"Good."

The problem with the game industry is that risk-taking can be punishing. New, original games don't always sell, because people are leery of them and would rather spend their money on a franchise they know (Final Fantasy, anyone?). Ubi Soft's Beyond Good & Evil is one of those games that didn't get the attention it deserved. My overall experience with the game was a good one, though it isn't a perfect product, and my only wish is that we can continue to see new and refreshing material like this.

Graphics:
Very nice. Everything is drawn with a lot of care in mind and never feels over-elaborate or too dumb-downed. Imagine a slightly more mature Rayman and you have Beyond Good & Evil. The majority of characters have a cartoonish flare to them, but they move and act so believably, it becomes a part of a real, living world. The game is also handled in a cinematic way. The "film" quality is reminiscent to a movie, and the camera often switches to dramatic angles during jumps and fights. I never noticed any drops in framerate, either. The only thing I could ask for is some pre-rendered cut-scenes, but what is present is good enough.

Sound:
Superb. The voice acting is great. Dialogue is witty and to the point. The music is very commendable and atmospheric, also, covering a wide range of tastes. Fights against the monsters are complimented by eerie, dark chanting. Races are filled with fast-paced, Spanish hip-hop. The anxiety of sneaking past guards is heightened by melodramatic music. It all comes together to create a truly unique experience.

Gameplay:
Beyond Good & Evil combines stealth, action, and bits of racing, but the further you progress in the game, the more you will have to rely on sneaking around. There can still be a lot of fighting in your sneaking, however. It's all a matter of how you play your cards. The game feels and plays like a movie, too, and rarely did I think it fell into standard adventure fare. The dungeons, if you want to call them that, don't even feel like dungeons. They're just these huge buildings you're suppose to infiltrate and take pictures of. You always have a teammate along, too. Surprisingly, they really act like teammates. You'll have to rely on their help to do certain tasks, and you can even ask them questions relevant to the current situation. But while the game progresses in an intriguing manner, I have to complain about its linear scope. Beyond Good & Evil takes place in a huge, believable, explorable world, but you are always limited to where you can go. It isn't until you near the end of the game when things start to feel more open.

Controls:
Too limited. Jade, the main character, can only jump when a chasm is present. She can only take her weapon out when monsters are in the same room. I personally like being able to jump and hit things whenever I want. While it may be good that the game keeps you on track, it takes away from the free-roaming, do-anything experience I like in my adventures. Still, controls are fluid, easy to learn, and responsive. Everything feels natural and works for a reason, though sometimes the game requires too little from you. For example, pressing the A button in certain circumstances automatically makes Jade shimmy up a crevasse and turn a wheel. It would have been nice if the player got to do this.

Frustration:
The final battle. It made me so mad, I wanted to cry. For the entire game, I had been impressed at how smooth and cool it played. Despite some difficult situations, I never got annoyed. I never got frustrated. But then this fell apart (as did the story) in the last ten minutes. Why?!

Lasting Appeal:
Arrrggghhh! This game has the save point of no return. I hate that. At least you can save over a different file if you still want to dink around in Jade's world and collect all the, er... collectibles. But getting every pearl and animal photograph is not only unrewarding, it's ridiculously easy to do, and may only add one hour on top of the original time spent. The game can be beat in anywhere from 10-12 hours, too.

Overall:
I would have given this game a slightly higher score if I wasn't so displeased with the ending. Beyond Good & Evil has a cinematic feel that makes you actually care for the characters and what's going on. This engrossment, I felt, was lost in the last ten minutes. This is such a shame, because this is an awesome game that will captivate you like few games can do anymore. While it may not play like the open-ended, huge, and varied worlds which are Zelda, it's still a great experience. And with the low price it's going for nowadays, there's no reason why you shouldn't give it a look.

Points:
+ Doesn't feel like a typical game
+ Very cinematic
+ Fun characters/locales
-- Too linear
-- Restricting control
-- Bad, bad, bad ending

Score: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/18/04, Updated 11/07/04