The cult celshad first-person shooter XIII has managed to stir up the waters of the gaming industry a total of two times since its existence since 2003. Sometime in the original releasewhen it was not included in the book of legends, but it certainly managed to remain in memory and became such a minor cult title. And the second time with the release of the remake in 2020. He also stuck in my memory, but a quick glance at the ratings and reviews is enough, because everything about him was wrong.
However, they have since gone two years and this time we take the floor. The reason is simple – there was a major update recently, which, according to official words, improves the visuals, artificial intelligence, technical side and a number of other things in order to finally turn this cluttered project into something normal. Did it work? This is a really good question that I will try to answer.
One of the main reasons why the original release of the remake of this classic shooter failed was that the studio responsible for its development – PlayMagic – did not understand why the original version was so interesting. And even at first glance it is clear that they preferred to leave what they had to or could change; and what they should have left alone, they began to change. And even worse, there are aspects that they directly worsened.
The very negative reviews speak for themselves and the biggest criticism was directed at wrong art direction as well as a number of technical errors. At the same time, there were rumors from the background of the development that the main problems were the general and creative director of the studio, who could not cope with the management, and the general low morale and toxic culture reigned in the team.
The reins of power were taken over by the French studio Tower Five, which was faced with the task of taking this tragedy and making it … something. It probably couldn’t be worse. I will say right away that the result is still not the remake that this game deserves. But at least in the state where it can be called with narrowed eyes, if not otherwise, like a perfectly acceptable remaster.
It so happened that the original, and the new studio, did not touch many aspects of the original version. Things like story or level design are basically the same as the original game. And here, in my opinion, the first problems arise. XIII, willy-nilly, is a game of its time, almost twenty years ago, when games just looked and worked differently. From the point of view of a modern player, the then rather ambitious game looks like an achievement of indie developers. And you can see it especially in this game. The levels are short, almost nothing happens in them, and it will be difficult to find any hint, at least a few interesting tasks. Don’t get me wrong – I played the original back in the day and thoroughly enjoyed the game, and it’s still relevant today – but like I said, it’s more of a game of its time, which this remake really proves almost every time. turn, without even trying to seem like a modern name.
The original developers of the remake, on the other hand, rather tried to change something they’d rather not get involved in. The thorn in almost everyone was, of course, the visual effects of the game. The original version holds up well today, but an attempt to improve it two years ago had the exact opposite effect. Modern lighting, better textures, multi-poly models and other things left nothing at all from the original simple, clean and almost naively pleasing visuals. Instead, the result is a game that feels more like cheap games., where you can see that the creators had ambitions for a beautiful game, but at the same time almost zero skills. This was especially noticeable in the artistic direction, which was constantly fighting with itself, and it was never clear whether the authors wanted to move away from the celshad style or replace it. So somewhere in the middle there was a hybrid that nobody was interested in.
Fortunately, this is something that the new developers have at least partially corrected. The different lighting and brighter sharp edges at least help create the feeling that the cellshade is hiding somewhere. It’s not quite perfect yet, but much better.
Unfortunately, there are not many other visible changes in the finale. Of course there are some things that are better – for example, the fact that there is no longer a restriction on carrying weapons, or that slightly improved user interfacebut nothing serious in the end. Even the improved AI doesn’t seem to be much smarter; the enemies are still downright dumb, and while they present a little more trouble with exceptional cover, I certainly wouldn’t call them smart.
There are fewer bugs in the game, but they still exist, and the newly available multiplayer is just a superficial bonus. What can I tell you…. I didn’t really get bored while playing this project. Perhaps my nostalgia for the original is to blame, but despite a seriously daring attempt to salvage the remake, it’s still a rather failed attempt to revive a cult classic that probably should have stayed.
Source :Indian TV
