XIII

Most of the game is fantastic, but the checkpoints really hurt the experience on higher difficulty. Back in old days developers put in fake difficulty like this since they didn't want to expose the game's short length - this game lasted me 15 hours, but the content in it is probably closer to 9 hours (maybe even less). If they made a sequel to this, I guarantee you they wouldn't use the same checkpoint system. Not only does the game NOT save the game on a checkpoint (you have to manually save every checkpoint to actually persist the changes), the checkpoints are also placed very aggravatingly. It is very common to defeat a boss and find more enemies before you hit a checkpoint, which might result in you retrying the boss multiple times - this really ruins immersion as defeating the boss doesn't feel as fun as it would be. I recommend this game if you feel you would be ok with rubbish grade save system. Do not hesistate in using wikis/guides/glitches to defeat bosses, especially on the highest difficulty. (You will need to tweak a couple of ini files to get the game to display full hd and enable sound, which I didn't mind).

RECOMMENDED for a cheap price AND ONLY IF IT WORKS WITH YOUR SYSTEM. Please test its workability with the free XIII SP demo. If you like comic book stuff, you might like this. The rest of the people should do research before committing to a purchase. This game is not as approachabe as a comic book game as Freedom Force games are. This is much more serious and drier than it, though there is some sparse humor in it. Ultimately it comes down to being an FPS and gunning down some plot-relevant gunmen. Technical warning: Most likely. This game will not run out of the box. If you do not install the x86 .DLL files that come with e.g. dgDoom (D8D3, D9D3, DImm and DDraw) to the XII\System directory, you will most most likely get any of the million possible Direct X errors from missing files. I got the D3DERR_NOTAVAILABLE one. Installing them to the executable directory will override the system DLL's that tend to be incompatible with games in Win10 and Win11. Test it with the demo if unsure. The game in short: 5/5 cutscenes and storytelling MINUS the super-predictable twist at the end and 2/5 as an FPS because of super stiff, console-aim-assist-riddled gunplay. So basically, even if you shoot at the head with most guns, the bullet will not go there because of the aim assist. The assist is lessened with shotguns and the crossbow, though those ones tend to deviate from where you shoot the enemy. For example, the shotgun shots to the neck tended to hit as headshots despite not aiming there. After the initial campaign playthrough, there is no replay value in the story mode. Though because this is an Unreal Engine game, the bots are available and solid, so you can play even when offline and Unreal bot matches are quite entertaining. Though you might as well play Unreal instead. I feel this game does hold up today when it works, though its tone and main content are not appealing. The stealth missions are infuriatingly picky, no saving at will and check points not common enough

Best.

I'd love to give this more stars, I really would. I have great memories of this title however the port is a massive let down. If you don't believe me, just try navigating the menus for more than 5 minutes.

I played and enjoyed XIII on the PS2 way back in 03 so when it comes to the story and graphics I knew what to expect. Who doesnt love cell shading? The real problem is the controls. Dear lord they are so bad.