Beyond Good and Evil Review





Developer: Ubisoft Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: November 11, 2003 Also On: GCN, PS2 and Xbox

Despite disappointing sales, Ubi Soft’s BG and E is quite possibly one of the best action/adventure games of the year, outdone by a few titles, such as Wind Waker. In BG and E, you play as a young photographer named Jade. You live on the planet of Hillys, where your planet is constantly under attack by alien-beings. The only defense is the government’s Alpha Section, but there is something mysterious about their troops. Jade must uncover a possible government-led conspiracy.

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BG and E intertwines several genres into one. Platforming, Zelda-like action, puzzle solving, and a photography simulator, which kind of reminds me of Pokemon Snap, without the entire games’ emphasis on photography. You earn money by taking photos of wild-life. Pictures are also taken of maps and used as evidence to uncover the conspiracy.

The good news is the controls work well and are easy to master. The bad news is that the camera angles are limited at times and are pre-set. By pre-set, I mean that they are similar to that of Resident Evil, but not as bad. You have a limited amount of room, unlike in Resident Evil, where you can turn the camera-angle, but it isn’t very helpful either way.

From a graphical perspective, BG and E is beautifully rendered and animated. The characters’ have their own unique, sometimes comical, personalities. The worlds themselves are fully detailed, colorful, and interactive. The lighting is superb, water effects, not as good, but not bad either.

The fighting-system is less exciting than in other titles, since you are given a Star Fox Adventures-like staff to do all of your fighting. The best part of the entire game is the photography and puzzle-solving elements. Ubi Soft cleverly developed the puzzles in BG and E and struck an excellent balance between too hard and too easy, making it accessible to really all ages.

Despite rough sales and price cuts in retailers’ post-Christmas inventory, BG and E is a solid adventure title that is well worth a purchase, now that the price is so low. With its beautiful, interactive worlds, intriguing storyline, and clever puzzles, BG and E is the best adventure game for the price.

Graphics: 9
Sound: 9
Gameplay: 8
Creativity: 8.5
Replay Value/Game Length: 6
Final: 8.1
Written by Kyle Review Guide

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