XIII Developer Apologizes For Disappointing Remake And Vows To Fix It
FPS remake XIII failed so badly at pleasing both fans of the original and newcomers that the publisher has issued an immediate apology for the game.
First-person shooter remake
XIII released this week to overwhelmingly negative reception, prompting publisher Microids to put out a message apologizing for the game's sorry launch state. The game is a graphical overhaul and update of a Ubisoft-published shooter of the same name that hit all then-current consoles and PC back in 2003. In its day,
XIII gained attention for featuring the voice of
X-Files star David Duchovny. It was also praised for its cel-shaded comic book visuals, one of several titles adapting the style at the time. The game is based on a Belgian comic book by Jean Van Hamme that's also inspired various
TV adaptions of the material. As far as the remake is concerned, 2020's rendition of
XIII removes the cel-shaded graphics and replaces them with more generic 3D models. While some people might not mind that change, not many can look past the constant glitches, visual abnormalities, poor AI, and stripped to the bone multiplayer suite. Out of 513 Steam user reviews posted at the time of writing, only 9 percent of them are positive, giving the game the "Overwhelmingly Negative" mark on the storefront. Steam's algorithms typically attempt to hide games rated this poorly, and a quick search for the title will pull up the original game and
Friday the 13th: The Game before this brand new release.
In a joint statement released today, publisher
Microids and developer Playmagic apologize to fans of
XIII for delivering a substandard product. They admit that the game they released doesn't meet their quality standards, going on to explain that the ongoing global pandemic caused delays in the quality assurance processes that couldn't be overcome. A day one patch for the game was also in the works, but it was delayed past launch due to similar timing complications.
That day one patch is now out for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and the team at PlayMagic vow to continue working on known issues with framerates, sound design, climbing ladders, and more for the foreseeable future. The publisher has set up a separate web page on their site with a full list of the current issues with the game as well as what was fixed with that all-important first patch. Besides the technical issues, the team promises to add more polish to the game in the coming weeks, and the game will remain on sale throughout the process.
It's strange that
XIII was a target for a remake in the first place. The original was a memorable game for those that played it almost two decades ago, but it's not a game that has persisted in public memory for a long while. It's certainly more popular in Europe, where the game is
more of a licensed novelty instead of the random cel-shaded shooter it was in America. Either way, the change in art style and modernization of a few other aspects of the game really does make it feel like a whole new experience, and no amount of bug fixes and polish upgrades are going to rectify that situation.
XIII is out now on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
Source:
Microids