XIII - Lost Identity Review
PROS
- 20+ year old classic comic brought to life as an adventure game.
- Effectively uses the original art style.
- Additional puzzles to break up the gameplay.
CONS
- By-the-numbers hidden object gameplay; loose reasons given for such abstract tasks.
VERDICT
When it was announced that XIII was going to be given new life on the App Store it wasn't easy to remain calm, but while a hidden-object adventure game can follow the comic's hefty storyline, it's unable to convey the true tension and intrigue that lies behind it.
- Full Review
- App Store Info
If you're not familiar with the comic series XIII, it's an intriguing story (not dissimilar to that of The Bourne Identity) and has been kicking around since the early 80s. The Franco-Belgian classic has been given a video game conversion already, but now iOS gamers can get a taste of this spy/conspiracy story for themselves with XIII - Lost Identity.
Publisher Microids already has a history on the App Store, so it's no surprise to see the game taking on aspects of their earlier work as the original storyline is given a hidden-object treatment. As such the game hits the major narrative points and manages to justify the need to hunt for objects by disguising it in the form of adventure objectives.
This part of the game is sadly mundane and unlikely to provide much challenge to genre veterans, though in a neat twist some items are collected and brought over to be used to solve challenges in other areas. These can also trigger additional objectives such as completing logic puzzles and like any good spy story you're subjected to an action sequence or two.
Unfortunately XIII - Lost Identity feels a little too 'by the numbers' and while it's great to experience the story in a new form, the gameplay is far from engaging and only moderately appropriate for a spy thriller storyline.
If you're a fan of the series you may get a kick out of the game, but even as a stand-alone hidden object game it fails to excite.
Screenshots
$2.99
