XIII (VG)

XIII is a 2003 first-person shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Paris and published by Ubisoft. A remake of the game, developed by PlayMagic and published by Microids, was released in 2020. It is based off the 1984 Belgian graphic novel of the same name, written by Jean Van Hamme and William Vance. The game's story is loosely based off the events of the first five volumes of the series. The game is known for its stylistic comic book-like visuals, utilizing cel-shaded graphics very nicely for its time.
The President of the United States has been assassinated by a sniper and later, an amnesic man with the Roman numeral XIII on his right shoulder is found washed up on a shore. The man is soon identified as Steve Rowland - the man whom the FBI strongly believes to have assassinated the President. To find out the truth, Rowland a.k.a XIII embarks on a quest to recover his memory by retracing his steps. However, his former employers - a conspiracy group of 20 - aim to rectify their mistake and silence XIII once and for all.
The English version contains the voice talent of David Duchovny, rapper Eve, and Adam West.
Much like Perfect Dark, weapons have a primary mode of firing, as well as a secondary mode (such as firing the underbarrel grenade launcher, revolver fanning, smacking with rifle butt etc.)
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=Handguns=
==Beretta 92FS==
A Beretta 92FS appears as the "9mm Pistol". It holds an underloaded 13 rounds and can be dual-wielded, once the dual-wield skill is learned. It comes with a suppressor for certain missions/chapters that have major stealth segments.
The gun is available in missions 02-10, 13-14, 17-23 and 26-33.
The in-game model has been substantially stylised, lacking the distinctive Beretta open-topped slide design. It is sometimes mistaken for a Glock pistol, which is clearly false as the in-game model does have a Beretta 92-style frame. It also has a slide mounted safety, so it is not a Taurus PT908 as it was previously misidentified.
thumb|none|600px|Holding a suppressed Beretta.
thumb|none|600px|Reloading.
thumb|none|600px|Holding two pistols.
==Colt Anaconda==
The Colt Anaconda with an 8" barrel appears as the ".44 Special". It's very strong and accurate, as it is very easy to make headshots with this thing. Its secondary mode of fire allows fanning for rapid fire, though in reality this technique does not work on a double-action.
The Anaconda is available in missions 02-05, 11-12, 14-16 and 24-25. Often it is the handgun of the chapter if the Beretta is not featured, and only in a few missions are both guns in your arsenal at once.
=Submachine Guns=
==Mini Uzi==
The Mini Uzi appears under the erroneous title "MiniGun". It holds 32 rounds and is dual-wieldable.
A late game gun that is accessible in missions 22 and 25-33, it is used by Captain Franklin Edelbright, the boss of Mission 22, and can be acquired for a short time after killing him. The final boss Mongoose also wields two Mini Uzis in the final gunfight (Mission 33).
=Shotguns=
==Ithaca 37==
An Ithaca 37 with a chrome-style finish, synthetic furniture and the magazine tube of a Remington Model 870 appears as the "Shotgun" (while the game manual refers to it as the "Pump-Action Shotgun" with the Shotgun name being assigned to the double-barrel mentioned below). The Ithaca holds 5 rounds (while the standard Ithaca 37 has a 4-round magazine tube, the in-game model appears to have one extended to about a 5-round length) at a time, and its secondary fire mode allows a melee attack via the gun's stock. Ammo pickups for this weapon are incorrectly named "Cal 12".
It is available very consistently early in the game, from Mission 03/Winslow Bank onward, but disappears for a while from Mission 17/SPADS Military Base onward. It reappears in Mission 25, where it is wielded by the first boss of the stage, Jasper Winslow, and can be acquired once the player kills him. Its last appearance is in the climactic SSH-1 Military Base chapter of the game (Missions 31-33). 
==12 Gauge Double Barreled Shotgun==
A generic blued 12 Gauge Double Barreled Shotgun with a stainless receiver appears as the "Hunting Gun". It rather predictably holds 2 rounds. Like the Ithaca, its secondary fire mode is a melee attack using the shotgun's stock.
The double barreled shotgun only appears in Kellownee Lake missions (Missions 11 and 12).
=Assault Rifles=
==Norinco Type 56==
The Norinco Type 56 appears as the "Kalash". It holds 30 rounds and the secondary fire action is a toggle for switching between auto and (oddly) burst.
It is mainly used by Mongoose's henchmen during Mission 2/Brighton Beach Invasion and Missions 15 and 16 in the Plain Rock Canyons and Grand Canyon Valley, respectively. It reappears in Mission 25, where it is wielded by the second boss of the stage, Senator Clayton Willard. While the Type 56 can be acquired from Willard after killing him, the mission pretty much ends immediately after the fact. Its last appearance is in the Willard's Estate chapter (Missions 26-29), where it's used by some guards, as well as the XX Conspirators dressed as Ku Klux Klan members.
Even though the game implies the gun to be a Russian AK-47, the in-game model has a hooded front sight of a Chinese Type 56. The game also claims that it's loaded with 5.56mm rounds. This is most likely a mistake by developers as there are a couple other dubious chamberings among the game's guns. The gun's magazine is clearly a 7.62x39mm magazine and thus isn't a Norinco Type 84S, which chambers 5.56mm.
==M16 with M203 grenade launcher==
An M16 fitted with an M203 grenade launcher appears as the "AR". It's presented as an original M16 with a 20-round magazine, despite the in-game gun having a 30-round capacity. The M203 is also not attached with its heatshield handguard, appearing to just be stuck onto the bottom of the rifle's handguard. A much worse error is that the M203's trigger is never pulled when fired and it is also never reloaded, much like in Half-Life. Pressing the secondary fire key controls the firing of the M203. Due to its high rate of fire and heavy recoil, it is advisable to fire the M16 in quick bursts.
The M16 gun is accessible in missions 06-10, 17-24 and 30-33. It is mainly featured in missions/chapters that involve SPADS and/or the US Army.
=Sniper Rifles=
==SVD Dragunov==
The SVD Dragunov appears as the "Sniper Rifle". True to its name, it's ideal for taking out enemies from a distance, and is powerful enough to kill enemies in a few hits. Its secondary mode is the scope.
This gun is accessible in missions 05, 09-10 and 13-16. It's generally supplanted by the crossbow in the other missions. It also appears in the intro cutscene where the assassin uses it to fatally shoot the president of the United States, William Sheridan.
In-game ammo pickups claim that the SVD is chambered in .50 BMG, which is absurd as no SVD variant has ever been made in that calibre. The heaviest chambering for a mass-production Dragunov-type sniper rifle so far has been the SVDK's 9.3x64mm 7N33/Brenneke, which entered production in 2006.
=Machine Guns=
==Browning M2HB==
The Browning M2HB appears as a static weapon in some missions. It can be controlled and fired by the player.
==M60==
The M60 appears under its own name, though, the game's instruction manual strangely calls it a "Sub-Machine Gun". One of the strongest weapons in the game, it deals high damage and holds 200 rounds at a time. However, it produces quite a bit of recoil and the player's movement slows down when it is equipped. Its secondary fire mode switches between burst fire and full-auto. Reloading the M60 is completely done off-screen.
This gun is accessible in missions 12, 19-20, 24 and 31-33. An M60 is used by two bosses of the game: Colonel Seymour McCall (Mission 19) and General William Standwell (Mission 31).
thumb|none|450px|M60 - 7.62x51mm NATO
=Launcher=
==Panzerfaust 3==
The Panzerfaust 3 appears as the "Bazooka". It fires a straight-flying rocket and its secondary firing mode allows you to hit the enemy with a fresh rocket (!!).
It is available to the player in missions 15, 16 and 24. In Mission 24, it is the only way to defeat the helicopter boss at the end of the stage. Some enemies use the Panzerfaust 3 in Missions 5 and 10, but it is inaccessible during these missions.
It is depicted as being a reloadable launcher like the RPG-7. In reality, the Panzerfaust 3 is a single-use anti-tank weapon where the main launch tube assembly is discarded after use and only the firing/sighting unit is reused.
=Grenades=
==Mk2 Grenade==
The Mk 2 hand grenade appears simply as the "Grenade".
Grenades are accessible in missions 05, 08-10, 13-16, 19-24, 26-29 and 31-33.
=Others=
==Harpoon Gun==
==Crossbow==
==Crossbow 3 Shots==
==Unknown Handgun==
During the cutscene between Missions 2 and 3, XIII draws an unknown pistol out of his jeans as he arrives at Winslow Bank in a car. Since bringing a gun to a bank is a bad idea, he hides the gun in the glove compartment for the time being.
=See Also=
*XIII (2020)
*XIII: The Conspiracy
*XIII: The Series
Category: Video Game
Category: First-Person Shooter
Category: War