Unit 13

 PlayStation Vita
  • Publisher: SCEA
  • Release Date: Mar 6, 2012
User Score
7.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 200 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 107 out of 200
  2. Mixed: 68 out of 200
  3. Negative: 25 out of 200
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  1. str8ball
    Apr 2, 2012
    6
    I'm disappointed in this game. First off, I did not like the fact that it is missions based and as a result, there is no storyline. Secondly, I don't like certain maps where you have to do the same thing over and over again if you fail it. It gets very repetitive very quickly. The AI of your enemies are predictable. Overall, I didn't find that this was a very intuitive game.
  2. HardcoreMobile
    Sep 29, 2012
    6
    I'd love to say I enjoyed Unit 13. I'd love to say that it's point based gameplay and level up system had me addicted and obsessed. I'd love to praise it for it's originality and bravery in service to the vita and the stealth game genre but I can't. Yes the game is fun. Yes the guns and characters are deep and picking which ones for which missions is often strategic and entertaining butI'd love to say I enjoyed Unit 13. I'd love to say that it's point based gameplay and level up system had me addicted and obsessed. I'd love to praise it for it's originality and bravery in service to the vita and the stealth game genre but I can't. Yes the game is fun. Yes the guns and characters are deep and picking which ones for which missions is often strategic and entertaining but there is one huge problem. The AI is horrendous. Enemies spot you through walls and from impossible distances. They hear silenced weapons and survive multiple gunshots. They ruin the game. sure the game has some forgivable holes otherwise (some characters have much higher level up perks then others.) but the AI makes this game nearly unplayable. many a times have a made a simple mistake just to be instantly barraged as if the enemy knew where I was an was simply waiting for me to mess up. Occasionally they act like morons taking cover towards me so that I can still shoot them while they look away from me scanning the area but these moments don't make up for the sheer genius/ law defying powers they exhibit on other times. This is not a bad game, I still played it for quite some time despite it's bugs, but ultimately the sheer amount of glitches and inconsistencies will pile up and the fun will be drained from this game. I can't recommend this game without warning you to be ready to lose unfairly and win unfairly.… Expand
  3. JDConspirator
    May 6, 2012
    6
    A nice pick up and play shooter which fits nicely on the Vita. Unfortunately the experience is a bit too rote, as you often complete similar objectives from one mission to the next. Some missions will have you defusing mine laden traps and sneaking through undetected but none pan out as advertised. For example you're encouraged to use stealth but you do not have the tools or moves toA nice pick up and play shooter which fits nicely on the Vita. Unfortunately the experience is a bit too rote, as you often complete similar objectives from one mission to the next. Some missions will have you defusing mine laden traps and sneaking through undetected but none pan out as advertised. For example you're encouraged to use stealth but you do not have the tools or moves to perform effectively. Also it's extremely hard to be stealthy when the enemy AI is instantly alerted by a shot from a silenced pistol. The AI themselves are dumb too, often staying within a particular location and often standing idle whilst you take your shots. There is no story to speak of either. But the challenge and its brief missions are good enough for a commuter travel and the mechanics work well enough for the game to be enjoyable. It's just not one you'll remember once you're through.… Expand
  4. DJBennett1985
    Jun 3, 2012
    6
    Not really any single player story just 36 random missions (across a dozen or so different locales). Missions can get repetitive. Characters aren't interesting and just say random things. Graphics are fairly pretty. Multiplayer is lacking, just 2 player co-op. Dynamic missions and daily challenges are plenty and an interesting scoring system works well to compare yourself with your friends.
  5. mistahARK
    Nov 16, 2012
    6
    Would be a 10 if there was a multiplayer, ad hoc co-op (as was promised, but never delivered) and if the AI were a little better. Overall a pretty fun game, though with no real sense of purpose or plot. Leaderboards add replayability. It is really lacking a multiplayer and ad hoc co-op though, the omission of those two features really killed the game for me.
  6. deepx
    May 16, 2013
    6
    This game is not good, but not bad either. Graphics: a few levels are stunning, but a lot are just boring to look at. Gameplay: sometimes you duck behind a low wall and try to look around, suddenly you're man gets out of cover by standing up and everybody sees you, very frustrating. I still think to this day (Killzone will probably destroy it) it's the best shooter available on the Vita.
  7. sityoazzdown
    Mar 26, 2014
    5
    A on-the-go shooter, and a boring one at that. The aim assist is real strong in this game, but that still doesn't fix the awkward feeling mechanics in this game, espescially againgst moving enemies. There are no stories, just missions that get repititive about 10 missions in, I personally played about 16 and I feel like I've seen all i had to see. I had no drive to finish the game, and theA on-the-go shooter, and a boring one at that. The aim assist is real strong in this game, but that still doesn't fix the awkward feeling mechanics in this game, espescially againgst moving enemies. There are no stories, just missions that get repititive about 10 missions in, I personally played about 16 and I feel like I've seen all i had to see. I had no drive to finish the game, and the inconsistent checkpoints in this game are so frustrating; the difficulty level is too hard for an on the go shooter also imo. The only positives is it's an average shooter at best for anyone looking for an on the go shooter, I'll only reccommend this as a bargain bin pickup for some handheld shoot em up.… Expand
  8. Tall_But_Short
    May 26, 2012
    7
    I decided to buy this game right after finishing Uncharted: Golden Abyss. I loved the demo for this game and thought there would be much more to it. But I was wrong. There are missions in this game and you have to execute each one, obviously. Due to this though, there was not much of a story which really disappointed me. Other than that, the core mechanics for this game were pretty good.I decided to buy this game right after finishing Uncharted: Golden Abyss. I loved the demo for this game and thought there would be much more to it. But I was wrong. There are missions in this game and you have to execute each one, obviously. Due to this though, there was not much of a story which really disappointed me. Other than that, the core mechanics for this game were pretty good. Running works, shooting is extremely accurate, etc. The graphics in this game were pretty good though not as good as I know the Vita can handle. The enemy AI in this game is absolutely unpredictable. Sometimes, the enemies are absolute idiots and you can stand behind them for a couple of minutes and other times they can be master assassins. This really bugged me but the only true fun part of this game is the co-op. Playing with someone online always feels good for some reason, especially when there's no lag. This game is great for co-op but overall, doesn't stand well for a single-player game for the many reasons i already stated. This game definitely did not hold my attention for very long and I just went back to playing UC: Golden Abyss for a second playthrough. Overall the game isn't bad and was only fun for a short amount of time. Currently I am anticipating games like Resistance: Burning Skies and Gravity Rush… Expand
  9. JDnator
    Apr 7, 2012
    5
    its got guns!! you can shoot people in FPS mode its gotta be awesome...right? ....wrong, nice looking game, if cod rocks your world then you will like this game because you go around and shoot people for no real reason. you have a bunch of different mission types, like a speed one where you have to go in and shoot every one, a hostage one where... you go in and shoot every one... there'sits got guns!! you can shoot people in FPS mode its gotta be awesome...right? ....wrong, nice looking game, if cod rocks your world then you will like this game because you go around and shoot people for no real reason. you have a bunch of different mission types, like a speed one where you have to go in and shoot every one, a hostage one where... you go in and shoot every one... there's a stealth one, where.... you go in and shoot every one. there's a feature where you get a daily mission uploaded too where you have to go in and shoot every one.... there is a bunch of different characters "classes" too... they all have guns and play pretty much the same. don't get me wrong i have no issue with repetitive games ... if a game has good content then repeat away... this however is a tad on the boring side and my main annoyance is that mindless gun fans are giving it high scores which it really doesn't deserve because you go around with a gun and shoot people. fun for 10 mins at a time 2 a week maybe, ply it any longer than that and if you have a bigger brain capacity than a mouse than you will make yourself sick of it and exchange it. there is one good thing this game is used for with me and that's showing off the vita to my friends because credit where credit is due it looks awesome... soon as they have had their 5 min preview of it though and their gone it goes back on the shelf.… Expand
  10. RUST
    Jul 9, 2012
    6
    It's all about one up-manship here folks. Zipper has foregone all hopes of a plot, multiplayer and sense of quality to give us a casual game in disguise. Pick it up, decide if you want to risk finding a moron online for co-op, then jump in and blast/sneak/survive one of thirty six pre-loaded missions (bonus challenges and HVTs excluded). It's a bare bones third person shooter that wouldIt's all about one up-manship here folks. Zipper has foregone all hopes of a plot, multiplayer and sense of quality to give us a casual game in disguise. Pick it up, decide if you want to risk finding a moron online for co-op, then jump in and blast/sneak/survive one of thirty six pre-loaded missions (bonus challenges and HVTs excluded). It's a bare bones third person shooter that would have been utterly slated should if have ended up on anything but the handheld market. Yet, pushed through the jaws of the Vita's impressive processors, the game looks, plays and feels like a decent but shallow TPS on a home console. If you're looking for a casual shooter then I couldn't recommend it more, but why the hell are you looking for a casual shooter in the first place?… Expand
  11. XspidervenimX
    Mar 7, 2012
    6
    Annoying and frustrating. Constantly failing, having to do the same levels over and over. It has nice controls, but it's too unforgiving. The timed missions are too hard, your head pops up acccidently, you start over, the AI ducks, you start over, if you do beat a timed mission it will likley give you two stars and....you guessed it , star over again, and this is at the very beginnings.Annoying and frustrating. Constantly failing, having to do the same levels over and over. It has nice controls, but it's too unforgiving. The timed missions are too hard, your head pops up acccidently, you start over, the AI ducks, you start over, if you do beat a timed mission it will likley give you two stars and....you guessed it , star over again, and this is at the very beginnings. It won't let you advance, so it won't even let me, my family, friends play it. Only if you have nothing to do in your life you can play this. It's not that it's hard, it's just poorly designed, and made this way to cover up the games inadequacies. There is no fun in UNIT 13.… Expand
  12. Maniacaca
    Aug 23, 2013
    6
    This is a fun game to play on the go, and the co-op can be enjoyable. The graphics are ok, but the Vita could do better. The gameplay is standard TPS fare.
    That's my real problem with it. It's just a generic TPS. it never tires to be anything else, it doesn't even have a story. I personally think this would be better as a PSN game, not a full priced game.
  13. TheQuietGamer
    Jun 5, 2014
    6
    Thanks to the dual analog sticks of the Vita this is one of the first portable shooter games with a fluid console shooter control scheme. While it does have the controls of a console shooter it doesn't have the content of one. It's basically a collection of various mission types of varying difficulty without any real story connecting them together. It's not bad, but like the other ZipperThanks to the dual analog sticks of the Vita this is one of the first portable shooter games with a fluid console shooter control scheme. While it does have the controls of a console shooter it doesn't have the content of one. It's basically a collection of various mission types of varying difficulty without any real story connecting them together. It's not bad, but like the other Zipper games I've played I found that the more I played it the less I enjoyed it.

    The game has an overall arcady feel to it. You gain points for taking out enemies and completing objectives that help give you a higher score at the end. The shooting works well and takes great advantage of the Vita's analog sticks. It's just a shame that enemies are just generic cannon-fodder for you to mow down. The missions start off enjoyable, but the farther you progress the more tedious they become. Eventually I just stopped having fun with it. As far as the two player co-op goes, it's a pretty decent feature. I personally didn't use it much, and depending on the mission type it can make things more frustrating, but it kind of makes up for the lack of any real multiplayer.

    Overall the game works well enough that I can't call it a bad game. It's not that great, but it does have some appeal outside of it's more tedious levels. What Unit 13 does is prove that a console quality shooter game is possible on the Vita. The problem is that it's just not this game. It's not a bad game, but there are many better alternatives out there. My total score is a 6.9/10=Okay.    … Expand
  14. Chandler
    Mar 28, 2012
    7
    This game is actually really good if you are the competitive type of player who values Leader-boards over story and likes to run every mission as efficient as possible. Normal players might be turned off because there really is no story whatsoever and the game has like 4 different maps. Game play, graphics and sound effects (voices, gunfire) are fine, but the replay value depends entirelyThis game is actually really good if you are the competitive type of player who values Leader-boards over story and likes to run every mission as efficient as possible. Normal players might be turned off because there really is no story whatsoever and the game has like 4 different maps. Game play, graphics and sound effects (voices, gunfire) are fine, but the replay value depends entirely on you liking to climb up some leader-boards for personal e-peen. The game could have been so much better with a campaign but its still a good shooter at its core, there's just not much more than said core.… Expand
  15. CarolinaHeat
    Mar 9, 2012
    7
    Unit 13 is most definitely a flawed (but entertaining) experience. The difficulty in the game seems to spike randomly, and it is either due to the shotgun soldiers (always rushing in no matter what, and always have one-hit kills) or the endlessly spawning sections, some of which seem to continue to spawn until you are right by it. The HVT missions are especially brutal compared to theUnit 13 is most definitely a flawed (but entertaining) experience. The difficulty in the game seems to spike randomly, and it is either due to the shotgun soldiers (always rushing in no matter what, and always have one-hit kills) or the endlessly spawning sections, some of which seem to continue to spawn until you are right by it. The HVT missions are especially brutal compared to the single player missions, but since they are essentially boss missions it makes a bit more sense.

    I also have a few issues with odd design choices. Occasionally I'll start a mission and decide I want to change my weapon/loadout or my operative. This can't be done without exiting out of the mission to the main menu and going through the menus again. This would be a bit more acceptable if the loading times were quicker. They're not horrible (restarting within a mission is instant), but annoying if you want to make a change.

    With all this said, I should point out that I still find myself turning it on often to work on my leaderboard position or finish an HVT mission. When you finally get a mission down it feels satisfying, and leveling up your operatives makes going back and replaying missions worth it. Without competitive multiplayer I'm not sure how long I'll keep coming back to this, but for now it will definitely be staying in my Vita.    … Expand
  16. Jonathankira
    Jul 13, 2013
    7
    A fast pace third person shooter which relies on you to make the correct decision now and then. Despite repeatedly using the same maps over and over you can still enjoy killing, assassinating, blowing someone up and even busting your moves on the dance floor with your enemies. Overall the game play is great, the controls are nice using a little of the touch screen just to remind us it isA fast pace third person shooter which relies on you to make the correct decision now and then. Despite repeatedly using the same maps over and over you can still enjoy killing, assassinating, blowing someone up and even busting your moves on the dance floor with your enemies. Overall the game play is great, the controls are nice using a little of the touch screen just to remind us it is on the PS VITA.… Expand
  17. Bosefus123
    Mar 18, 2012
    6
    Socom 4 is far and out Zipper's best gamer this gen, and even though they took most of the Socom 4 aspects over to the Vita, it just does not feel as smooth, but that is expected. But what this game really lacks is a competitive multiplayer.
  18. dAREuS
    Jun 1, 2012
    7
    I like the idea of the missions and its effectiveness. The graphics is ok but it is not awesome, the level of difficulty gives you some fun and will engage you to play harder couple of times. This is not something you have to play but it is ok.
  19. theresort
    May 13, 2023
    7
    This game is not bad, but not special either. The story is non-existent as you just go through levels completing small tasks without any overarching story. The gameplay is solid with an option to go loud or quiet. The visuals are also pretty solid, not the best. This game is fun when playing the 2-player co-op multiplayer levels. Overall, it's a solid game that is great in short bursts.
  20. r03vg
    Jan 6, 2021
    5
    Играется удобно, хорошо оптимизирована. Представляет собой набор спецзаданий. Показалась скучной, пойдет для убивания времени.

Awards & Rankings

38
#38 Best PS Vita Game of 2012
7
#7 Most Discussed PS Vita Game of 2012
13
#13 Most Shared PS Vita Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 60 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 60
  2. Mixed: 33 out of 60
  3. Negative: 0 out of 60
  1. Thunderbolt
    Feb 20, 2013
    70
    It’s not going to set any new standards in the genre, but it’s a fine foray into the third person shooter genre and proves that this type of game can, and should, exist on the PlayStation Vita.
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  2. Pelit (Finland)
    Apr 17, 2012
    75
    A decent 3rd person shooter, which has repetitive levels and fairly stupid AI. The different types missions are a good idea. [Apr 2012]
  3. BigPond GameArena
    Apr 17, 2012
    70
    The co-operative features are silky smooth with great voice chat and not a hint of lag and the inclusion of Daily Challenges keeps the content fresh and constantly evolving. It may not be perfect, but goddamn it's a hell of a lot of fun.
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