Comic book adventure comes to the PC.

You awaken on deserted beach somewhere on the east coast of America, your mind is a blank. Who are you? Your only clues are a tattoo on your chest and a safety deposit box key in your pocket.

So the story begins and from the start you're straight into the thick of the action, no time to stop and think, it's kill or be killed! Luckily the controls are simple enough because you'll need to learn how to use your weapons, unlock doors and heal your wounds all in the first burst of action .

The frenetic pace of the opening scenes might leave you thinking that this is just a 'keep your finger on the trigger and blast your way to the finish' kind of a game but thats not the whole story. XIII combines a lot of stealth action that will have you creeping around and making decisions about the most appropriate course of action and choice of weapon.

I'm not giong to give you more of the story because I don't want to ruin for you but this game does have a well thought out and executed storyline that slowly unfolds as you play, much more than just 'you're the good guy, shoot all the bad guys'. The levels are many and varied with a range of indoor and outdoor environments (see the screenshots) that you will have to find your way in and out of, look out for hidden passages wild swings using your grappling hook.

So what really sets this game apart is the graphics. You are thrown into a comic book world, with cartoon cel-shading that works incredibly well. sound effects and dialogue are shown on screen just as they would be on the pages of a comic. This is a refreshing change from the standard 3d game, some might find the graphics simplistic with none of the fantastic particle and light effects of modern games but if you like comics at all or just fancy a change then this is a great game.

One great advantage of this form of graphics is how smooth it will play, even on an old system with a Geforce 4 MX440 (64MB) this game plays with no slowing down even during the most intense action. Overall the game seems stable although the instalation wasn't as painless as we would hope, partly due to using 4 CDs (the full instalation runs to 2.5 GB but includes trailers for other games which needn't be installed).

In conclusion, this game is a great fun refreshing change. It won't take too long to get from the start to the finish and it is quite linear but you'll be thoroughly entertained along the way. With its smooth gameplay and simple controls this is a great title to pick up and play, well worth wasting a few hours of life on.