Screens | XIII

Cell shading is not exactly the most discrete of gaming crazes. Everyone is wearing, like Man United shirts this new and daring visual style is being worn by anyone, even if it doesn’t work, and in quite a few cases looks awful. However, if done properly, and used in the right way, it can help a game to establish a sense of originality and make it different and interesting.

As we can see from these latest screens the graphical style works really well on the different areas of the game. The industrial levels, with lots of metal and straight lines seem cold and dangerous, adding to the unique and outstanding atmosphere that the game has. One major part of the gameplay is being able to pick up objects and use them as weapons when you guns fail you. This adds a whole new dimension to the title, allowing windows to be smashed and pieces of glass then be picked up and used to kill enemies. Bottles are also useable along with various other objects.

Whilst quite a lot of cell shaded titles look simple and blocky, the effects that Ubi Soft have used take a totally different style. They are very mature in their appearance when compared to say Cell Damage and Zelda. There are many more subtle details than you would think possible such as light streaming through windows and water rippling as the sun sets. XIII keeps with its comic book roots superbly well whilst taking its own strides to make the visuals more than a gimmick, and the developer should be applauded for that. We will have more details on this game soon…