XIII - Remake

The game is buggy and the controls feel janky. Aiming and shooting mechanic are unresponsive. Enemy A.I. sometimes freezes up and doesn't react to being fired at. The graphics are charmless and bland. Was expecting a lot more from this remake. I think the game needed more polish before being released. The original one is much better imo. I honestly feel ripped off and I will ask to get a refund. Very disappointed.

I realize I'm coming in late, but I want to leave a 5 star recommendation. XIII Remake is a game that is in it's best state so far. I played in Feb. 2024 and the patches create a game that is more than fun and a really great experience for those wanting to try out the classic. Keep an eye out for sales. At the time of writing this review it's on sale for $3.99 and I've seen it on sale FREQUENTLY. If you're put off by the reviews or because of how it compares to the classic version, please give the patched version a go. It's a good time and a really fun experience.

I never really played the original, despite having had it in my GOG collection for a while. But I know it was a good game for it's time with innovative visuals and generally fun gameplay. I also know that this remake was extremely poorly received due to it's high price, little in the way of enhancements for the money they were charging. And also buggy. This seems to have been fixed and I found the visuals and gameplay to be decent, though you can tell that at it's core it's still an old game and it seems things haven't changed too much other than slightly improved visuals and perhaps some small gameplay tweaks here and there. But after playing the first level and into the second a bit, i was finding it enjoyable and look forward to playing it some more later. Bare in mind i had to reduce the mouse sensitivity heavily for the game to be playable, but once that was done it was smooth sailing. The game is currently at 85 percent off, and I certainly recommend pulling the trigger at that price but the regular price is too high in my opinion and there are better options out there.

Like other recent reviews have said the game is fixed. Im more than 2hrs in and havent encountered any bugs or issues. Its a quality remake now

They finally fixed the game up enough to be presentable now. Went through the game and only encountered just a few minor problems, mostly comical ones, and the game ran fine. Gunplay feels a bit floaty at times, and the stealth is passable at best, but the original has similar flaws too. I prefer the original over the remake slightly, even if the remake made some things a bit smoother. Both games are worth it on a sale, especially the original. In short, XIII is loosely a cousin of the Rareware type of first person shooter, like Goldeneye / Perfect Dark / Timesplitters, etc. A level based / objective based FPS, except this is a bit more narrative driven and stylistic. The objectives are generally simple, and you usually only have one at a time, and you can't screw them up as bad as you can in the Rareware-like-FPSes, having to restart the entire level after you accidentally planted a tracking bug on a soldier's crotch (don't worry, this has checkpoints). You're biggest threat in XIII is failing a stealth critical area, or falling off a cliff. The combat is relatively easy, unless you play on hard. The boss AI is weirdly dumb, sometimes they just stand there and spin a bit, like they're really shy in the presence of bullets or something. Pretty sure it was better in the original. Still want that sequel, though.