XIII (Remake)

One tiny step forward and three huge leaps backwards. Some minor modern improvements fail to mask the failures of this remake. If you want the best experience, the 2003 original is the definitive edition.

This remake is more or less a disaster. Behind the crisp comic visuals mechanically almost nothing is left of what made this game a diamond in the rough back in the days.

With the brilliant heights that remakes of Resident Evil 2, for example, achieved last year, it felt inevitable that a remake like XIII would stand as the exact opposite result in that regard. Whether or not you’re the type to maybe excuse some of the failings as unanswerable solutions to an aged approach to game design, it doesn’t take away from just how little care and effort PlayMagic have placed in the other departments. Enemy intelligence that’s practically non-existent, an overuse on what seems like a meager, hurriedly-compiled assembly of audio and visual assets. On top of a gunplay premise that looks, sounds and feels objectively worse than that of the 2003 Gamecube original. 2020’s XIII is a broken, buggy and boring rendition of a game long-time fans deserve a better interpretation of.

XIII makes a return as a remake of the 2003 original. It's a game that should have stayed in the past where it belonged. The bottom line is that this remake isn’t a very good experience.

Difficult to recommend.

As it feels older than the original, except for its visuals, and is full of bugs and glitches, this new version of XIII will not be fondly remembered.

It’s been ages since I’ve seen a shooter so awful. Ridiculous physics, horrible animations, practically non-existent enemy AI, and guns lacking a punch are just some of the remake’s transgressions. Believe me, it’s a really, really bad game. [01/2021, p.81]