Game News XIII: After the sinking of the remake, the new version shows itself in a better light
Published on 08/15/2022 at 18:10
An adaptation of Vance and Van Hamme’s famous comic book, XIII first appeared on PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube and PC in 2003. At the time, cel-shading was all the rage, a feature-enlarging artistic approach characters and settings to give them a cartoon look, and many feared such rendering in an FPS. And yet, when the game was released, the formula worked wonderfully and the title received a very warm welcome. Also, when there was talk of a remake of the original game, we had the right to believe it. Unfortunately, not everything went as planned…
XIII and the disaster remake
A shipwreck, there is no other word to describe the remake of XIII. By wanting to favor an approach oscillating between realism and cartoon, the development team quite simply distorted the work of 2003, causing it to lose its particular cachet. This reinterpretation did not please everyone, but there is more to the problem. Upon discovering the term “remake”, players thought that the basic content would be revised. Conversely, it is downright entire functionalities that have disappeared! The multiplayer modes are missing certain options (no more bots, in other words participants played by the computer) and we don’t find the feeling of the time. To top it all off, and this is probably what triggered the ire of the players, the single player mode is marred by countless bugs and slowdowns. The scripts supposed to trigger do not work and the game crashes, causing a restart or loading an old save. The gameplay, meanwhile, is soft as possible and suffers from a catastrophic AI. With a score of 6/20 in our columns, you will agree that we might hardly do worse.
Redemption and a game finally up to par?
At the time of the test, Microids circulated a statement explaining the situation. The publisher was aware of the issues and assured that the development team was working to improve the outlines of the remake. In a video of a little less than three and a half minutes, we can discover the result and the whole seems closer to the original of 2003.
To correct the first version of the remake, the developers have implemented various features (such as animation at 60 frames per second), better artificial intelligence and they have completely revised the artistic direction. There would also be a question of a revamped multiplayer with additional game modes (or in any case with content as complete as the title of nineteen years ago). To compare, do not hesitate to watch the trailer of the first version and the one that follows. This update will be available from September 13, the date of the game’s release on Nintendo Switch!
