Throwback Thursday: Looking Back at XIII

Looking back at one of the great cell shaded games of two generations ago, Thirteen.

XIII or Thirteen was a FPS that was available on most early-2000s platforms. It was made available late 2003 on PS2, Xbox, PC, GameCube in North America. The game became available in 2003 in Europe for Mac users, but it wasn’t until 2004 that it was available for North America on Mac.

Recommended Videos

Thirteen was developed by Ubisoft Paris and published by Ubisoft. This was a game that changed the way cell shading was done in a video game. Not only did it bring beautiful landscapes and characters; it also made the player feel as though they were playing through a well put together comic. This comic was nothing seen before because it allowed the player to explore areas and see what was behind the scenes of each art cell.

Thirteen was cell shaded and looked beautiful for it’s time. The game has some amazing ways of showing AI death. The comic book setup of the game made many images imprinted in players minds. The throwing knives in particular were amazing as it showed up close where the knife actually landed. The guns in the game felt amazing and also received their own killing art cells in the game.

If you are a fan of comics, FPS, or games in general this game had all things covered. Many people reviewed Thirteen as a mediocre game. I for one loved the game upon launch and still to this day enjoy watching the gameplay footage. 


GameSkinny is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more
related content
Read Article Daggerheart Open Beta First Impressions: For the Love of Improv
Daggerheart media image of floating bookshelves.
Read Article 10 Princess Peach: Showtime! Fanart to Wow Nintendo Lovers
Art of Princess Peach in a title screen with banners and star under her and title of the game above
Read Article All Maps in Midnight Ghost Hunt, Ranked
Team of Hunters armed and ready to fight
Read Article The Best Skyrim Zombie Apocalypse Mods
Zombies rising from graves in foggy setting
Read Article Every Soulsborne Game, Ranked from Worst to Best
Sekiro holding up his sword to fight in Sekiro
Related Content
Read Article Daggerheart Open Beta First Impressions: For the Love of Improv
Daggerheart media image of floating bookshelves.
Read Article 10 Princess Peach: Showtime! Fanart to Wow Nintendo Lovers
Art of Princess Peach in a title screen with banners and star under her and title of the game above
Read Article All Maps in Midnight Ghost Hunt, Ranked
Team of Hunters armed and ready to fight
Read Article The Best Skyrim Zombie Apocalypse Mods
Zombies rising from graves in foggy setting
Read Article Every Soulsborne Game, Ranked from Worst to Best
Sekiro holding up his sword to fight in Sekiro
Author
Eric Nicolai
I acknowledge my writing is not perfect. However, video games are my passion. Looking to break into the industry any way I can. I have a YouTube channel along with Twitch under MisterUnboxers. Twitch streams 8pm Monday thru Friday Eastern Time. Follow on twitter too, FlubbedPython.