The cult hit first-person shooter XIII has had an up and down journey through the years. Originally released in 2003, XIII sold so poorly that a planned sequel was canceled quickly. However, the game built a fanbase that few expected, prompting calls for XIII to be brought back in one form or another. It took 17 years to do so, but publisher Microids managed to make it happen. The remake, however, was a disaster. Microids hasn't given up, however, and has now announced an overhaul update for XIII from a new developer.A statement from Microids was recently published on the XIII remake's Steam profile. Microids first explains that, in order to meet the quality standards players expect, it's entrusting the game's future development to Tower Five. Tower Five is a French team best known for action-strategy gameLornsword Winter Chronicle. Further, Tower Five has been working on a substantial update for XIII for over a year and is now ready to announce its release date, September 13.The update will be provided to all XIII remake owners free of charge, with Microids hoping the update will allow players to experience the game as was promised and intended. To start, the update will include a "Refined Art Style," addressing the heavy criticism of the XIII remake's new art style. The original XIII's cell-shaded, comic book-inspired art was part of what made it so beloved, but the remake dramatically altered the visuals. No sample of the new visuals has yet been shared.
Further changes coming in the update include "Enhanced A.I," "Reworked HUD," and "Revamped Sound Design," all of which should dramatically improve the technical quality of the experience from gameplay perspective. Of course, these changes should also make clear at what base level the XIII remake struggled technically. It had substantial issues in all areas of the game.
Tower Five will also be making performance improvements to XIII for certain platforms. The Switch version in particular needed to be addressed, due to poor frame rate. The update should improve Switch performance to 30fps. The update will also enable 60fps on both PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Lastly, Tower Five plans to make an addition to the remake of XIII. It will be bringing XIII's back online multiplayer for between 2 and 13 players. The original XIII featured 16-player multiplayer with several game modes, though it wasn't what helped build the game's cult following. Nevertheless, it's going to be interesting to see what kind of game Tower Five has created when XIII's update arrives on September 13.
XIII is available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
