Review: XIII (Thirteen)

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Website: http://www.xiii-thegame.com
Screenshots/Demo: http://www.3dgamers.com/games/xiii/ - http://www.3dgamers.com/screenshots/xiii/
Platform: PC CD-ROM, Gamecube, X-Box, PS2

XIII (Thirteen) is a first-person shooter based upon a 1980's series of Belgian comics. The plot involves a man who has awoken on a beach, with no recollection of who he is or how he came to his current situation. Throughout the story and game in the role of 'XIII', we discover a dangerous and mysterious government conspiracy. Naturally it's our role to topple the plans and well, save the world - or at least the country.

The most noticeable feature of this game is it's cel-shaded graphics. Cel-shading is a method and style in animation/cartooning that has been adopted in the game, admiringly adopting the style of it's comic-book resource. Where XIII may lack in sharp texture detail and bump-maps, it makes up for with it's aesthetically piquing presentation. Noises, words and screams emit from their sources in comic-book fashion with bold lettering. For example, shoot en enemy on the edge of a cliff, he'll plummet down with a stream of "AAAAAAaaaa!!!" following him, shrinking the farther away he falls. Because the game does have audio, you would think such a feature would be redundant - or at the very least, annoying. I didn't find it to be a hinderance, it just further supported the very unique video game world the developers have adapted. Panels will appear within panels during realtime cutscenes, or further-length cutscenes in which there is no player interaction. A rather nice example of this is when you score a headshot on an enemy - 3 small panels pop up in succession in the top-left of the screen, showing the enemy's head like a deer in headlights - then the projectile piercing the head, complete with animated blood. From the comic-book-style execution of enemies and others, you might think XIII is dark-toned game, but truthfully it's more of an adventurous-action fun in the vein of Bond, with a bit of campy humor and nothing too serious.

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XIII can pick up various objects to use as melee, such as bottles, broomsticks or even chairs. You can smash people with them - the screen turns blue to signal the knockout factor, as the character groans in pain and slumps to the floor. From there, you can usually pick up the body, carrying it over your shoulder (and wielding a one-handed weapon in your right hand), and hide the body elsewhere. Nice. Weapons are varied and quite fun to see in cel-shaded fashion, and they all translate well. From throwing fists, throwing knives, shotguns, harpoon, semi-autos, grenades and RPGs, even a shard of glass - XIII offers an array of tools to cover your ass. Most weapons feature an alternative-fire mode. The M60 machine gun may fire in auto or burst, the shotgun can be fired or butted against somebody to knock them out, knives can be thrown (unretrievable afterwards) or stabbed/thrust with, and the crossbow can zoom in twice. Items you can carry may be a lockpick, keys, keycards, health kits, and even a grappling hook - which is fun to use, even if it's a bit limited in it's abilities. You can only latch onto particular hooks, not ledges or anything such a hook could support your weight with. This is probably most likely a developmental decision, as having the player grapple his way throughout the game could be compromising to story and experience.

Thankfully, not all of XIII is run-and-gun. Occasionally you will just walk around and avoiding detection, or doing a little weaponless espionage. One particular mission earlier in the game has you going to a bank to retrieve some belongings. Simple and innocent, but naturally something has to go wrong, and from there the story snowballs. Interaction with key characters is interesting to watch. Characters look sharp and distinctual, you start to develop a sense of their mannerisms. Though overall, character development here is lacking. We don't really know the history of your partners or major enemies. Perhaps with such danger in your way and weight on your shoulders, you wouldn't have time to care!

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Later in the game the unraveling occurs, and it isn't just via gameplay and cutscenes. XIII's menu offers a few extras to the player. Clicking on Documents, you can read papers you've collected throughout the game. Some you must retrieve, others are optional. Also in the menu is a list of conspirators, who are further revealed and debunked in the list, the more you progress. The developers clearly wanted the player to do a little guesswork and thinking about the story, instead of having it totally revealed - and I think this is a step in the right direction.

Missions and levels vary well throughout and rarely boring. Seeing as you start on a beach, escape from a bank, infiltrate a submarine, scout a wintery log cabin, avoid detection in secret military base, and progress through a shipyard - there should be enough scenic variation to keep you happy. Level design is usually quite well done. Some static objects, such as grates, glass or lumber pieces obstructing an entryway, can be smashed, allowing further (sometimes optional) progression. Even though most levels allow you to backtrack and discover at least 2 routes, there is still a sense of linearity throughout the game. Your actions don't seem to affect a whole lot, or delineate the progression of the story. It's not a big issue, because XIII delivers a memorable and downright fun experience, even if questions are left unanswered - and they will be. XIII covers only the first 5 volumes of the comic, which had a weighty amount of 18 volumes, mostly consisting of 3 issues per. That the game adaption only covers about a quarter of the entire comic may be a dissapointment (especially since there is no announcement of a sequel yet), but don't let it hinder you from purchasing the game.

The game employs a checkpoint save system, there is no quicksave/quickload format here - although the 1.1 patch allows you to quicksave/quickload to the last checkpoint - which kinda baffles me, because if I recall right - it autosaves at each checkpoint regardless. For those of you who can't stand replaying sections of levels, I would say grin and bear it - the game has enough to offer that a repetetive save system shouldn't cripple the experience.

Artificial Intelligence here is nothing outstanding. Reinforcements are called, but most of them just run and gun you with not much regard to their lives. Occasionally they will take cover or root you out, but overall they're just bullet fodder. But wait, theres more! You can also take people hostage. Walk up behind them, hit the action key and you will have them in a choke hold in your left arm, while your right arm may carry a one-handed weapon. By walking backwards towards your intended area, enemies will see that you have a live hostage and (usually) will not fire. A great way to bargain your way out, and save precious ammo. Press the action key again to break the hostage's neck, letting them slump to the floor. Very sleek, very effective. Allies (whether support or escort) usually fend well for themselves, so you don't usually have to worry about keeping the other alive if you're focused on your own defensive obligations - unless that ally has no weapons, then prepare to babysit.

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An immersive and mysterious story isn't the entire core of the game. XIII also features multiplayer. You can play on a LAN, Internet or even offline against bots. Multiplayer modes feature: deathmatch, capture-the-flag, team-deathmatch and sabatoge - where teams of 2 or more players with specific skills must defend their given checkpoints from explosion. In addition to a single player game of over 30 missions, and the multiplayer, the developers have included the Unreal Editor, for creating your own levels - further extending the games replayability.

Ubisoft has given fans of espionage and action a well featured and classy game that has made up for it's minor flaws in spades. I can only hope Ubi will release more sequels, completing the XIII saga.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Pros: Intriguing storyline, sharp and stylish graphics, array of fun weapons and methods
Cons: Save system can be discouraging, only 1/4 of the XIII saga is covered leaving you wanting more

Review: SWAT 4 Gold

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Website: http://www.swat4.com
Screenshots/Demo: http://www.3dgamers.com/games/swat4/ - http://www.3dgamers.com/games/swat4ss/
Platform: PC CD-ROM

I should first let you know that purchasing SWAT 4 Gold (the original SWAT 4 + it's expansion, The Stetchkov Syndicate) wasn't an easy decision. The demo didn't give me a good enough impression to decide whether I liked or disliked it enough. Though on a whim I decided for $30 new, why not? The game is a slower paced first-person-shooter, with a bit of tactics involved, set in a realistic, present day environment.

Don't misunderstand "slower paced" as "slow". The SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) teams were formed to handle dangerous situations with precision, thought and tactics - often employing non-lethal solutions. For trigger-happy gamers, it isn't very mandatory that you resort to non-leathal weapons (such as bean-bag shotgun, pepperball gun, or tazer guns) - though you will score more points by apprehending suspects without drawing any blood. Among the selection of weapons you'll find the aforementioned non-lethal set, slug & BB shotguns, a door-breaching (non-lethal) shotgun, semi-auto & assault rifles (9mm SMG's, .45, M4A1 carbine, GB36 etc.), a sniper rifle (expansion only), and pistols (1911 .45, 9mm GLOCK, .50 cal -- expansion only). Some semi-autos and pistols have a flashlight built into them, which is very useful because each mission consists of a dark location or night-time setting. It's too bad, I'd of appreciated some daylight missions.

There are also a few grenade-type weapons: flashbang (explodes and emits disorienting flash of light and noise), stinger (disperses non-lethal, rubber balls), and gas grenade (disorients and disrupts the victims). Items of selection include door wedges, glow-sticks (interim, decent lighting tool that you can drop anywhere), optiwand (the form of a two-handed gun, allows you to peek under doors and around corners via an extension-camera and LCD display) and C2 charges (for blowing open locked doors - which will also stun or kill anyone very close to the door). As you progress throughout missions in the expansion, you'll gain access to a few new weapons such as non-lethal grenade launcher that gives you more leverage to launch flashbangs, stingers and gas grenades. The expansion also gives you the ability to punch, a decent way to make hostages comply in order to be cuffed, so you can reserve your taser ammo.

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Missions throughout the original game vary and have no unifying story. This can make gameplay feel repetetive after awhile, but what makes it interesting and challenging is each locale is new and different. Tactics that may have worked well in a previous mission aren't guarnateed to work in the next. Most tactics and mission progression depend on utilizing the layout of each building or area - from deciding which doors to wedge, breach or mirror, which rooms to cover or clear. Some areas are more open or confined, keeping the dynamics of gameplay constant - especially since enemies and hostages are randomly placed each time you play a mission. You won't be playing any mission the same way twice, and for me this made up for the repetition factor.

In the expansion Stetchkov Syndicate, missions still vary as far as location, but are now tied together with a story involving the Stetchkov family of drugrunners. To be fair, it's just 7 more missions and it still feels like more of the same. Neither the original game or the expansion have any cutscenes to serve any missions or story. It would've been nice to have, giving the player a bit deeper, boiling sense of why they are there, instead of "just another day at the office". The original game and expansion offer the following modes of play: Training, Career, Instant Action, Quick Mission, & Multiplay.

Career mode will bring you through 14 missions in SWAT 4 and 7 missions in Stetchkov. You'll be selecting your weapon and item loadout for yourself and your team, and your point of entrance at the location. You can select a difficulty of Easy, Normal, Hard or Elite. Depending on difficulty chosen, you will be required to meet a certain score (from 0, 50, 75 and 95) before you move on to the next mission. Meeting that score may require non-lethal apprehension of suspects, or keeping hostages or your team alive. Points are deducted if you kill or injure hostages or your team members. Each Career mission has a moderately sized text and audio briefing from headquarters about the situation, (some missions allow you to listen to the 911 call) information about possible suspects and hostages, and a situation timeline.

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Quick Mission allows you to select any mission you've completed and set extra gameplay parameters - setup equipment and items, number of men on your team or go in alone, amount of suspects and hostages, suspect's skill, mission objectives, and more.

Instant Action places you in the most recently completed mission, using all it's parameters that you previously chose - so you won't have to fiddle and can jump in and play.

Multiplay offers a few modes of play over LAN or Internet: Barricaded Suspects (neutralize/arrest opposing team members -- like deathmatch), VIP Escort (Suspects arrest VIP SWAT members, SWAT members bring VIP to extraction point -- cat & mouse), Rapid Deployment (3 to 5 bombs randomly placed, must be disarmed within time limit), and Cooperative (play missions as SWAT together with others online).

Cooperative and Barricaded Suspects play was an absolute blast to play with or against other friends. Hilarious and frustrating moments ensued (like setting C2 charges on doors, waiting for the opposing player to open it and BAM they're blown dead). Cooperative play is possible with just 2 players, but it can get quite frustrating if 1 of the members dies, leaving the other a lone wolf. Therefore, co-op is best played with 4 people.

To summarize the gameplay, a typical scenario may progress like this: you and your team are setup at your chosen entry point. From there you may pretty much go about the mission however you like. I usually would select red or blue team members (2 members each side), or sometimes gold (which means all team members), and have them mirror under a door. Then send the other team to stack-up against a different door and check if it's locked. If all was clear, I would send team red through the first door, send team blue in for cover. Provided that room was clear, we might progress onto another room. If team red finds suspects on the other side, I can command either part of the team (or all) to open the door, toss a flashbang, move in and clear it of suspects.

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Other ways to progress a mission might be to take lead yourself, scouting out the location, then having the team fall back in to you. You can command team to open, pick-lock, breach (C2 or shotgun, depending what you've chosen in equipment setup), mirror, wedge, close door, open door, move-and-clear-room, breach-and-bang door/room, etc. I had my command menu open with mouse-button 4, and while keeping the button down I select a command, let go and the team performs it. If you point at a door, you get door-specific commands. Anywhere else you point, you get other general commands (such as move to, cover, deploy flashbang/gas/wedge etc), restrain suspect/hostage and more. The expansion introduces the ability to hold a command, and only let the team perform it when you say so. This is useful if you want the team to be ready for a command, while you complete another task. Once you're finished with that task it's simpler to give the team the go-ahead for that particular command. The game setup menu will let you choose from a few ways to interact with the menu, or you may choose the classic menu - an overlay graphic with numbered commands. Hit a number key and the command is performed.

Artificial Intelligence is fairly competent and nothing to complain about. Team members usually stick to your orders, suspects will run or hide for cover, or engage at will. Hostages sometimes will become stubborn and won't give in to your commands. It's always a bit of a scary moment when restraining a hostage or suspect and you hear a door swing open, knowing it's not any of your team members. There is that split-second window of time to react, and sometimes it can make the difference between mission success or mission failure.

A useful and interesting feature of SWAT 4 and it's expansion is the ability to see what your team members see. Each member has a small camera attached to their helmet. By pressing either of a set of keys, you can view a picture-in-picture realtime view of what that team member is seeing. Press caps-lock and the picture expands. From there, you can move the camera around, effectively being the member's eyes -- and thus giving more specific commands, such as opening a door - that you the player cannot actually see or may not be near by. In addition to viewpoints of team members, you may also take view of 1 or 2 snipers setup in some missions.

Original SWAT 4 missions range from a night club, automotive parts dealer, a hotel, medical center, research center, to a serial killer's urban household and more. Stetchkov expansion missions vary as well from agricultural center, amusement arcade, warehouse, etc. Most missions feature suspects of varying backgrounds, some are just run-of-the-mill criminals and thugs, others are high-profile crime bosses, weapons dealers or drug lords. The environments are detailed convincingly - from soda cans, trash, food on counters, strewn-about messes, static TV's, glowing computer monitors, shelves full of items, posters, photo frames - these are not bare rooms by any means. Graphically as a whole, SWAT 4 is quite nice. The bump-mapping helps a great deal, and I've found it wasn't as big a performance hit for me as Doom 3's bump-mapping was. Depth of brick-walls, team members, other people and objects really helps the immersion factor. Scalability of the graphics is nice as well - textures can be set to low, medium or high. Aforementioned bump-mapping can be set to off, low, medium or high, along with other visual settings.

SWAT member, hostage and suspect models are done well - although SWAT members seem to have more finer detail going for them. If someone on the blue team has 3 grenades on their belt and tosses 1, you'll see 2 left. If they're carrying an optiwand, you'll see it hanging on their back - it doesn't disappear when it's put away. Hostages and suspects aren't completey unique - sometimes you'll see the exact same women hostages throughout a mission, or even in the same room. Hardly convincing, unless this mission features a set of twins or quadruplets for either side!

Physics are alright, but are a bit lacking. While a ragdoll model does exist, physics for general objects is dissapointingly lacking. Some buckets and containers can be shot off and tumble down, gas canisters can (rather weakly) explode, but many other items remain rather bolted in place. Lights cannot be shot out either. Imagine being in a firefight with suspects, with objects flying about along with more debris and your only source of light being shot out. It certainly could've done well for immersion, although graphics and audio make up for it.

SWAT 4's audio is quite nice. When a team member or suspect is injured badly, the gurgling and pain sounds are convincing and well, sometimes disturbing. Effectively disturbing, actually. It seems to bring a sense of heavy realism to the situation - that this is life and death, not Cowboys and Indians. I've always enjoyed the really pissed off suspects who'll use every swear word in the book. I thought this was important to have in the game because hostages or suspects in such a dangerous situation wouldn't literally say "fudge you!" or "gosh darn it all!". Voice acting is also generally well done, from hostage's worried or angry comments on the situation, crying, moaning, screams and general craziness. Weapons are loud (especically the flashbang, I had to turn down the volume) and engaging, and general environment ambience is there to further support the locale - whether crickets or machinery.

I truly enjoyed SWAT 4 and it's expansion as a whole. The demo didn't sell me but the Gold edition has been a worthy $30 purchase. The biggest issue in SWAT 4 is that there is no unfolding drama or engaging presentation given to the player, it's just briefing-and-mission, after briefing-and-mission. If the developers would've included even brief cutscenes detailing the situation, or news reports and interviews for each mission - it'd of been much more interesting as a whole. Since SWAT deals with dangerous life and death situations, why shouldn't we be emotionally engaged, even if a little, as well? Regardless, if you want fun co-op with a replayable career mode, pick up SWAT 4 gold.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Pros: Detailed and immersive graphics and audio, tense and challenging missions, good AI
Cons: Missions lack an engaging briefing or back story