XIII Review | Comic Book Style, David Duchovny, An OP Crossbow

Stealth Boom Boom | A Stealth Video Games Podcast

19 years after writer Jean Van Hamme and artist William Vance created a Belgian comic that revolved around a very strong and athletic amnesiac, Ubisoft decided to create a video game adaptation of it. We're going back to 2003 to look at a stealthy first-person shooter. We're talking XIII.

On this episode of Stealth Boom Boom, we look at how the comic book's story and art compare to that of what Ubisoft Paris created (and how people thought the source material was "ugly" apparently). We also make note of how the leading man and woman – David Duchovny and EVE – were feeling about XIII before it came out.

In our review, you'll hear some chat on Josh's fourteen copies of the game, an advert for our podcast on the XIII remake (coming 2029), TAP TAP TAP (and how style meets function with onomatopoeic SFX), surveillance camera pop-up panels, The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum, whacking brooms over the heads of others, the ludicrously overpowered crossbow, varied ammo drops, BAAOOM BAAOOM, the reward for a headshot, the return of Gun Pervert Wise, enemies popping up far away and up on high, secondary fire mode, a unique grappling hook, the rush of killing a guard in between them saying "ALERT" and them setting off the alarm, "YOU CAN FLY", a bank with some dynamite in it, the undercooked individual targets of The XX, a baggy middle, that late '60s / early '70s tone, the cliffhanger for XIII 2 (or XIV), mixed-up memories, and the curious performance of David Duchovny (and his album Hell or Highwater, available in all good record shops).

After all that, the lads take you through what some of the critics were saying about the game around the time it came out, and then they give their final verdicts on whether XIII is a Pass, a Play, or an Espionage Explosion.

For those who would like to play along at home, we'll be discussing, reviewing and dissecting Thief: The Dark Project on the next episode of Stealth Boom Boom.

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