Fun cartoony romp (XIII (PS2))

Member Name: shaneo632

Product:	XIII (PS2)
Date:	12/09/09 (2 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Visuals and online in particular

Disadvantages: None

XIII adds more fuel to the fire that videogames are in fact art - it's a strange, frustrating, beautiful game, that is adapted from the famed French graphic novel series of the same name. Thus, in this vein, the game employs cel-shaded visuals popularised in games such as Jet Set Radio and Zelda: The Wind Waker.

The game's single player offering is fantastic - it presents nuanced gameplay and some very nice tricks that other FPS games could learn from. You play an amnesiac man who is trying to find out who he is and what is going on. Despite not being terribly original in this regard, what makes it worth playing is the rabbit hole it takes you down.

Combat-wise, there are numerous lovely weapons to use to dispatch foes, from modest pistols to incendiary grenades and massive rocket launchers. The weapons are weighted so that each has a positive aspect and a drawback in any given situation. What I like most is the cartoon-style of violence in the game, such that when you blow up an enemy, you'll see a cloud that could very well have been handpicked from a Looney Tunes cartoon!

The multiplayer offering, though, is the unqualified reason to buy the game - it allows you to connect with fifteen other players for some cartoon violence and mayhem! This is a very comprehensive outing as it allows numerous modes, from simple Deathmatches to Unreal Tournament-style Assault games that require you to team up to take the enemy down. My only real complaint is that it doesn't have a central hub like the Xbox Live does, meaning grabbing some friends to play isn't very easy at all!

With cracking visuals, cartoony sound effects and a fun plot, this is an exciting game that offers a stellar multiplayer mode and a single player offering that's also rather fun!

Summary: A real corker!