N-Philes

Ahhh, the holiday gaming season. As great a time as this is for the respective hardware giants to strut their stuff and hype a select few of their games up to high heaven, it can be a much more nerve-racking and destructive time for the third parties who are trying to get attention for their new releases in the midst of it all. Many games get lost in the shuffle, and unfortunately Ubi Soft's Beyond Good and Evil was one that fell out of site before being trampled upon mercilessly. Mere weeks after its release, Beyond Good and Evil saw its price drop to a measly twenty bucks due to poor sales. And though the GameCube userbase certainly isn't alone to blame (sales were sluggish across all three systems), I do think it's disappointing that a fanbase that displays such passion for adventure titles such as The Legend of Zelda and Metroid, myself included, allowed a title like this to slip so quietly into obscurity.

In short, Beyond Good and Evil is similar to what The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker would've been (or as some of the more cynical would say, should've been) without the excessive sailing. Featuring a more streamlined quest, this is the perfect game for those who may not be willing to invest their time into the exploration of a gigantic ocean. And though it may not be on the grand scale of Wind Waker's overworld, the land of Hillys still offers many interesting places to explore and things to do. As the main character, Jade, players travel around Hillys in a hovercraft, take part in side quests, and enlist the help of other characters to solve puzzles and defeat bosses.



As I've said, Beyond Good and Evil draws a lot of comparisons to Zelda. Both are adventure titles that offer a variety of gameplay types and pull them all off extremely well, creating a world that's not only exciting to explore but one that really draws players in to experience all the world has to offer. And although there are similarities, Beyond Good and Evil certainly differentiates itself from many games in some key areas. Take the stealth gameplay for example. Now I'm not really one for espionage, but Ubi Soft managed to find middle ground between the slow-paced style of Splinter Cell and the light-hearted stealth sections we've seen in Wind Waker, creating some situations that give a sense of spy coolness around without being too intimidating or taking away from the adventure-like feeling the rest of the game has. The buildings you infiltrate still feel more like areas you need to explore rather than places you have to constantly be sneaking around; it's a fine line to walk in my book, but Beyond Good and Evil does it and does it with panache.

Then there's Jade's camera. As a photographer trying to unearth a link between the government and an alien invasion, your camera is one of your greatest weapons. It's not enough to just make your way into secret government buildings; you've got to come out with the goods. Discovering the truth yourself and then watching the Hyllian (no relation) population slowly but surely react to the conspiracy you've uncovered brings on a feeling of accomplishment that few games can replicate. Plus, you can also catalog the wildlife that is still alive on the planet, and while this could've easily become an uninteresting side quest, the game rewards your efforts with cash and pearls that can be used to buy items and upgrade your hovercraft, which then opens up new areas to explore. Oftentimes I found myself wandering the landscapes and waterways just to see if I could catch a new species on film, and it was time well spent as there are some truly interesting animals to see in action.

What many critics cited as a shortfall in their reviews I consider one of Beyond Good and Evil's strong points: the length of the adventure. It's true; this isn't an epic 30-hour quest. In fact, it's possibly even less than half of that depending on how fast you like to tackle these types of games. But the game does what it wants to do and tells a story worth telling while leaving the filler out, and that's something I find rather refreshing.



Graphics and music don't usually come up in articles like these, but I think they deserve a mention in this case. Beyond Good and Evil's world and character designs are imbued with a Disney-like quality that makes them tough to ignore and easy to adore. Add in a surprisingly excellent soundtrack and these two aspects make the gameplay even more rewarding and the sights more pleasant to navigate.

Aside from what I've touched upon in this article, there's plenty more to see and experience. Michel Ancel, the man behind this, Rayman, and the upcoming King Kong, is often referred to as France's Shigeru Miyamoto. A grand claim, sure, but after seeing the amount of heart that's gone into the making of Beyond Good and Evil, it's one that's not made lightly. This isn't the most innovative or revolutionary adventure that's out there, but it's been polished enough to rank up there with Metroid Prime and The Wind Waker as one of the GameCube's best adventures. If you like the genre, you certainly owe it to yourself to check it out... if you can find it.