
With the remake of XIII destined to launch on Switch in 2021, fans of Ubisoft's old first-person shooter will no doubt be looking forward to revisiting everything it has to offer. If yesterday's launch on PS4 is anything to go by, though, you might want to rethink all that.
Originally appearing on GameCube back in 2003, XIII was loosely based on a graphic novel series of the same name and was known for adopting a comic book-style aesthetic throughout. The remake, now available on PS4, has caused a bit of upset amongst fans for ditching its comic book looks for a different style, which some have likened to Fortnite.
That's not all, sadly. As spotted by our pals at Push Square, Twitter user @SirCrackerBulb has shared some footage which shows a number of glitches and overall lack of polish that don't appear to do the original justice.
We'd hope that the delayed launch of the Switch version will allow the team to work on some fixes before it arrives on the eShop, but if this was deemed good enough for a PlayStation launch, we're not feeling particularly hopeful.
You might want to keep a watchful eye on this one before taking the plunge next year.
[source twitter.com, via pushsquare.com]
Comments 77
Sigh. Is it just me or has a general aversion to cel shaded graphics come into effect? Or am I just missing more recent cel shaded titles?
Even if they somehow fixed all the glitches, the art style that they went with is enough reason alone to pass on this.
Loved x111 back in the day x loved the cel style, but from what I remember it’s a bit like goldeneye or bourne or something, but I think it’s 45 pound so will wait for a sale xx
Not sure why you would change the graphical style of the game like that. Part of the charm of the game to begin with was the look so it actually looked like the source material.
ugh, it looks terrible. I was waiting for this, and they have time to fix things until the switch release, but no cel-shaded graphics means I won't buy it
@FX102A If you have Game Pass, West of Dead is worth a look. It's also on Switch.
Already got the GameCube version anyway, so unless this was going to be an amazing update and at a good price I wasn't going to bother.
Sounds shoddy though.
I'm getting old.
News like this used to be disappointing. Now when a game turns out poorly, my first thought is "YAY! THAT'S ONE MORE GAME THAT WON'T COST ME MONEY!"
😄😆😄😆😄
It looks like a team fortress 2 mod. That may be giving it too much credit though.
Honestly I was looking forward to it as I loved it on PC back in the day but the visual change is so different that it has put me off from getting it.
I haven't even received my copy yet and it has been one mess after another. I preordered the Switch version on Amazon. When it was delayed I decided to preorder the PS4 version. The problem is I forgot to cancel the Switch version and on Monday evening Amazon dispatched the XBox One version instead... To add insult to injury, they didn't dispatch the PS4 version due to some issue or another and delayed it indefinitely, so I cancelled that order and ordered off Zatu Games who promised same day dispatch and next day delivery if I paid for it, which I did. Yet, here I am, still waiting for my copy to arrive...
So I have paid twice for the same game, still haven't received it, I'm waiting for a refund from Amazon for the XB1 version they tried sending me in error and on top of that it turns out the game is utter *****!
I might just get out the Gamecube version tonight and play that instead.
Oh god, it's the PS3 remake of No More Heroes all over again! "Visual identity? What the hell is that?! Let's make it look like every other game on the system!"
Wow. Way to suck every character out of a game. Wtf.
Why not just make a new adaptation of the source material at this point?
Manhandling the first game seems unnecessary on all levels.
So they took what was cool about game, and made it look ducking awful? Why?
@FX102A Dragon Ball FighterZ! That and the Windwaker remaster are probably the most beautiful cell shaded games ever. I'd actually say BotW is a "blended" version of cell shaded graphics. Difficult to pull off well in games that aren't presented in a fixed perspective (like side scrollers). Wish more would try tho.
@NGNYS Jokes on them then, most Fortnite players JUST play Fortnite lol. All day everyday.
Never liked this game on GC because whenever you died, you had to wait for the whole level to reload from scratch. Why? The level is already in memory, why do you have to reload it all and why does it have to take so long, most GC games loaded pretty fast but this one man, took forever.
Imagine if they did this to Wind Waker. Now that's the stuff of nightmares!
LOL This looks janky and super low budget.
And yeah, I see the Fortnite comparison. It's that very generic mass-produced CG cartoon look.
I never got the chance to play the original back in the day so was looking forward to this.
That said, I might have to pass. I'm not one to prioritize looks over gameplay but for a game that was so well known for its unique and timeless artstyle designed specifically to look like and take inspiration from the source, it seems like a massive oversight for the remake to have such a generic and forgettable look to it. If I was told this is a new Overwatch character or Fortnite skin I would have believed it, as opposed to the original where I've never even played it yet could pick out a screenshot from it without context.
To me, such a misjudgment on the artstyle comes across as a potential red light for how they've handled other aspects of the game seeing as the artstyle would be an obvious thing to definitely keep but just refine.
I would have been an adventurer but then I got a champagne bottle in the knee.
I played XIII on my modded Wii U recently, and yeah, it's cel shade graphics needed an update, but this no longer looks like a comic book. Like the writer of the article says, they went with a Fortnite-style look for the characters, and that certainly makes it miss its comic book roots. And, those glitches, man, Bugisoft is at it again.
@RudyC3 because it used a lazy load system. As you play it's loading different parts because the whole level couldn't fit into memory back then. So when it resets it has to load the whole first part at once instead of a little at a time as it goes.
Cancelling my pre-order as we speak.
Cancelling my preorder for a physical copy as I type this.
I pre-ordered the Switch Physical from Amazon UK, I got an email on monday saying my order had been dispatched. Thought that's weird, its not out until next year. Got it today, it's the Xbox One version, silly Amazon
There's a ton of Fortnite-looking games but uhm...not this one. I think some of you may have developed an even more generalized aversion to cartoon graphics than i did 😅
Oh wow... I never played the original, but this is very disappointing.
Downloaded it for PC by nefarious means last night. Started it and thought it looked absolutely fine having had the original on Gamecube. Ran fine, looked good in 4k and 120Hz. Controls were a bit annoying/unresponsive but that can be patched up easily. Defo a different style but still good cartoony visuals. Only played 20 mins but it played like a typical FPS. Game might end up sucking/boring in the long run, but what I played was hardly an unmitigated disaster.
I played this back on GC and despite an amazing art style, the game was poor IMO. Removing the gorgeous style and leaving just the bad gameplay is a very strange remake strategy!
That tweet, though. Comedy gold
I'll watch it again when I get home
Nevermind the graphics, that AI and animation is shocking. Was it that bad in the Cube version too?
@sketchturner haha so true! I do the same thing.
I was really looking forward to this to the point it was my most anticipated game for this month, and it’s a stacked month. I loved the original game for its art style, music, the story, and all the locales you got to visit. It’s a good ride. This game wasn’t smooth back in 03 and was a little clunky with the aiming I thought but I cared enough about its atmosphere I could overlook it, this game tho just doesn’t run well. I hope they can patch it but regardless that’s unacceptable.
When I first saw there was going to be a remake, I saw hopeful; I loved the original on Gamecube, but revisiting would be a bit hard as the standards have changed so much since then. Then I saw how they changed the art style, and how it had the same logo (developers or publishers, not sure) as Blacksad on the box, another game I really WANTED to love and WANTED to enjoy, but was actually literally unable to finish, even when really trying to look past the technical disasters. Some of them couldn't be looked past, they broke the entire game and I never got past them despite trying. So I lost most of my hope. Whatever was left, got crushed by what I saw of the release on other (stronger) platforms.
Guess I'll revisit the Gamecube version somewhere in the near future instead, or maybe give this one a go after some patches and a deep price cut. If they patch it better than the patched ragdoll that is Blacksad, giving a clear idea of what could've been a great game, when the makers knew how to actually make it.
I enjoyed playing the original on my Mac years ago. That’s a bummer. I think it’ll still come to the Switch regardless, I probably won’t get it right away.
Oof
Maybe all versions of the game should have been delayed lol
the way i thought this was for Final Fantasy XIII...
It looks dated and not in a good way. Im skipping this one, gunplay and animations anno 2003 just doesn't hold up good today.
I can just imagine a whole multiplayer game where everyone picks bottles over guns because they are more deadly.
@Bunkerneath Same happened to me! I cancelled it mid delivery and it's supposedly en route to a returns office. Still waiting for my refund... To add insult to injury, I also preordered the PS4 version when they announced the Switch delay and Amazon were unable to deliver the PS4 version... So I'm still waiting for my copy that I now wish I had just cancelled.
@VinniVinni I never was a big fan of how the line art was usually handled...something like FighterZ did handle it well, but you got STRONG reference to dev it for that game.
@sketchturner I laughed when I realised how true this is. I always feel relieved when a new game happens to be bad, especially when it's a remake of a game I loved. It already takes way to long to scroll all the way down my wishlist.
The " Baywatch babe " was about 50yo in the comics.
I was looking forward to this despite the visual changes but the glitches are really giving me second thoughts.
the gamecube version isn't terribly expensive. I'll go for that.
I feel the same about XIII that I did about the rerelease of Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles; neither game was good when they were new, so where is this sudden demand coming from?
@fluggy The PC version is on Steam for $2.39 and only $5.99 on GoG DRM-Free so no need for anything ‘nefarious’!
I replayed my GoG version on PC when the remake was announced ... and I enjoyed it just like I did in 2003. Never was a great game, but I had a load of fun then and now. Good thing I skipped pre-ordering the PC version of the remake.
@BanjoPickles Crystal Chronicles may have not been your cup of tea but I have nothing bad that I can say about that original game. It is an all time favorite.
@BanjoPickles The original Crystal Chronicles was great, but only for the extremely narrow slice of the gaming population that had both the requisite friends and hardware to play it the way the devs envisioned. The enthusiasm for a remake that could break through those barriers should be understandable, at least.
@txa1265
Eh? You are aware we're all talking about the brand new "REMAKE" (excuse the oxymoron) here, that just got released YESTERDAY? So your saying the price has dropped on Steam from the £39.99 it cost yesterday and its now £2.39 today. Wow... That's the biggest/quickest price dive in entertainment history.
@fluggy Oops - my misunderstanding! . Oh well, I’d rather replay the original at this point anyway!
That’s too bad; as I was looking forward to grabbing this game for my Switch. It has time to be polished, I suppose but if anything, I’ll just get it for PS4/PS5 instead.
Wow. Why would you ever change that art style for this game? That is one part of what gave it its identity. What is up with all the lackluster ports/remakes?
lets face it. all that ps4 and xbox owners do, is complaining, no game is any food, there is always something, they don't realy enjoy their games as much nintendo switch owners do.
i can imagine why alot of developers choose to develop for the switch, here they are apreciated and respected for their work
better is not better, it is just different
I forgave the art. My mistake. The amount of bugs, the weapons that don't feel like weapons, but like those cheap spring guns that shot plastic pellets 2ft., the clipping, crashing, and general poor state of this release is embarrassing. I really, really hope they have some patches coming. And a weapons overhaul. Until then, just buy the classic one on Steam.
The remake looks strange, wouldn't really call it cel-shading.
The graphics look fine; clearly the expectations were impossible if people wanted to still see chunky voxel nothingness. I don't see how that would have held up whatsoever without people proclaiming that as "low effort" and "super lame."
Unfortunately no defense can be made of the actual gameplay which looks farcical and incomplete.
Oh dear. They have completely ruined the graphics. It looked quite unique before but now it just looks like any other modern game.
@VinniVinni that's not a new game tho.
The remake looks ugly. That crap shouldn't exist.
WOW, they actually turned what was one of the coolest looking cell-shaded titles into what looks like a bedroom coder's early access title on Steam.
Wow, that video was hilarious.
Why do these companies always want to do away with the charming aesthetics that made their games remarkable in the first place?
I can't stress enough just how unbelievably ugly I find this whole artstyle whenever I see it.
Going for a cartoony art style is understandable. Going for a cartoony art style just because it won't be able to handle the more realistic art style that was originally intended is not okay. This is an example of what NOT to do when releasing different versions of games, but at least we aren't talking about the dreaded EA "legacy editions"
And here I was all, “I never played the original, so I might check out this remake!” Oof. Never mind. And using the “Can Can” music was a great touch for that montage.
Why in the world would they change from that graphic type to a terribly generic one? Cel shading is great and can make a game look very polished if done correctly, so they scrapped it lol and went with generic semi real style that looks to be from 2 generations ago. Havnt even gotten to those glitches and enemy AI. Unless it's on purpose to be funny,no game should have problems like this in this day and age. Even one person 3ds eShop indie devs with no budget managed to make a working AI that functioned but real companies can't? Come on ...u can do better
@Edu23XWiiU Ubisoft isn't doing the remake. It's by Microids...
@VrginX I know, Bugisoft is spreading its bugcrapping decease to other developers!
Good thing I still have my PS2 copy and I didn't buy this remaster
This sucks. I have worked in video games since 2006, so I know how things go behind the scenes. It sucks when you see decisions being taken which have a technology forward approach instead of a quality forward approach. So, from the looks of things, they've done a remake, but the remake has involved basically making the game in UE4, or something similar.
We all know UE doesnt run well on Switch, I get why, It didnt really run well even on last generation consoles. So, if they are going this way then the Switch version can expect a lazy InstaLod middleware implementation to try deal with texture rendering and sluggish performance all round.
Such a shame, I dont get why they couldnt have just embraced the original and touched it up with some nicer shaders and lighting.
Alas, it looks like this XIII remake its just a prototype for a studio who wants to show they can handle new tools. Not an actual remake by folks who respect the original and want to bring it to modern audiences.
Cel Shading, as far as I am concerned never actually reached its potential. We have had things that dabbled with perfection, but lagtely everything is about rebuild in new tech, because sales people from companies like UE, or even lower level, physics engines, like Euphoria, or PhysX, put so much focus on taking the latest iteration over actually solving problems like how to make their tech work on most systems.
Lets see what happens, but I expect a long load in followed by lots of LOD pop in, low frame rate and a patch a month down the line to take out texture detail.
When will tech companies understand that innovation is great, but they also have to support the average joe. And the Switch, ironically, is the biggest Average Joe in the market, hell it made an Average Joe look beter than the PS4 could with Alien Isolation. But that was a rare example of a company investing in Switch as a platform, rather than as an easy 'almost mobile' cash grab.
This aggression will not stand, man.
Loved that montage XD
So sad to see so many issues with the game tho
Basically, the best way to play XIII in 2020 is XIII Classic on PC (currently £1.99 on Steam), with the HD patch. This remake is an absolute joke.
@FX102A Genshin Impact
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