shots
| Beyond Good and Evil PC review | |
| patched to: | v. 1.01 |
| developer | Ubisoft |
| publisher | Ubisoft |
| author | Chris O'Regan |
| date | Jan. 12, 2004 |
| graphics |  |
| sound | |
| gameplay | |
| value |  |
| reviewer's toast | |
| overall | |
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| pros: One of the best action adventures ever made! | |
| cons: A tad too short. | |
Chromehounds
NA Review by Marcin
Oblivion-The First 3 Hours
PC Quicktake by walTer
Comic Quick Takes January 25, 2006
Feature by Mike
The gaming industry is in a bit of a transition period, and has been for quite a while actually. I'd say since ooooh, 1997 when 3D accelerators first appeared and fully rendered 3D games had become a standard rather than the next step in the evolution of gaming. So developers have been trying to answer the same question over and again, 'where does gaming go from here?' Some still seek the answer, some however have already found it!
Let's see, female heroine, 3rd person action adventure, oh we have so been here before....right???
From initial inspection, Beyond Good and Evil (BG&E) appears to be yet another action adventure that has been originally made for a console (in this case the PS2) and ported over to the PC. Granted it has all the proper ingredients: main character is an attractive female in her mid 20's; a series of humorous sidekicks; the game is played largely from a 3rd person perspective. It even has a hackneyed plot! Don't believe me? Read on!
You too can become Citizen Smith!
BG&E is set on a planet called 'Hillys'. Inhabited by both humans and the not so human, it is under attack by an alien race that calls itself the DomZ. In response to this, the government of Hillys has sought the aid of Alpha Section, a military force that is trying to defend Hillys without much success.
The main hero behind all of this and the character the player controls is a young woman who goes by the name of Jade. Armed only with a camera and a large stick she and her friends march out to uncover the truth behind the DomZ invasion and the Alpha Section.
Do I really have read on?
Don't go away yet. Sure I've spent a great deal of time knocking this game and many of you reading this now will be wondering where the 5 toasts come from! Well let me go on to describe the game itself away from the plot and it's outward appearance as only then will you know why BG&E is so entertaining!
It's in the little details!
The game kicks off rather humorously, as the standard alien invasion (fancy light effects, tense bombardment and everything) becomes interrupted by something as mundane as ... forgetting to pay the power bill. That's right, the shield protecting Jade's home from overhead bombardment needs the power company's approval to function - and Jade is out of cash. The shield fails right as an attack vessel crashes on the doorstep and an alien force captures some of Jade's friends. The control is given to you in order to get them back!
The combat is handled by a combination of both the left and right mouse buttons along with the WASD movement keys. Unlike most games of this ilk combat is not a series of random clicks. Types of attack vary depending on where Jade is placed against the enemy, and there are special attacks that require charging up. This exposes Jade for a few brief seconds, and works terrifically well in forcing the player to consider how to approach the target. The developers have obviously thought long and hard about this element of the game and it shows.
Look around you!
Once the enemies are dispatched you receive a message from a nearby science institute requesting that a record be made of the residents of Hillys, both sentient and not so, for research purposes. Each picture garners much needed credits (got to pay that power bill!). Pictures are taken using Jade's camera which switches the view from 3rd to 1st and allows the player to focus on certain objects. This gameplay device cleverly forces the player to take notice of the environment they are playing in. Whenever you encounter a creature that you haven't seen before, even if it is about to attack you, take that picture to gain credits, and then you go kill it!
They be clever they be.
I've already hinted that you're not alone when confronting foes. The game starts off with Jade being accompanied by Pay'j, a half man half pig chap who fulfills the role of comedy sidekick rather well. Thankfully he's just as good at fighting as he is at telling jokes. He will attack creatures alongside Jade and not get in her way. Like Jade, Pay'j has a special attack which can be used to aid the player in taking down some of the tougher creatures.