Early impressions of the XIII remake are not good

The long-awaited remake of cult classic cel-shaded shooter XIII is now available to buy, but it's getting a poor response from fans.

Character designs are noticeably different, and there's been criticism of how the game's iconic cel-shading has been changed.

Footage from the game shows various bugs in the launch version, such as missing animations that see you go to garrotte an enemy and them simply fall to the floor, or for projectiles to clip through models, while still seemingly striking them.

After a day on sale, XIII's Steam listing describes the general scope of its 341 reviews as "very negative" at the time of writing. Many criticise the decision to tone done the style of the game's cel-shading visuals, its poor technical performance, and bugs.

Kotaku spotted the game's classic-feeling ability to swap between every gun in its arsenal has also been inexplicably changed, so you have a loadout with a limited number of slots instead.

It's all more of a shame since the original XIII is so good - its hardboiled conspiracy story was translated well from the original XIII graphic novel series, while its cel-shading made it stand out from the look of any other shooter at the time. There had even been hopes this remake could muster interest in a sequel (the original ended on a cliffhanger, with more of the graphic novel series still to adapt).

We'll have more on the XIII remake on Eurogamer soon.