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XIII Preview
Chris Leyton
00/12/0000
Assasination, cell-shaded visuals, take a look at one of the most original FPS to arrive in quite awhile.
Earlier in the year Ubisoft announced that they had snagged the rights to a cult Belgium & French comic, XIII. Like us you may have thought no big deal, however from what weāve seen so far this first-person-shooter may be a great deal more then the novel use of cell-shaded visuals that first strike you.
The comic has become well established in France and Belgium, where over 15 books exist, the game is loosely based on the last five.
The game pays a close analogy to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, set during the 80ās the game revolves around the assassination of the fictional President Sheridan. The US nation recoil in shock, desperate to uncover who would do such a thing the only clue is an amateur video of the shooting, and so the mystery begins.
Players take on the role of XIII, an amnesiac found washed up on a beach and so called because of a distinguishing tattoo bearing the mark āXIIIā. In addition to XIII, three other main characters are introduced in the games first stages. Jones a female martial artist and XIII guardian; Angel a mysterious one-armed man who initially accuses XIII of the murder; and Carrington a neutral captain in charge of the force appointed to find the true identity of the killer.
So the game begins with Angel accusing you of murdering the President, yet you donāt know whether heās telling the truth, let alone who you really are. This play on memory loss has been brilliantly executed in such movies as Memento, hopefully we can hope for a similar experience.
The most striking element thus far has to be the cell-shaded visuals, a first for the FPS genre and a risky move from the photo-realism that the genre strives for. OK so it may have cell-shaded visuals but donāt think this is cute, bear in mind that the technique helps to keep the authenticity of the comic book original. In keeping with the comic book, sounds will be illustrated to keep that comic feel, so if a tank shoots a cannon youāll not only hear it but also see the words āBOOMā zooming towards the player.
Development is still at an extremely early stage, and so many features are missing and specific details still being kept a closely guarded secret. Itās known that the game will feature multiplayer aspects, online for both the PC and Xbox versions, currently unknown for the GameCube and PS2.
