XIII – XB – Preview

E3 2003 – First Look

Based on a comic series with a cult
following, XIII (pronounced thirteen) puts you in the shoes of an amnesiac whose
only clue to her past is a safety deposit box key and a tattoo reading “XIII”.
The game combines this comic book narrative with cel-shaded graphics to make an
experience that stays very faithful to its source material and makes you feel as
though you are playing the comic. The game provides some cool little touches to
add to this immersion, like the word “NOOOOO” will leap from an enemy after
you kill him, kind of like something you’d find in a comic book. Also, if you
kill an enemy in a cool way, the game will stop and show you the kill in grizzly
details in comic panels.

The aesthetic touches aren’t the only cool
things, however. If you kill someone yet want to remain undetected, then you can
move the body to a more hidden location so enemies won’t find it and search you
out. You also have a little timer when you cook a grenade that allows to see
just how long you have until the thing blows up in your face. Speaking of which,
another nice touch that adds to the game’s immersion is if a grenade goes off
too close to you, then your character will temporarily go deaf and will only
hear white noise. Its little things like that that make all the difference.

Look for XIII to ship this fall with content
exclusive to each console.