XIII

I played the demo at a game exhibition. The whole cartoon thing is a really cool idea and I was pumped at the prospect of playing the full game.

The story is long and tedious, its full of flashback scenes in a sad parody of Max Payne... entirely boring, no movement to speak of and totally unskippable.

The weapons stink, both shotguns are slow to reload, rendering them totally useless in gunbattles.

More than anything else, the pathways aren't at all clear, so you spend hours wondering where the hell you're supposed to go next.

A great idea spoilt by rotten designers.

At first glance you will think that this game is horrible but it is really challenging and fun! You are a secret agent, you wake up on a beach (If I'm not mistaken it is in Staten Island) and a lifeguard spots you and you don't remember a thing. Then when you reach a bank where you have a key in your pocket for a bank in Manhattan. You go there and you arrested for killing the president! This game is action packed, and is even more fun using Xbox live! However it is on all three systems as well as on some cell phones. The game is comic book based and the game really relates to the comic book style, for example if you shoot someone in the head three frames will pop up in the corner and you will see the bullet hit the guy in the head, it sounds gruesome but it doesn't look that bad, this is a must have for every gamer out there. This game is what all the James Bond games want to be!

Big fan of the written works, so I wanted to try this. It largely does them justice. The characters aren't as full/fleshed out. Sometimes, their personalities have changed(Jones delivers an inordinate quantity of black woman sass... compare her to the novels), which could maybe be argued as necessary for this. The plot is great, and while not all of it is there, and the structure is altered, it's fairly accurate, and this does recreate several of the portions that are the highest up on the awesomeness and excitement scales. The casting is... interesting. 1960's Batman, Mulder and... who's that girl...? Sorry. Anyway, though the voice acting is varied, and occasionally off, apart from the, in this role, seemingly eternally unengaged Duchovny, nearly everyone does well. The audio and music in this are well-done and appropriate. The tone is made milder, with what's objectionable in the original being removed/changed. The essence is retained, to a relative degree. This is perhaps more driven by the action(a case could be made for the word "simplified" being applied) than the mystery... however, the source material held many sequences of such, and, frankly, it is pretty rockin' in this. It's an FPS(with adventure, although I suppose about as much as that of the next of the genre), but it has things that others only dream of, that fit and that really make you feel like a heavily trained... well, young man with amnesia(you didn't think I was gonna give it away, did you?). You can hear footsteps, implemented rather well, and you can break household objects over the heads of others to knock them out(or, if you go unnoticed by them, use your bare hands, or take them hostage). In addition to those, you get flashbacks along the way, and these are well-integrated, and here the already quite good story-telling breaks new ground. Another two things need to be said that have to do with how close this is to what Vance and Van Hamme have entertained, disturbed and surprised us with(granted, Ludlum's inspiration deserves mention) since the mid-80's. The first is the stealth. It is downright required several places... kudos to them for that facet being present, and so well handled, being satisfying and well-achieved. The second of the two are among the most instantly recognizable aspects of this: The style. The fact that this was a comic before has *not* been lost in translation. Lines are shown in speech-bubbles, and explosions and other occurrences have a "sound" written on the screen(this reads considerably less well-done than it looks... and it's not distracting, either). Everything you see is also drawn in that realistic way that we know from when we read the books. This may take a little getting used to, meanwhile, it does happen. The framing is also well-done, and helps the overall feeling of this, without becoming excessive. The cinematics are well-done and really magnificent in their use of aforementioned staple of the underrated medium. The fluid animation is gorgeous, the graphics, excellent. Multiplayer has none of these fancy features, nevertheless, it's very enjoyable. There are six modes. They are: Deathmatch, Team DM, Hunted(Death runs around the arena, dying by his skeletal hand loses you points, and, killing him obviously causes the opposite reaction), CTF, Sabotage(think Counter-Strike) and Powerup(there boxes are around, the ones that don't hold ammo/weapons grant powers... not all of which aid the holder, mind you). Granted, there are other titles out there that exceed these in creativity... free-for-all half of the way(rules do differ some). There are also bots to battle against/with. They aren't half bad. In general, the AI is strong, and seldom get stuck. In fact, there are few bugs. It isn't entirely polished, if nearly. The game-play is a lot of fun, and it's dynamic, never staying anywhere too long, or standing still. It's a bit short, and the re-playability value is OK. It is raised by the freedom allowed being admirable. Still, this is mainly linear. It does have a pretty interactive environment. The items are well-done. You get to use different real-life spy gadgets, and there are numerous instances where you use a grappling hook. The save system is based on checkpoints, and it can be debated whether or not that's a positive. The guns are well-selected and diverse, and they don't become too over-the-top, in keeping with the franchise being based on our world, with things that exist, situations that could happen, to a certain extent. They're all useful and cool. The objectives are easy enough to understand, you know what you're supposed to do. You seldom get lost. The HUD is well-done. The humor is reasonable, with a couple of silly parts. The, I kid you not, singing in this, I suppose goes under that. I don't know why they decided to have as much of it in this as they did... even The Grim Reaper, in MP, engages in a heart-felt solo. The dialog ranges. The difficulty settings ensure that those who want a challenge, as well as those who don't feel as confident in their abilities, can both try this. The level design is marvelous. The boss fights are fine, neither the best ever, nor the worst. No, the ending isn't fantastic... what could they have done, really? There is blood and violence, but not gore, in this. Like the rest, it is in a cartoony, albeit not childish, or kid-friendly, way. There is harsh language, in a nominal amount. It isn't as strong as what it's based on. It thus makes less of an impact on the player, and I would suggest at least taking them in, unless you can't see yourself opening one. That isn't a requirement for giving this a shot, it can be appreciated without. If you *are* into them, make sure to adjust your expectations accordingly... the type of VG didn't allow for all of the content. I recommend this game to anyone who are fond of First Person Shooters, XIII and/or the concept. 8/10

You wake up on a beach with no recollection of how you got there. You're sore and have gunshot wounds. A life guard finds you and patches you up for the time being and tells you she found just one key to a NYC bank on you. Then... you're attacked. You're savior is killed and you quickly realize whoever put you in this position is out to finish the job. In getting away you slowly gather clues as to why you're accused of assassinating the US President (!!), what the mysterious tattoo 'XII' means, and figuring out the web of a sinister conspiracy of global domination.

From the get-go this is one terrific game, no two ways about it. It incorporates the clever comic book look, which is an homage to the source material. Shoot a guy and a trail of 'AAAAAAAAs' will follow him down as he plummets. You also get nice close up of some of your kills. For instance if you get a guy in the head with the crossbow or throwing knives, three sequential windows across the top of the screen will detail your kill. The cinematic scenes are also in comic book style with multiple windows showing many things going on, or even cooler, the same image fragmented, giving you that thriller feel as you piece the clues together to the puzzle of what is going on. The game doesn't just stop with weapons, there are also useful gadgets like a lock pick and grappling hook which you must use for infiltrating bases and general sneaking around. The game doesn't stop there. Since you play an elite soldier/agent, as you uncover your past in the form of documents you will regain your abilities that you had before - more effective use of med-kits, ability to hold two guns at once, being able to dispatch foes from behind with a blow to the neck, and others which make the game ridiculously exciting and allow many approaches to many situations.

Also the settings must be mentioned. Starting in bank vault and going all the way to a secret nuclear launch site with a submarine and a secret desert prison in between along with others this game just refuses to be repetitive. Each level offers new challenges and a new way to use the skills and weapons which you have acquired.

The game's few negative points are David Duchovny's fairly dull voice acting and a difficult save-game system which only allows you to save in certain points. But the latter isn't really all that bad as it keeps you on your toes and other popular games like HALO also have it, so it isn't a factor against the games enjoyability, but rookies of FPS will have that to complain about. Everyone else, this is a great game that comes highly recommended. 9/10

Rated MATURE: violence

Amazing gameplay, great gadgets, cool visuals and storytelling.

Mediocre plot and voice acting.

Horrible save system. I mean horrible! Might be the worst part of the game because you can't save manually and everytime you fail (or die) you restart from the previous checkpoint.

8/10 want to play the sequel!!