Beyond Good & Evil – RePlay English Review

       Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Beyond Good and Evil. Three games launched at the end of 2003. Only two of them enjoyed commercial and critical success. If you haven’t tried Beyond Good and Evil before, it’s the one that stands out from the pack. Having similar problems to Psychonauts (launched two years later, with an interesting concept, but a huge big commercial flop), BGAE did not sell more than 100.000 units worldwide. Despite the fact that it was launched on four gaming platforms and had the backing of a top-notch publisher: Ubisoft.
       Created by designer Michel Ancel, the man that came up with the one and only Rayman, and boasting a great story, Beyond Good and Evil should’ve entertained gamers and reviewers alike. Which it did, and the people that actually played it were pleasantly surprised, with the game receiving scores over 8 in all gaming magazines. And yet BGAE was seen a as a commercial disappointment and in the 20 year history of the French publisher, this game is among the only ones to get such a “distinction”.
       The story of Beyond Good and Evil is centered on Jade, a dark haired, green lips lady, who has to save the futuristic world she’s living in, Hillys. To achieve such a gargantuan task, she will use a Dai-jo fighting stick and a camera, with a similar use to the one in Bioshock. A sort of photographer/freelance journalist, Jade will be helped along the way by Pey’j, her half pig/half man uncle and Double H – an agent on behalf of IRIS Network – a news channel that doesn’t believe in the political lies spread through video-newspapers. A good thing too, because after the DomZ alien invasion, the paramilitary troops that show up – The Alpha Section – are not as useful or innocent as they appear.

       To uncover the mystery behind this invasion, you will have to travel the world over, using a hovercraft. This can be improved by adding stronger weapons and a device that allows it to jump; all these modifications will be made at the Mamago garage, which is run by two hippopotamus like entities with a Jamaican aspect and accent. And if there’s one thing that I enjoyed in this game, it’s the diversity: of voices, BGAE having almost impeccable voice acting, of characters (that go beyond fun and weird) and of surroundings. You’ll wander around and through caves, cities, secret bases and hangars, all of which are presented in a cartoon like graphical style, but which is serious enough to make you fear the aliens that attacked Hyllis.
       Your screen will be filled by beautiful shades of blue and green, starting from the main menu to the world itself, with grass, trees, sky, sun and water – everything is presented in such a way that you will find yourself just walking through the world, wanting to know what’s farther away, what’s beyond the next cave or building. You will probably recognize a Spanish accent when you’ll hear your virtual companion from the inventory, which scans your objects and gives you info regarding their usage. And then there’s Pey’j with an American redneck accent and the mysterious Double H with slight British inflexions.
       The game starts off rather suddenly, with the orphanage that Pey’j and Jade are running being under attack by the DomZ. Now you find out that because you didn’t pay your electric bill, you aren’t able to use the shield that might’ve saved the building. This slightly humorous moment is followed by a fight with the aliens that are trying to kidnap the children. Being an action adventure game with some platformer characteristics, the fight in BGAE is rather simplistic: you will use the trusty Dai-jo stick, your legs and a disk launcher.