Full Review: Who'd have thought a game about a photojournalist, a pig, and a hovercraft could be this much fun?
Beyond Good & Evil is one of the best games to be released on a console in 2003. However, it's a game that's hard to really appreciate until you've spent some time with it. Sure, it has nice graphics and fun gameplay, but none of its many finer elements shine through on a passing glance. Perhaps this is why BG&E is also one of 2003's most under-appreciated games, and why Ubisoft decided to lower the game's price to $19.99. But regardless of the reasoning behind the price drop, you're doing yourself a great disservice if you don't take advantage of it.
BG&E is a story about a reporter named Jade who lives in Hillys. Hillys is constantly under attack by an evil force called DomZ, and the Alpha Section, those responsible for protecting the citizens, always seem to be conveniently late in responding to any attack. Jade is hired to use her camera to begin a catalog of all of Hillys' creatures, and in the process finds herself doing quite a bit more risky investigating than she'd anticipated, looking to see if there's a sinister explanation for the Alpha Section's inefficiency.
Like many games before it, BG&E is a combination of a number of different types of games merged into one. However, unlike most of those cross-genre games, BG&E does them all well, or well enough at least. As mentioned above, Jade is contracted to photograph one of each living creature on the planet, everything from the tiny flies in Jade's house to the giant whales swimming in the ocean. Each picture she takes is transmitted to the scientist, earning Jade money and pearls, the latter of which are used to buy upgrades for her hovercraft. Finding all these creatures, which are often hidden and occasionally reclusive, is a game by itself and a nice distraction when you need a break from the main story of the game.
Jade's hovercraft leads to another type of gameplay: racing. There are a number of different races scattered about in Hillys, and winning them again earns more money and more pearls for upgrades. There are also a few hidden caves around Hillys through which you must chase bandits again in exchange for money and pearls. All the racing and chasing sections are great fun, and even just cruising around Hillys in the hovercraft looking for whales and fish can be a blast.
Hunting for critters and cruising in your hovercraft are fun, but the meat of this game is sneaking Jade around in various urban complexes looking for shady dealings to document with her camera. Stealth is key, and while gameplay here isn't nearly as involved as Splinter Cell, there is quite a bit of sneaking involved in BG&E. But, when cornered, stealth goes out the window and Jade pulls out her staff. Given the game's largely peaceful nature, one might expect for combat to be stiff and rare. But, attacking enemies, even multiple enemies at one time, is very smooth and fun thanks to some solid controls and great combat animations. And, while you'll be more often sneaking around enemies than fighting them, there are plenty of opportunities for a little ass kicking, especially against the many bosses you'll encounter.
The game plays very well, and is easy to pick up. As mentioned above, combat is very fluid and easy to manage, largely thanks to its one-buttoned nature. Running, jumping, and climbing are all easy enough too, leading to a game that is immersive but rarely frustrating. Puzzles, too, are generally solved quickly. Levels are large and often complicated, with many hidden corridors and ducts, but are well designed to keep you headed in the right direction, and a simple map interface suffices to keep you from getting lost.
The game has a very nice visual style that has a cartoony look without resorting to all-out cell-shading. All the game's hundreds of characters and creatures are well designed and animated. Certain areas are massive, and the detail is quite impressive. However, the occasional texture glitch and stuttering frame-rate leaves this game not looking quite as polished as it could. Audio is great throughout, however, with nice musical sections played occasionally, and top-notch voice acting. All things considered its a great game to listen to.
