Truely sensational, nice stlye, innovative and different gameplay and fun but hard at the same time...
XIII is not jus running and shooting. There are a fair amount of clever stealthy parts to the game, puzzles and simple bosses to please the mind. What is most fun about this game is the interactivity that really comes in handy when you're low on ammo or trying to be steathly. Don't have a weapon? Want to be stealthy? Don't just use the punch attack so boringly used in most FPS, pick up a chair and smack them over the head, break a window and stab them with a shard of glass or take a civilain hostage and make a hasty escape. The possiblities are endless. Also another fun part to the game are the cartoony slides that appear with each particuarilly good kill. Get a head shot with the crossbow or knock some one off a cliff and you get a series of zoomed in shots of the victim's death in the corner of the screen - truely satisfying.
The story is one of the best parts of the game, it is complicated, full of twists and is truely worthy of an oscar and strangly resembles the hit film Bourne Identity (though I think if there was any copying going on I would say the Bourne films coppied XIII as the comic upon which it is based came before the Bourne film - and yes, I do know the Bourne films are based upon and old book but the film's story does not actaully relate to the books at all).
So, if you own a PS2 and are not afraid to be different and buy a fairly difficult and underated game buy it right now! Yes, leave your seat and go to the shops.