And so it begins. Ubisoft's XIII spins a yarn of deceit, conspiracy and betrayal - right to the top of the political tree (in the US of A, of course), in an alternate history (or is it the future?).

Presented in a familiar cel-shaded format, XIII attempts to set itself apart from other cel-based games by not being family friendly. It takes the pretty familiar feature of extreme violence from your average shooter (not as extreme as Soldier of Fortune, but close) and dumps it into a cartoon shaded world - making for a gritty "graphic novel" feel, enhanced even further by instant replays of key events or deaths in overlayed comic panels. It's a neat effect and immediately differentiates this game from the rest - there's nothing else like it.

The general gameplay is pretty familiar - find a keycard, blow something up, get to the exit. Along the way, however, you will occasionally find yourself participating in your flashbacks (with a gritty "black and white film" look), sneaking around in the ventilation system and swinging from grappling hooks. You can even take hostages, if you want to, or pick up chairs and similar bits and bobs from around the place and bash them over the bad guy's heads for a silent kill. Additionally, XIII caters for those who prefer stealth to run and gun with plenty of ways to get sneakily close to the baddies before knocking them out - which you can do if you approach unnoticed from behind.

The actual levels themselves are pretty linear - buildings are structured in such a way that there is never any real doubt as to where to go and they therefore don't feel anything like real; there is no way a building would exist (outside of a university campus ;) ) that is constructed in such a bizarre rabit warren fashion. Additionally, there are far too many cheap deaths. One excellent example is when, early in the game, you are following another character around, and occasionally fall to your death - not having had the opportunity to notice the fact that the person you are following actually just jumped between buildings. Over the ledge and WHOOPS - you dead. It doesn't happen that often, but damn - it's hyper annoying when it does.

One of the features of the comic book presentation system (and don't get confused - this is not the kind of comic that young children should be reading) is the occasional overlay of comic "panels", to highlight a key event or replay the fall to doom of some adversary you just slaughtered. These panels typically appear in the top left hand side of the screen, accompanied by suitable audio highlights (read: screams), and either replay (in the case of a bolt to the head, for example) or show an animated version (in the case of a bad guy toppling off a cliff or building) of the dramatic demise of your adversary (etc). Whilst these are extremely cool and very atmospheric, initially, they do occasionally get in the way and either confuse or distract - sometimes sufficiently enough that you may lose health or even, in extreme cases, die. How much these panels bother you will be completely down to you personally - might be an idea to check it out in the shop first, to make sure it's not going to aggravate.

The graphics, obviously, are a strong focus of the game's marketing. The unique look is backed up by excellent detail in the levels themselves, with plenty of graphical flair and solid character animation rounding out the package. The cutscenes too are top-notch, with fantastic "camera angles" and truly magnificent presentation. From a purely artistic perspective, this game scores full points.

The audio is also top quality, with a very atmospheric feel that complements the stunning visuals. It doesn't leap out and smack you in the face with it's intensity (like Return of the King, for example) but, as always, sound that you don't notice until you are actually looking for it is a difficult thing to achieve and it is pulled off well here.