Great games you have never heard of: Beyond Good and Evil
This weeks game is Beyond Good and Evil for the PC,PS2,XBox and Gamecube. Beyond Good and Evil (BG&E) was created by UbiSoft to be the next franchise from the genius of Michel Ancel, better know as the creator of Rayman. BG&E main story was the adventures of the female character Jade and her pig sidekick Pey'j as they try to raise the funds to maintain the lighthouse that is their home by taking pictures for various factions in the game. While trying to take the pictures Jade and Pey'j get caught up in the war between the bad guys the DomZ against the good guys the Alpha Sections, at least in first ten minutes when the story takes one of its many plot twists when BG&E introduce the other faction in the game IRISS.
BG&E was marketed as an action adventure game but it was more like the old school adventure Serria quest games (Space Quest, King Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, Police Quest, etc). Each area in BG&E are designed like a puzzle that will require you to use your mind more then your reflexes to get through the area. BG&E is very light on the violence and focuses more on stealth to get through the various puzzle in the game. The picture taking is a very small part of the game if you chose not to play the optional side quest of taking pictures of all the creatures in the game. One of nice features in BG&E is the optional side quests which add a lot of rich features to the game but do not slow down the main game if you choose not to play them.
BG&E strongest suit is its story. Ancel loaded BG&E's story full of plot twist and well written dialog that draws you into the story and makes it hard to put down the controller. The character development is BG&E second strongest feature. The development is so strong that a lot of players will cry when some bad happens to one of the characters.
Graphically the game is top notch. The game clips along at a great frame rate with very solid textures and colors. Each area is so graphically rich that it has its own personality. The best thing graphical about the game is the character model which are so well done that they convene emotion. The audio and music is flawless and draws you further into an already deep game.
BG&E is one of those few rare treasures that comes along in great while that renews your love with video games. It is a shame so few people played it when it came out. The big reason BG&E failed was it came out in December 2004 in one of the busiest Christmas season ever and was so different for reflex multi playing generation that it was never given a chance to be discovered. It is currently selling used for around 15 dollars and is a steal at that price. Ubisoft if you have heart please make Beyond Good and Evil 2.
leakenova