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Beyond Good & Evil
It's beyond good all right -- it's great!
by Susie Vee
| PLATFORM:
PS2,
GC, XBX, PC |
| PUBLISHER:
Ubisoft |
DEVELOPER:
Ubisoft |
GENRE:
Adventure |
ESRB:
Teen |
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One of the more intriguing titles we heard about during 2003 was
Beyond Good & Evil, an action/adventure title from Michel
Ancel, the French designer behind the Rayman series of platforming
games.
With its photojournalist female lead character and odd mix of realism
and funny animals, BG&E seemed, in concept at least,
to be an original take on the genre.
After finally getting to play the finished version of the game,
we’re pleased to report that it’s a welcome break from
some of the more darkly violent games that seem to be all the rage
these days. Combined with a clever, twisting plot and gameplay that’s
varied enough to stay interesting, Beyond Good & Evil
should appeal to girl gamers of all stripes.
You play as Jade, a resourceful young shutterbug who lives on the
planet of Hillys. You and your animal pals – including a friendly
pig named Pay’j – get involved in a giant conspiracy
involving the government, alien invaders and all sorts of other
very bad things.
 Gameplay
is similar to the Zelda series, combining free-roaming exploration,
melee combat and platform-style adventuring. During your investigation,
you’ll travel to a wide variety of locations, taking on tasks
for clients and following the leads into your investigation of the
extended war on your planet.
One very cool aspect of the game is Jade’s camera. You’ll
have to switch into 1st-person mode many times throughout the game
to snap photos of important things. You also get to raise money
by taking photos of all the different kinds of animals on the planet.
So, no matter where you are, you’ll always been on the lookout
for some kind of exotic creature to capture on film. Getting the
animal shots also allows you to upgrade your camera.
We also liked that for most of the game you travel with one of
your friends – like the porcine Pay’j. He’s a
nicely fleshed out character, and having someone else around, even
if it’s just a NPC, makes the game’s somewhat rote switch-flipping
puzzles more interesting.
The game’s only sour note comes from the grating performance
of your cyberspace personal assistant, Segundo. He sports an accent
that would make Jose Jimenez cringe and we had to refer to the subtitles
whenever he was talking.
Aside from that, we’re thrilled with Beyond Good &
Evil. It strikes the perfect balance between the many genres
it straddles, and Jade is a one of the best female protagonists
we’ve seen in a long time. Girl gamers of almost any stripe
will find much to like about this game.
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