In a nutshell:

Comicbook beat-em-up action with animation to tickle your eyes and drop your jaw. This proves an old formula doesn’t have to be a tired one, and that platform beat-em-ups still have some punch, if they’re made right.

Judgement time…

XIII: Covert Identity is in many ways a contradiction – a genuinely inventive game, but wrapped in a genre as old as gaming itself. That’s not to say this platform-based beat-em-up is stale, far from it. If anything it’s proof that, sometimes, the oldest recipes for success are the most reliable.

Sure, there’re no surprises in the controls. And if you’ve ever climbed up to a platform, punched an enemy then leapt back down to continue the mission, you’ll complete this game in no time.

What makes XIII inventive is the style in which it approaches those platforms, enemies, and missions.

Approach an enemy and you’ve got a choice of attacks. Use some scenery, slide tackle his legs, throw a mine his way or simply duck and let the baddie behind you shoot over your head.

Then there’s the animation. Visuals this slick are a rare treat amongst mobile games. Even moreso when the game itself is as innovative and engaging.

Overall then, XIII is a triumph of style and substance. What’s more, it’s cheap and has varying difficulty levels for an extra dose of longevity.