Developer: Ubisoft Publisher: Ubisoft Release: 12/11/03 Genre: Action Platform: GameCube, PS2, Xbox, PC
Ubisoft had a stellar games lineup in 2003. Rainbow Six III continued the strategy series excellence. Prince of Persia would receive a fantastic reboot that would among the year’s best games. And XIII, a Belgian comic book, would get an amazing first person adaptation that makes me wonder why more shooters do not use cel shading. But a new intellectual property would receive a lot of buzz throughout the year for its storytelling and gameplay. Beyond Good & Evil was highly praised by all who saw it. The problem is gamers did not show up. Regardless of its bad sales this remains an amazing game that has held up beautifully over the years.
You star as Jade, an aspiring photojournalist living at home in a lighthouse with her guardian Pey’j and the orphans they have taken in. The planet Hillys is under attack from aliens known as the Domz but a military force known as the Alpha Sections places the world under their protection. But all is not as it seems. Rumors say that the Alpha Sections are not what they seem and an underground movement called the Iris network plans to expose them. In need of money and wanting to help out Jade joins the Iris Network in finding evidence to help save the world.
There is no easy way to say it, Beyond Good & Evil was a commercial flop. Plenty of games never find success but seeing this one in real time was something else. Literally weeks after release Ubisoft dropped the price to $20 in an effort to move copies. Copies of the PC version were given away with packs of cheese in Canada, that’s how bad it flopped. The lack of marketing certainly did not help; if I were not diligent in reading up on games at the time I would never have heard of it. Despite the lack of success I am here to tell you how great this game is.
Beyond Good & Evil is an adventure game with many different aspects to its gameplay. In many ways the game is similar to Zelda. As Jade you have free reign to explore a good portion of the world from the start using your hovercraft. There are some areas inaccessible until you buy a few upgrades the game is very open. Travel is fast and there is some minor combat and races once you buy the necessary equipment. Navigation is easy thanks to the compass although Hillys is a small world overall. This aspect of the game despite only playing a small role is well developed I must say.
As you explore the various caves and such around the world the game feels similar to Zelda. Throughout your journey you are accompanied by Peyj and Double H later on. These companions assist in combat and with the numerous puzzles. The AI is smart and at the touch of a button they will move in to position or help out during battle when necessary. I like the banter between characters; it gives everyone tons of personality and makes what would be an otherwise desolate journey more engaging.
Combat using the Dai-jo stick is simple yet effective. You can string together a few attacks and perform combos with your partner. Most of the depth comes from the mechanics around dealing with certain enemies and bosses. Boss battles feature elaborate patterns that make these encounters memorable which is good as they are few. While combat is enjoyable for what it is it does feel more like a means to an end. In fact you can avoid it most of the time using stealth. The game even encourages this and while the stealth mechanics are not the greatest they are at least serviceable.
Beyond Good & Evil is composed of a lot of disparate parts yet somehow they all work. Equal attention was given to almost every aspect of the game making a title that is greater than sum of its parts. It is like the designers took a look at every action adventure game that came before and took notes to avoid their failings. Checkpoints are frequent and only seconds from where you die. Load times (at least on Xbox and GameCube) are near instant. Your partner is smart and will assume the position to help you without any nudging. The camera is also generally good about framing the action and honestly I never had any issues. For the most part I had no difficulty making my way through the game as health restoring items are plentiful as well as upgrades.
All told the quest is nice and compact. Most will complete the game in around eight hours which feels appropriate. However a large part of that comes from the pearl hunting grind toward the end. Two of the most expensive upgrades are mandatory and require a massive number of pearls to purchase. To the game’s credit a few new areas open up to ease the burden. But it still feels like padding. I would have liked to see the photo journal aspect of the game integrated better to reduce the grinding as most of it is optional and could have played a bigger role. But that is nitpicking.
In Closing
Beyond Good & Evil is one of the best adventure games from its generation. A fully realized and compelling world, great art direction, and fantastic voice acting make his a near classic. If there were any justice we would have had many sequels to flesh out this universe. But alas, we must enjoy what we have. At the rock bottom prices it goes for it is a steal.
