Reviewed: March 10, 2004
Reviewed by: Jason Porter

Publisher
Ubisoft

Developer
Ubisoft

Released: November 11, 2003
Genre: Action / Adventure
Players: 1
ESRB: Teen

10
10
10
7
9.5

Supported Features

The game features an immersive and surprisingly believable world with memorable characters, a unique visual style and loads of things to do. Hillys is a planet brimming with secrets, and it's Jade's duty to unearth them, both big and small.

This game has a strong storyline that drives this one-player title from beginning to end. Rarely does the game make room for anything which does not fit the flow of the story. As I will explain, this ends up being both a good thing and a bad. Or perhaps I should say, "evil"? Either way, let's get beyond such words (har har) and into the meat of the game itself.

Enter Jade, a freelance journalist raised at an orphanage for the children of war victims. Through a series of events, Jade gets caught up in an underground effort to expose the web of deception woven by the secretive Alpha Sections and uncover the truth behind the seemingly endless waves of kidnappings. Her secret weapon is her camera, which has several uses in the game, primarily to take pictures of suspicious activities and upload them to the rebels' network for their newspaper.

This premise makes for an exciting story, filled with heroic action and fraught with grand cinematic dangers. However, the "astonishing revelations" aren't exactly astonishing (except, apparently, to the Hillyans, who become more and more upset with each set of photos Jade releases). There are no major plot twists or turnarounds until near the end, which is too bad, since there was plenty of opportunity to work in a more complex and dramatic tale. Don't expect the next "Stranger in a Strange Land" from Beyond Good and Evil. On the other hand, don't let that stop you from purchasing the game. The story is quite entertaining, and high above the general standard for action-adventure titles.

Since the days of Tetris and Pac-Man, one of the signs of a truly great game has been a deep experience with a minimalist control setup. In this respect, every adventure game developer could learn a thing or two from Beyond Good and Evil. More than its story, graphics or sound, the genius control scheme of this game is what really makes it stand out.

Jade moves with the left analog stick, while the right is reserved for the all-important camera angle. Two shoulder buttons let her either crouch or run, while the third activates her trusty camera (vital for exposing the bad guys), and the square button is used to perform a rolling leap or dodge (in combat). This is all pretty standard fare, but the real elegance lies in the X, Circle and Triangle button commands. With these three buttons, players can pick up objects, climb ledges, drop down, talk, use items, give items to allies, command those allies in battle, swing Jade's weapon, take a photo, fire a projectile, eat food and more. How, you ask? There's a display in the upper left corner of the screen that shows a diagram of the X and Circle buttons. Whenever Jade is able to perform an action, that action is shown on the appropriate button. Otherwise, the buttons are blank.

Pressing Triangle instructs her companions to perform a specific action or to use a special combat move to help her out (they take care of themselves the rest of the time). Simple, isn't it? And it's executed flawlessly. Beyond Good and Evil could really herald a new wave of more intuitive games, leaving the messy controls to mech gamers and allowing the rest of us to immerse ourselves more fully in the game's universe.

From this description, it might sound like the actual gameplay would be cramped and restrictive. However, this is far from the case. Jade always has free range of movement, regardless of the setting. There are plenty of citizens to talk to, and dialogue is mostly up-to-date with the story, so there are always new things to hear. Most importantly, there are so many different styles of game incorporated into Beyond Good and Evil, it's mind-boggling.

There's plenty to do, no matter what your preference. Want to lay the smackdown on some bad guys? The combat is simplistic but smooth and cool looking. Jade moves like lightning and can take on several waves of villains with superlative ease - in fact, fighting is quite reminiscent of Devil May Cry with auto-combos on. Racing? Hop in your tricked-out hovercraft and choose between a clean lap race for prize money or a hazardous, obstacle-filled chase through a looter's cave. There's an air hockey-like table game and even some insanely fun aerial battles as well. And there is enough puzzle-solving and stealth missions to keep any fans of those styles happy.

Thanks again to the ingenious controls, everything feels seamlessly integrated. I actually had more fun racing Jade's hovercraft than I've had in some "bona fide" racing games! In fact, the only real trouble I had was during one of the last stealth missions. The camera angles were partially fixed, and the guards were extremely sensitive to Jade's movements. It would have reflected better on Ubisoft to not have made this section so difficult. I had to replay the scene more than thirty times before I even made it halfway through. That sort of unforgiving setup gets boring really fast.

My other complaint (and one that I will keep repeating) is that there wasn't enough of most things. Yes, there's a huge variety, but with only eight races (four normal, four looter), one opponent at the air hockey game and a paltry two aerial dogfight missions, I felt slightly cheated. I wanted to have more than just a taste of what Hillys had to offer, but alas, the game's insistence on making everything mesh with the story has sucked away opportunities for more fun gameplay. I would have liked to see more side missions and sub-quests with more chances to freely explore this wonderful world.

However, the real trick for Ubisoft is that they colored and textured the entire game in a manner more closely resembling cel shading - in other words, clear lines, bold colors and simplified shading are combined with smooth, expressive polygonal character models to create some seriously cool visuals.

Not only does Hillys look great, but the processor power saved by not shading every vein in Jade's forehead (for example) is instead used to prevent even the barest amount of pop-up. Considering the distances Jade can usually gaze out to, this is doubly impressive. Atmospheric interference is at a minimum and used more to create a sense of real distance than to hide any graphical weaknesses.

The world and inhabitants of Hillys, from landscapes to mechanical devices to bipedal sharks (?), are not only well rendered; they are wholly unique and instantly likeable. Only in this world could a demi-human cow with sunglasses possibly look right at home as a bartender. Everything is recognizable but stylized somewhat, with a definite anime touch to the machines and vehicles in particular.

The sun also sets and rises at an accelerated rate, allowing for some gorgeous dusks and dawns. This has always been a particular weakness with me - from Soul Blade to the Wind Waker, I love games that move the sun across the sky. In essence, everything in Beyond Good and Evil looks as though it belongs there. At times it almost feels as though Hillys might actually exist someday. The Rastafarian rhino-men took some getting used to, though.

The Akuda Bar, a grimy dive that brings to mind the bar in Mos Eisley from the first Star Wars film, wouldn't have been nearly as seedy if it weren't for the song, a sort of Latin-infused groove with a very greasy-sounding singer at its helm. There's a reggae-sounding piece and some techno-rock for the battle sequences that gets the blood pumping. There were even some more cinematic, symphonic pieces that complemented the story. The main problem, once again, is that there wasn't enough!

During the end credits, two absolutely beautiful songs played and I kind of felt gypped that they weren't anywhere else in the game. The soundtrack is top-notch, but it's also (unfortunately) very sparse.

Of additional note is the voice acting, which puts even such A-List titles like Final Fantasy to shame with its quality. Not a single syllable was out of place or in the wrong cadence. The voices are natural fits for the characters, too - Jade's is cynical and flat, with a sharp-edged sense of humor just beneath the surface, while her foster "Uncle," the demi-human pig Pey'j, sounds precisely what I would have imagined him to sound like - a brash, warm-hearted, pot-bellied old codger.

There was actually quite a bit of voice acting, which was pleasing, but there were some instances where I felt there should have been some and there wasn't. This was barely noticeable, though. In general, sound in Beyond Good and Evil is as good as it gets.

There are certainly some incentives to play through it a second time, but most of the direct ones are small. The main motivation I have to play it again is simply that it's a blast to play and watch. A game this good simply should not be this short. More! More! I beseech you, Ubisoft, make more of this game - a sequel at the very least!

Beyond Good and Evil has it all: a cool, involved storyline, great characters, a lovable heroine and role model for little girls, a vast variety of gameplay, an innovative control scheme, and superior graphics and sound - it just doesn't have enough of any of it. I'm only making this complaint because a game this enjoyable should simply not be over so soon. I would recommend a purchase no less because of it - the good far outweighs the bad - but I must, nonetheless, grade it down in value somewhat.

If we as a community show our support for independent and innovative titles, then the industry and the fans both have a bright future ahead. Beyond Good and Evil is just such a game. Everything about it is magic - and even if it is a bit on the short side, it's an amazing game that no one who experiences will soon forget.