- For the mobile version, see XIII (Mobile).
XIII (pronounced: Thirteen) is a first-person shooter released for PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, Microsoft Windows, and Mac OS X and based on the 1984 Belgian XIII comic series. XIII was developed and published by Ubisoft and released on November 25, 2003. The game was published for Mac OS X by Feral Interactive. The Windows DVD version has recently been re-released in the UK under the Sold-Out Software budget games label.
The plot of the game centers on the main character, who has awakened with amnesia. XIII is unique in that the characters and weaponry are cel-shaded, giving a deliberately comic book style appearance, including onomatopoeic words contained in bubbles for sound effects similar to those in comic books.
The story begins at Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, New York City where XIII awakes, badly wounded and with no memory of his past. The game roughly follows the storyline of the first five volumes of the comic (the first fifteen issues), although there are several additions to the storyline, and changes were made to better adapt the story to game format. The game ends at the exact point where the comic's fifth volume ended, and as such, the complete story is unfinished, leaving room for a sequel. Sales performance for XIII has been lower than expected, despite its positive reception (Game Rankings: 74%). As such, a sequel is unlikely, and no announcements have been made.