The original XIII game never quite did it for me. Aside from the novelty of it taking a European comic book aesthetic into the video game space, it felt like a subpar FPS in a console generation that wasn't lacking in iconic FPS experiences.

I was thus quite surprised that this poorly-received 1-to-1 remake did work for me. I don't know what it was like at release and it could still do with a few bugfix patches (bugs encountered listed below), but otherwise I found it to be a good update that kept me engaged from beginning to end both in regards to gameplay as in story.

I think currently the game's biggest issue is that it slips between the cracks of fans of the original that view this one too critically by comparison, and new people who have trouble with what is fundamentally still a Playstation 2 game.

Bugs encountered:
- Occasionally throwables such as knives and grenades would refuse to work until I switched back and forth with another weapon
- Some cutscenes transitioning between chapters appear to be missing
- The in-game Achievement screen remained empty a few times
- Using a zipline once doubled my character model and made me incapable of proceeding (the only breaking bug)

Pros:
Unlike original the remake has achievements, cloud saves and controller support

Cons:
blurry visuals

I am siding with the opinion of some others, it is acceptable. I played the initial release with all the bugs so as the re-re-remake after the patchwork. This game tries to imitate the 2003 release but can only match with graphics improvements while other game related features either are missing or are not fully implemented. One can play trough without being harmed by crashes or errors, some previous noted bugs still are existing but in minor occurences. I you dont know the 2003 release yet, it is good to play, the story is rich so as the weapon arsenal is well present, sure it bothers that a every new level your previous gained inventory is stripped down to basics, so dont spare your bigger guns and use up the ammo prior you complete the current level. If you have played the 2003 release, you better play this one again because for some players, the 2020 version is more a disappointment than a valuable remake, where just the graphics have been polished but else not much has improved at all. Worth replaying for achievement hunters only.