a grenade that allows to see just how long you have until the thing blows up in your face. Speaking of which, another nice touch that adds to the game’s immersion is if a grenade goes off too close to you, then your character will temporarily go deaf and will only hear white noise. Its little things like that that make all the difference.

Look for XIII to ship this fall with content exclusive to each console.