XIII

=== Setting ===
The game's setting takes place within the same arrangement as the first five volumes of the 1984 Belgian graphic novel series XIII. While the plot itself borrows major elements from all five volumes to create singular narrative - the attempt to uncover the identities of a group of conspirators seeking to overthrow the US government, and the involvement of a man with no memory to achieve this - the adaptation of the comics features notable differences and situations in various places.

Synopsis

On a beach in Brooklyn, New York City, a man with a gunshot wound is found by a lifeguard. Suffering from amnesia, the man can only recall being shot at while trying to escape from a boat, and learns he possesses a bank deposit key and a tattoo of the Roman numeral XIII on his right shoulder. When men led by a hitman named the Mongoose arrive to kill him, identifying him as XIII, he finds himself forced to escape. Investigating the key leads XIII to a bank where he recalls he was investigating a conspiracy, but had set a trap for those involved that he inadvertently sets off. Forced to escape in the chaos, XIII finds himself arrested outside the bank by the FBI for the assassination of the President of the United States, William Sheridan. Interrogated by the lead investigator, Colonel Amos, the man learns that his face belongs to that of the shooter in the murder, Steve Rowland. After the Mongoose attacks the FBI headquarters, XIII finds himself aided by a female soldier named Jones, whom he remembers working with, and escapes from the city.
Jones informs XIII that the pair were working with war veteran General Ben Carrington, who was conducting a parallel investigation into the president's death and had unearthed a conspiracy against the US government. Learning that Carrington was arrested and taken to a base station in the Appalachian Mountains, XIII proceeds to rescue him in order to uncover his past. Carrington agrees to help him, but instructs XIII to assist a contact in the Rocky Mountains. XIII meets with the contact who identifies herself as Kim Rowland, and that he is not Rowland; the real Rowland, her husband, died after committing the assassination. Protecting her from the men sent by the Mongoose, XIII is captured following an avalanche and promptly taken away to a mental asylum for examination after the hitman suspects him to be an impostor. XIII manages to escape, killing the asylum's director, Edward Johannsen (identified as Number XX), before reuniting with Jones.
Informed of a meeting taking place in Mexico, XIII is sent to eavesdrop on it within the base of a special forces group called SPADS. During his infiltration, XIII finds out, while listening to a pair of SPADS soldiers' conversation, that he is actually Jason Fly, a squadmate of Rowland. Gathering evidence that the conspiracy involves a coup using SPADS soldiers led by a powerful group, XIII deals with two conspirators Seymour McCall (colonel of the SPADS identified as Number XI) and Franklin Edelbright (captain of the submarine USS Patriot and Number VII), while eliminating a stockpile of weapons meant for the coup. Upon returning to the United States, Carrington rendezvouses with XIII alongside Amos, and reveals to both that Sheridan's murder was conceived by Rowland, only to be betrayed and murdered by the conspirators after the assassination, but survived long enough to contact his wife. Angered by his death, Kim decided to get revenge, and decided to expose the identity of the group and their scheme to the authorities through faking Rowland's survival. Carrington reveals that Fly agreed to assist by undergoing plastic surgery to replicate Rowland's appearance; XIII recalls he had been close to identifying the leader, before something went wrong.
With the aid of the FBI, XIII proceeds to uncover the identity of the conspirators, and infiltrates a nearby hotel where two more of the conspirators, Jasper Winslow (head of the bank named after him identified as Number IX) and Clayton Willard (a US senator identified as Number V), meet to discuss their progress, but are killed on the spot. XIII's next target is the meeting site of the group to find out how the coup will occur. With sufficient evidence, XIII, Amos, and Carrington meet with William's brother Walter, and explain to him the conspiracy - a group of powerful people in the United States, calling themselves "The XX" ("The Twenty") - due to the Roman numerals tattooed onto each member - planned a coup during a war simulation exercise using loyal SPADS soldiers, who would replace US democracy with a totalitarian government. As the coup involves a key military facility, Walter offers assistance to gain entry to the site. Shortly after arriving, XIII finds himself having to protect William's successor when SPADS begin attacking the site, eliminating the remaining members that had not been killed or arrested, including William Standwell (former Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force identified as Number III) and Calvin Wax, former US Secretary of Defense and the sole possessor of Number I's identity who shoots himself (he is thought to be Number I, but is identified as Number II instead), before defeating the Mongoose in one final battle.
With the coup thwarted, Walter holds a party on his private yacht. While seeking him out, XIII overhears Kim arguing with Walter and enters the latter's private office to hear a weakened Mongoose on the speakerphone trying to contact Number I. XIII then has one final flashback in which he recalls that he was on that yacht previously when he came close to identifying Number I; realising the person he saw in the office he is currently standing in was Walter. The game ends on a cliffhanger when Walter, accompanied by armed bodyguards, finds XIII in the office, leaving whether or not Walter is, in fact, Number I ambiguous.