Print Article: XIII Preview & Screenshots Feature



		XIII Preview & Screenshots Feature November 14, 2003 Marcus Yam

Summary: With the news yesterday that XIII had gone gold, today we bring you our quick look preview at one of the most unique looking first-person shooters we’ve ever seen. We play both the PC and console versions, so everyone is welcome to join in on the fun. We’ve also loaded this one up with nearly 100 (or “C” in Roman numerals) high-res, anti-aliased screenshots, so be sure to check it out!

Thirteen Page:: ( 1 / 9 )
We recently got our hands on near-final builds of XIII (that’s “thirteen” and not “ex-ai-ai-ai”) to see the latest on Ubisoft’s Unreal-engined first person shooter. Originally slated to be released early 2003, XIII faced a delay to ensure the quality of the game – a wise decision as what we’ve played thus far indicates that the extra time was put to good use.

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Graphic novel roots

For those not in the know, XIII is based off the European comic book of the same name. The story is that you’re a badass special forces operative that has lost his memory. Naturally, you’ve been framed for the murder of the President and you’re on the run. When you start in the game, you’re relatively unskilled; but as the game progresses and you regain fragments of your memory, you slowly regain your abilities. For example, one skill you start with is your sixth-sense hearing, allowing you to ‘see footsteps’ as your assailants approach. See footsteps? Yes, on-screen sound effects captions (such as Tap Tap Tap) appear just as they would in a comic book, showing the location and direction of movement of characters beyond solid object. Basically, it acts as a radar.

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Other special skills that you’ll be able to regain are as follows:

Silent walk
Dual weapons
Breathing
First aid
Sniper
Stunning
Lock picking

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Pop up panels

Other comic book influences are seen during action-activated events. At certain points, comic panels will pop up, highlighting a happening (think of the Hulk movie). Headshots in the game are emphasized with a few gruesome panels of close-up. Big block letters of BAOOOM accompany explosions just for good measure.

SIDEBAR: XIII the graphic novel has yet to make it consistently over to North American shores. If the game’s successful, maybe it'll finally show up in our comic stores.

The real cel-shady Page:: ( 2 / 9 )
Of course, no mention of XIII can be made without commenting on the game’s unique cel-shaded visuals. Instead of featuring advanced lighting and shadow effects, Ubisoft has opted to go with a very flat and clean look for both its models and environments. Not the entire game is cel-shaded, however, mostly just the interactive models, items, and weapons. This helps them stand out and reinforces the idea that you’re playing a three-dimensional comic book. Of course, a picture is worth a thousand words, so please be sure to check out all the screenshots included here.

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XIII on IV platforms

XIII is a true multiplatform game with its released planned for GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC. All versions of the game will feature multiplayer with 12 maps out of the box. Each console version will have its own exclusive multiplayer mode. The PS2 version will get Power Up, which includes unique pick-ups such invincibility and invisibility. Xbox will get Sabotage, where two teams compete to take control of different strategic points in the map. Though unconfirmed, last we heard GameCube will get Capture the Chicken. The bonus for the PC is a bundled map editor.

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Multiplayer

Ubisoft is granting online multiplayer on any system up for the task, which means everyone except Nintendo’s console. While the GameCube has the network adapter, it’s proven itself mostly useless outside of Phantasy Star Online and some other ‘hobbyist’ activities. So, even though the PS2, Xbox, and PC versions will be on the ‘net, it’s unfortunate that they’ll all be speaking different dialects. How cool would it be to hop on your favorite server and be fragging with players on different consoles? (Though, I suspect the keyboard and mousers would have a huge, unfair advantage.) GameCube gamers and those who wish to play with friends offline have the option of doing it with split screen.

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SIDEBAR: The first 300,000 units of XIII for Xbox will ship with a two-months free Xbox Live account.

Plus Mouselook Page:: ( 3 / 9 )
Because of its rather simplistic textures and cel-shading, XIII looks practically identical across all the platforms it is launching on. The differences between the console versions come down to the amount of aliasing artifacts and framerate. Of course, if your PC is up to the task, nothing beats playing XIII with anti-aliasing cranked up.

Aside from its ability to banish jaggies, the PC is likely to be the platform of choice for XIII simply because of the keyboard and mouse. As a first-person shooter, there’s no better way to play XIII.

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Holy voice actors, Batman!

Several big name voice actors are tied to this title: David Duchovny as XIII, Eve as Major Jones, and Adam West as General Carrington. Eve fits right in as Major Jones, but early on we found it a little difficult to separate our mental images of XIII from Agent Mulder and General Carrington from Batman. During late summer, Ubisoft announced its partnership with San Francisco-based label Future Primitive Sound to record exclusive tracks to enhance the 70s vibe of XIII.

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We’re only part way through XIII, and we’ve been told that playing time is expected to run about 12-17 hours, depending on difficulty. From our time spent with XIII so far, we can say that it is delivering a truly intriguing story with very stylish visuals. It’s amazing what Ubisoft is able to do with the Unreal engine – first Splinter Cell’s lighting effects, and now XIII’s playable comic book.

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PlayStation 2 and PC versions will be shipping to stores on November 18, with the GameCube and Xbox versions shipping on November 24. We’ll have more on XIII soon, but until then, feast your eyes on the screenshots in the galleries ahead – many of which never-before-seen! (If you flip through them fast enough, you can almost make sense of what’s going on.)

SIDEBAR: Speaking of Batman, Ubisoft recently released a Batman beat ‘em up game based on the cartoon and features a character design by legendary comic artist Jim Lee.

Screenshots Page:: ( 4 / 9 )
Remember to click again for the high-res version.