Note. This review is based on the first four hours of gameplay. My memory card erased the save data halfway through the game and I was unable to finish it.
Beyond Good & Evil was a risk from the beginning. Despite having a stellar team behind it, and the production values wowing those who gave it a try, the game struggled to find an audience due to it's fuzzy target market. Similar to games like Viva Pinata, the graphical style presents the consumer with what appears to be a game geared toward children, when in fact the gameplay and story are very complex and aimed at a slightly older crowd. So people who would enjoy the gameplay are likely turned off by the art style and kids who are attracted to the art style are turned off by the challenging gameplay.
But that's all speculation. If a game is good, it will find a market. So is Beyond Good & Evil a true diamond in the rough, or is it a turd in treasure's clothing?
Story
The basic structure of Beyond Good and Evil's plot is one that is well worn in media as a whole. You have an oppressive government using their army known as the Alpha Sections to keep the population in line and obedient. The flip side of the coin is an underground rebel group known as IRIS. Both of these groups claim to be protecting the citizens from an alien invasion from a species known as the DomZ. In the middle of all of this you have your protagonist. The owner and operator of an orphanage, Jade and her pig-sidekick Pey'j (pronounced "page") are caught in the middle of the war on their homeland.
The game certainly has its own vocabulary and lingo and when you first start and the characters are screaming about the DomZ and the Alpha Sections, you sort of feel like you were dropped into the story mid-stream. In a way, it's nice that the story doesn't hold your hand and allows you to fill in the details for yourself based on context, but at the same time, it's a huge turnoff to potential players when they are already lost in the opening moments of the game.
Unfortunately, I was unable to see how the story concluded due to my memory card crashing, but once you get into the swing of the story (about an hour and a half into the game) you will find yourself compelled to continue and unravel who is behind everything and what it all means.
Gameplay
From the portion of the game I experienced, Beyond Good & Evil does not focus on action. This is an environmental puzzle/exploration game with some fighting elements mixed in. In other words, this is a game designed for my gamer sensibilities. I often complain that combat in games feels like a roadblock to the fun of exploring and puzzle solving. BG&E has the formula just right for the balance between the two.
Similar to Zelda: Wind Waker, your entire homeworld of Hillys is water logged and cities and shops and structures sit atop the watery streets. Jade takes control of a hovercraft early on in the game and you are able to zip around from place to place fairly easily and quickly. There are little side islands to explore as well as the larger, mission based places.
Explorable structures contain your enemies and your puzzles which I'll get to in a minute - but they also contain wildlife. There are dozens and dozens of species of animals and creatures in Hillys. At the very start of the game you are given the (seemingly arbitrary) task of photographing and cataloging every species in the world. Each time you snap a shot of a new animal, you are given money which you can use to buy things like upgrades and health packs. Taking photos feels like a burden when you're first told what you need to do, but the moments when I was most excited during my time with this game were when I found a species I hadn't photographed yet. It's a fun piece of the game that feels very cleanly integrated into the experience. But it's not just the docile creatures that need their portraits taken, it's also your enemies.
Enemies tend to appear very suddenly. Instead of fighting your way through hoards of enemies just to get to a bigger boss character, you are often surprised by their sudden presence. You work through a complicated puzzle and feel a brief moment of mental victory when out pops 10 drones trying to squash your progress. The combat actually works well. The game auto locks on the closest enemy, but it's smart enough to know when you're changing your target. It's not "sticky" like other games with an auto lock - you always feel in complete control of your attacks - of which you have two.
The first, basic attack is swinging a long bo like Donatello's. You attack by continually tapping the A button - not very deep, but this isn't a brawler. Each enemy has a weak point and you have to time your attacks accordingly to make sure they are disposed of for good. So it's not like God of War where you're just ripping through monster meat for 90% of the game, rather BG&E comes at you every five minutes with a physical struggle and you have to be quick enough to exploit the enemy's weakspot before they exploit yours. The second weapon is a disc launcher. This is your distance weapon and you go into first person view to fire this. This is used to take out distant enemies, but it's also heavily used in many of the games puzzles.
Similar to the combat, the puzzles in the game feel very simple on the surface, but each one challenges you in a creative way. While you're not stretching your brain like you would in a game like Portal, your grey matter will certainly get a work out. There are a lot of "hmm..." moments which are usually followed by "OH DUH!" moments. The designers did a fantastic job of hiding the answer right in front of your face and this presents a perfect level of challenge. You're never stuck for more than one or two minutes, but you still feel smart for having figured it out.
Just like the story, the gameplay's multiple elements can be a bit offputting when you first start playing. "I have to take pictures of EVERYTHING?" "How do I drive this stupid hovercraft?!" "I only get a stick as a weapon? Lame." But once you see how all the elements play together so seamlessly, you will end up loving it.
Presentation
If you haven't seen this game in motion, do yourself a favor and look it up on youtube. For the generation it was released in, the game is a technical marvel. Certainly it's not realistic, but it achieves such a bright, vibrant look without resorting to cel shading or other trendy tactics. The characters faces express their emotions quite convincingly and while the voice work fell a little flat, you still got a sense of a long history between Jade and Pey'j just based on their banter from working together.
The music is another high note for this game. Composed by French film composer, Christophe Héral, the music will hit you right from the beginning as something done by a pro. Just as an example, while walking around the orphanage, you are met with sad lingering piano notes that punctuate the melancholy feeling of the place which you work and are ultimately trying to save. This perfect-companion-for-the-scene aspect of the music carries over to every single area in the game. Music cues work well to add drama to a scene or to alert you to patrolling guards in the area.
That's in game footage, son.
And here's a little bit of the fantastic music:
Stuff I loved:
- Believable, expressive characters with unique motivations
- Photography element
- Exploration heavy, combat lite experience.
Stuff I hated:
- Why won't you read memory cards in slot B?!
I feel like I would love this game if I had a chance to finish it. It's being re-released and upgraded to HD for download on PSN and XBLA, I may pick it up there, or I may rebuy it for PS2 for $5. You, my friends certainly owe yourself this favor: pick up this game. It is well worth the few bucks you'll spend on it. I honestly can't wait to give it another go.
Review in Ten Words or Less:
Totally unique, succeeds on every risk it takes.
