"A great game with a huge variety of gameplay elements alongside a pretty good storyline"

Beyond Good and Evil is a game with a great variety of well-performed gameplay elements that sit alongside a good storyline and some true originality.

STORY
You play as Jade, an investigative reporter. The world of Hillys is under attack by the Domz and the Alpha Sections are keeping the population safe. But things run a little deeper than that…and you're the one who has to investigate it. This is a story filled with plot twists and revelations, and trust me though it's a simple plot it's still great.

GAMEPLAY = 10/10
The majority of good games have a few main gameplay ideas which carry the game onwards. However in Beyond Good and Evil we see something special happen in that there is a wonderful variety of gameplay ideas that are done well.

There are two main ways of travelling between places both of which are developed well and both of which you need for boss fights and puzzles later in the game. The boat initially doesn't feel that great to control, but once you get used to it you will love its sharp yet realistic controls and the awesome jumps it can pull off as well as the weapon which grows on you. Not only is the boat used for travelling but also for races, several boss fights and some awesome puzzles. The spaceship controls, quite simply, perfectly. Not only this but it is also VERY fun to pilot. A nice touch is that once both are unlocked you can switch between boat and spaceship mid-journey almost whenever you wish.

Playing as an investigative reporter one of your main allies is your camera which contributes the picture taking section of the game. This presents two large parts of the game. First of all your mission to take pictures of organic matter. For each new plant or animal species you take a picture of you get a huge wad of money as well as (occasionally) some pearls. Some of the creatures will even have puzzles attached to getting there pictures. The other use of picture taking is the aim of the game – to capture evidence against the enemies for publishing.

Of course to take pictures you have to go travelling through factories and caves. This involves three things. The first is puzzles, which for fans of the action/adventure genre is pretty self explanatory. The second is dealing with enemies via one of two means. Either up front in combat or via sneaking (both of which will be discussed later). The third is acrobatics whether you're using them to move along a destroyed path, dodge moving lasers, escape chasing enemies or pass through security systems.

The combat is very basic consisting of an attack button (which provides normal and charged attacks) and a dodge button. I really want to complain about this and indeed I have seen many people complain about it, but you know what – it's perfect. You see you spend less than 10% of the game in close combat, so you don't really have enough time to practice combos and intricate moves. However with such simple combat you can easily flow from one thing in to combat and then straight in to something completely different.

The sneaking is not as basic as the combat but at the same time not as intricate as a game based purely around sneaking. Once again this is nice as it keeps the game flowing nicely whilst allowing it to be very varied at the same time. The sneaking involves guards with gas tanks on their backs. Sometimes you'll have to just get through the room without being seen, whilst other rooms require you to strategically position yourself so that you can fire blades at their gas tanks taking them out one by one. Either way the sneaking is rather exhilarating as you often find yourself walking only a metre behind guards, or having to roll around a room with 4 moving guards.

GRAPHICS = 8/10
The graphics vary quite a bit. The lighting effects are superb and the water looks fantastic. The design of the characters looks quite nice, but the actual characters are ugly at times – Jade's hands are the definition of blocky, and close-ups on faces don't always go brilliantly.

MUSIC/SOUND = 9/10
The music is very good. It knows when to be exciting and when to be emotional, and trust me when it is emotional it is tear wrenching. The Voice Acting is likewise very good.

REPLAYABILITY = Low
The game is about 10-15 hours long. It's very much one of those games that you really want to go back and play, but you probably won't play it again as its unique blend is lost on the second play through.

Gameplay = 10/10
Graphics = 8/10
Music/Sound = 9/10
Length = 10-15 hours
Replayability = Low

Final Score = 9.5/10 (rounded to 10/10)

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/12/08

Game Release: Beyond Good & Evil (EU, 02/27/04)