XIII Hands-On

It takes some serious couilles (it's a French word, look it up) to produce and develop a FPS game these days. With titles like Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 looming on the horizon, it takes special dedication and some real creative thinking to even get the publishers and the public to notice your game. Luckily, the French team of programmers at Ubi Soft wasn't discouraged by the rather intimidating lineup of upcoming FPS titles. They are well on their way to completing one of the more unique FPS games slated for release this year.

Follow the white rabbit.

Hey, it wasn’t me!

XIII is a unique FPS thriller that introduces a pretty innovative graphics style that literally changes the face of the next-gen Unreal code that powers the game. Graphic novel presentation, flashback graphics and pop-up windows create a unique atmosphere and even bring some gameplay enhancements that weren't previously seen in FPS games (pop-up windows add like a "picture inside a picture" camera view). This new visual style comes courtesy of the cel-shading technique. The accent in XIII isn't on realistic looking models and textures, but a truthful presentation of a comic book environment. If you ever enjoyed comic book art, you're going to love the graphics in XIII. The French team at Ubi Soft was adapting a comic book license into a video game, so it seemed relevant to integrate the comic book style into the game. They wanted to develop something that set XIII apart from the traditional shooter. Those two ideas led to the cell shaded technique. No shooter had used it before and it was the best visual technique to introduce the comic style into the game. In the recently released demo, we were given a chance to try out two levels from the game. The two-level demo doesn't provide much background on the game's story, so I guess a little introduction is in order for those of you who are unfamiliar with the project.

The President of the United States of America has been assassinated.

You wake up on a desolate strip of New England beach. The near-fatal impact of a bullet has left your head pounding, and your memory erased. What's more, the number "XIII" has been mysteriously tattooed on your chest, while your pocket holds a key to a New York City bank box. Head swimming in amnesia, you struggle to your feet only to encounter more killers intent on finishing the job. To your shock, you handle the hitmen with the killing skills of a professional - before heading to the bank in search of any shred of information about your lost identity and your involvement in the President's murder.

The first level of the demo will see our hero escape from the New England beach with a squad of assassins hot on his heels and trying their best to get a hold of the bank box key.

The first thing you notice when you start playing the game is of course the unique comic style of the graphics. Realistic and highly detailed textures are not something you'll find in XIII. The visual appeal of this game is achieved by the chic representation of the models and environments, which look like 3D representations of moderately simplistic art work. The shadows play a big role in the game, as they give the models a unique sense of depth. The accent again isn't on the realistic visuals: the smooth transition between the different light surfaces, or the fine gradations of the different shades of human skin. It's on making the shadows appear like they were hand-drawn. Undoubtedly, many people will find this unique approach to 3D design fascinating, but there will no doubt be others who will simply dismiss the design as being too crude and simplistic.

Even though cel-shading is certainly the game's most ballyhooed feature, it won't be the primary reason why someone might like or dislike the game. Once you scratch beneath the surface a bit, you realize this is an Unreal powered title true and true. The rag doll physics, skeletal animation and player movement are all indicative of the next-gen Unreal code. One very good thing about cel-shading is that it allows for some mighty smooth frame rates even on mid range machines. I was able to run the game at 1600x1200 with a rock solid frame rate. It literally never dropped below 40fps! That's power!

Crouching won’t save you, my friend!

"...oh yes I can! Take that!"

Because the game is powered by the next-gen Unreal code, its comic style game world has some solid properties to it, as the physics model works very well to convey the sense of a physical 3D world where every model has its own mass and objects have to abide to the laws of gravity. I already mentioned the rag-doll physics, but what also struck me as quite enjoyable were the weapon properties. The AK-47 would recoil quite realistically, and the same can be said about the M4 assault rifle. The Magnum is much more powerful than a 9mm, and it shows. When you zoom in with your crossbow the scope will sway ever so slightly so as to indicate the trembling of your hand under the weight of the weapon. I must say the physics code adds a lot of grittiness to an otherwise clean-looking comic style game world.

Without a doubt, the feature I liked the most about the action in XIII were the firefights. There are two reasons for this. For one, there are the aforementioned weapon properties. The weapons in the demo are pretty standard stuff - handguns, AK-47, pump-action shotty... but what sets it apart is the way that these weapons handle during combat. The recoil will make you adjust your tactics at times, and try to get up close to the enemy. The ammunition is pretty scarce on both levels, so you won't be able to just bust in and shower the room with bullets. The other reason why I enjoyed the fire fights was the surprisingly decent AI. The assassins and security guards will be quite aware of your presence. They'll be able to see you and hear you. Sometimes they'll even set up ambushes for you, and they'll regularly look for cover. Granted, the AI code isn't perfect, as the 'running for cover' routine seems to have been overused a bit. This one time, I was ambushed in a narrow corridor. The guards were outside in the corridor and I was standing at a door leading out of a small room. I completely neglected the security guard on my left and proceeded to shoot at the two guards on my right. I had my back turned to the guard on the left, but instead of popping my ass with a shotgun, he decided to run for cover and then shoot at me. Still, even with some of its flaws, the AI routine seems very good overall. The behavior of your opponents is quite believable and will help to immerse players more into the game world.

The damage model for both the enemy soldiers and your character is quite good. It won't take more than a few well-placed shots to knock you down if you happen to walk around without a Kevlar. On the other hand, if you can keep the extremely small crosshair on your opponent's head, a headshot will bring him right down (and you'll get a cool pop-up window slideshow of him getting a knife through the skull or a bullet through the eye to boot). If we add to this the fact that you cannot save during missions, it's quite safe to conclude that XIII will be a pretty tough game to beat. Still, from what I could gather, the level of difficulty has been properly balanced. The game is challenging but never frustrating.

Since the demo was so short, I couldn't really get a feel for the quality of the storyline. The sound effects and the musical score are superb, however, and if the quality of the voice cast involved in the project is any sort of indication of the overall quality of the game's narrative, then, I'd say FPS fans are in for quite a treat. I should remind you all that David Duchovny was hired to lend his voice to the main character, which should certainly bring some additional flair to the single-player gameplay. The musical score is very dramatic, and it moves perfectly with the onscreen action, making for some very dramatic action. One other thing that makes the gameplay juicier is the rather gory nature of the action. Don't be fooled by the comic style front; this game will present a considerable doze of violence, which can only mean that this was a title intended for a mature audience. Another reason to assume that the storyline will be good enough to keep the players interested and guessing what might happen next.

Overall, I must say I'm very pleased with the gameplay mechanics of XIII. The unlikely combination of the realistic physics and violence, and comic style visuals gives the game a very unique identity. It only goes to show that, even though it might seem so at first, cel-shading isn't just skin deep and it has more impact on the gameplay than one might initially suspect.