Beyond Good & Evil

"Another winner from Ubisoft"

First off let me qualify this review by stating that I am not normally taken in by action/adventure games. Beyond Good & Evil (BG&E) has a fairly predictable premise but manages to throw us a nice twist wherein the game becomes less youth-oriented, and more like a grown up gamer's game. Intrigue, suspense, conspiracy, these are some of the adjectives that I certainly didn't expect out of such a cartoony game.

The main protagonist in BG&E is an action reporter by the name of Jade, she wears a lot of green (teehee)and is the adopted niece of a pig-man named Pay'J (pronounced page). Jade and Pay'J live together in a lighthouse with a group of orphans that they take care of.. Going by this premise alone, you are probably thinking ''geez how kiddy can we get here?'' But wait! The children are orphans because lots and lots of people from the anthropamorphic world of Hillys have gone ''missing'', a deed that seems to be tied to an invasion by out-worldly beings called ''The DomZ''. Besides the dastardly DomZ attacks, suspicions about a home-front group by the name of ''Alpha Sector'' are introduced very early in the story. We soon realize that Jade must find out just what ''exactly'' is happening on Hillys.

STORY 8/10

During the adventure, several plot twists and turns will keep the average gamer quite happy. Side story and back story seemed a bit lacking, and hopefully in a sequel BG&E2 will fill in the need to know more.

SOUND 10/10

It doesn't get better than this. The original music, the voice acting, the perfectly timed changes in ambience, BG&E really delivers the goods when it comes to sound. The overall feel of the game is greatly amplified by it.

GRAPHICS 10/10

While not ''realistic'' BG&E's graphics are smooth and well designed. Adding to the unique look and feel of the game, cartoonish people run seemlessly around, while excellent reflection-mapping on the waters and particle effects deliver just enough eye candy to please without overwhelming. The design of the characters is beautiful, and the cut scenes use the exact same graphics so immersion is imediate. Many times you will feel like you are interacting with a very well made cartoon, rather than playing a game.

CONTROLS 9/10

-On Foot: Easy to learn, and tricky to master, the BG&E control scheme is top notch among games of this type. The basic actions of; camera position, movement, jumping, running, crawling are as you may expect. Jade not only runs around though, she is also equipped with a pretty dangerous weapon her ''Dai-Jo Stick'' with which she can perform special attacks. Jade also carries a Camera (she is an action-reporter after all) which she uses to take photos of various things throughout the game. A Gyrodisk glove allows a very ''tron-like'' utility for Jade to both fight and manipulate items out of her reach with.

-Vehicles: During the game we not only run around, but race, explore and fight in a trusty old hovercraft. Control of this vehicle is smooth and easy to jump in to. There is also a spaceship, again it is very easy to learn how to fly and dogfight.

-Team Mates: Throughout most of the story Jade has at least one companion. However, this never feels like an ''escort mission'' more of a addition to the fun. Team mates tend to stay out of the way unless needed and are quite fun to have around (the terrific voice acting mentioned above plays in here too).

PROS
-Wonderfully fun story set in a great world
-Smooth controls and camera
-Diverse gameplay
-A Quality game that will make you hopeful for a sequel.

CONS
-A story this great makes you sad when it is over.
-A bit more back story would have been nice.

RENT OR BUY BUY
The game has about 10 hours of gameplay and a high replay value. I suggest buying, but a rental might help sell you on this game.

Overall 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/29/03