Posted March 31, 2009
Beyond Good and Evil (BG&E), is one of those platformers that went by unoticed for the most part, despite high reviews of the time and a multiplatform release.
Before I start with the long review, here is the short one: Go buy and play it. (end review)
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The game is mainly a 3D platformer, with a slightly open world. This games is one of the few to do this right (see Psychonaughts as another). It's one of those odd ones, where things just work together to make this good on the PC.
The games follows Jade, a green clothed and lipsticked woman who is the caretaker of a group of children orphaned by the enemy DomZ, she is initially helped by an anthropomorphic hog named Pey'j (page) and a hologram Secundo.
The mentioned DomZ, are an alien race, laying siege to the planet Hillys, who use organic beings as fule and resources for their own existance.
During the opening sequence, Jade and Pey'j's home is attacked during a DomZ incursion. A lack of credits to power their shield and the game starts immediately in battle. Normally I would not recommend this, but BG&E pulls it off well enough, you can immediately jump in.
After beating the enemy, and being 'rescued' by ALPHA Force, Jade is set to earn some credits by photographing animals for the planets Science Centre. However, the DomZ and ALPHA force are not yet done, and Jade finds herself a member of the rebel group IRIS. At this point, I'd recommend you play the game, rather than read the story here.
Adventuring and combat, blends together, audio queues help when you are in danger and Jade will pull out her Jo (a power stick) when you have to attack. A second projectile weapon becomes accessible later on in the game.
Combat does not always work out charging head on, and some areas also require a blend of stealth. Accomplished by walking against walls and hiding behind anything blocking the enemies POV. While some areas appear to require you to move past without attacking, there is a great sense of accomplishment when you manage to take out all the enemy troops, and not being blasted by a 1-hit-to-kill laser!
Some battles also require the teamwork of your sidekick. Pey'j has a pair of boots he can use to stomp on the ground or enemies heads, allowing Jade a power attack, and Double H (joins the later half of the game) a charging action. This is activated by a key-press, but you will still require a bit of timing to use it to affect.
Dialogue and characters are very well done and distinct. Though I was slightly sad to see that not everyone has voice recorded, and even those that do, don't have it recorded for ALL of their lines.
Music however, is something else. The soundtrack is so varied and deserve, it's worth a listen just as the extra here. It includes a wide variety of styles, aside from the usual epic-fantasy-scifi genre.
Graphically, it holds up very well. While low poly by today's standards, the use of colour and design holds it high, There is a slight cartoonish look to everything, blended in with the more dark setting of the game. It's fairly distinctive.
Minigames: Are around, from the hovercraft races, to pearl hunting (collect all 88). These are mostly optional, but are worth a few plays as they don't sit in the annoying area. Though one 'puck' game can be slightly hair pulling :)
The Science Centre quest will also have you searching for animals around the world. Some require timing, and even time of day to catch.
The translation to PC for keyboard and mouse works for the most part, default controls are not placed too ergonomic, but these can be remapped in a separate setup program.
This is recommended, as some parts of the game may be difficult to pull off if you do not use a controller.
The only negative I found, had to do with occasional camera issues. In tight environments, Jade gets in the way, and it becomes hard to see what you need to do. And in a few areas, the camera is locked down, only to snap to follow if you move to a certain area of the screen.
BG&E is one of those almost forgotten classics, highly recommended and praised, but sadly not a large seller. One of the few games on the PC that gets about just about everything correct, even if you only like spreadsheet games, it's worth a look at this one.
Before I start with the long review, here is the short one: Go buy and play it. (end review)
-
The game is mainly a 3D platformer, with a slightly open world. This games is one of the few to do this right (see Psychonaughts as another). It's one of those odd ones, where things just work together to make this good on the PC.
The games follows Jade, a green clothed and lipsticked woman who is the caretaker of a group of children orphaned by the enemy DomZ, she is initially helped by an anthropomorphic hog named Pey'j (page) and a hologram Secundo.
The mentioned DomZ, are an alien race, laying siege to the planet Hillys, who use organic beings as fule and resources for their own existance.
During the opening sequence, Jade and Pey'j's home is attacked during a DomZ incursion. A lack of credits to power their shield and the game starts immediately in battle. Normally I would not recommend this, but BG&E pulls it off well enough, you can immediately jump in.
After beating the enemy, and being 'rescued' by ALPHA Force, Jade is set to earn some credits by photographing animals for the planets Science Centre. However, the DomZ and ALPHA force are not yet done, and Jade finds herself a member of the rebel group IRIS. At this point, I'd recommend you play the game, rather than read the story here.
Adventuring and combat, blends together, audio queues help when you are in danger and Jade will pull out her Jo (a power stick) when you have to attack. A second projectile weapon becomes accessible later on in the game.
Combat does not always work out charging head on, and some areas also require a blend of stealth. Accomplished by walking against walls and hiding behind anything blocking the enemies POV. While some areas appear to require you to move past without attacking, there is a great sense of accomplishment when you manage to take out all the enemy troops, and not being blasted by a 1-hit-to-kill laser!
Some battles also require the teamwork of your sidekick. Pey'j has a pair of boots he can use to stomp on the ground or enemies heads, allowing Jade a power attack, and Double H (joins the later half of the game) a charging action. This is activated by a key-press, but you will still require a bit of timing to use it to affect.
Dialogue and characters are very well done and distinct. Though I was slightly sad to see that not everyone has voice recorded, and even those that do, don't have it recorded for ALL of their lines.
Music however, is something else. The soundtrack is so varied and deserve, it's worth a listen just as the extra here. It includes a wide variety of styles, aside from the usual epic-fantasy-scifi genre.
Graphically, it holds up very well. While low poly by today's standards, the use of colour and design holds it high, There is a slight cartoonish look to everything, blended in with the more dark setting of the game. It's fairly distinctive.
Minigames: Are around, from the hovercraft races, to pearl hunting (collect all 88). These are mostly optional, but are worth a few plays as they don't sit in the annoying area. Though one 'puck' game can be slightly hair pulling :)
The Science Centre quest will also have you searching for animals around the world. Some require timing, and even time of day to catch.
The translation to PC for keyboard and mouse works for the most part, default controls are not placed too ergonomic, but these can be remapped in a separate setup program.
This is recommended, as some parts of the game may be difficult to pull off if you do not use a controller.
The only negative I found, had to do with occasional camera issues. In tight environments, Jade gets in the way, and it becomes hard to see what you need to do. And in a few areas, the camera is locked down, only to snap to follow if you move to a certain area of the screen.
BG&E is one of those almost forgotten classics, highly recommended and praised, but sadly not a large seller. One of the few games on the PC that gets about just about everything correct, even if you only like spreadsheet games, it's worth a look at this one.
