Fresh gameplay footage has been released from the remake of the 2020 XIII remake – the XIII re-remake, if you will – with Microids and developer Tower Five making good on their pledge to do the 2003 comic-inspired shooter justice with a free overhaul and new release on Switch, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Originally developed by PlayMagic, the project has now been passed to French studio, Tower Five, which has been working on the XIII update “for more than a year”. Both the free upgrade and Nintendo Switch version will be out on 13th September, 2022.
The new version of XIII promises a “new art direction, a better AI and numerous technical improvements like 60fps.” That’s one of the enhancements being made for the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S version of the game, with the title also coming to Nintendo Switch. Tower Five are also breathing new life into the multiplayer modes that the original game shipped with, with online multiplayer for 2 to 13 players.
When it launched on PS4, Xbox One, and PC in November 2020, XIII was mauled by disappointed fans and reviewers, bagging a poor OpenCritic average score of 34. Dragged down by myriad technical issues and a confusing and drastic change of art direction, it was quickly labelled one of the worst remakes/remasters of all time.
Microids was quick to issue an apology, patching the game to remedy many of the bugs players had flagged, but restoring the game to its former glories was a bigger job.
“We are fully aware and terribly sorry that the initial launch of XIII Remake on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC did not reach players’ expected quality standards,” said Stéphane Longeard, CEO de Microids at the time. “A bit more than a year ago we took the decision to hire the studio Tower Five to finish the development of the game. Tower Five worked with us in the past, notably on the great port of Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders on Nintendo Switch. We really wanted to take the time to fix the game and offer owners of XIII Remake a free update paying the best possible tribute to the original game we all love.”
Source: Microids