In late 2003, Ubisoft released a quirky action-adventure game known as Beyond Good and Evil for the PlayStation 2, Gamecube and XBOX consoles. Originally developed in-house by Ubisoft Montpellier, the game received great critical success, but unfortunately failed to sell very many copies. Since then, the game has become a cult classic and recently saw a reprint for the PlayStation 2, after being out-of-print for a while. Due to this surge of popularity, Ubisoft decided to upgrade the game to high-definition and re-release it on the XBOX 360 as an XBOX Live Arcade game. There have also been rumors of a sequel being in the works.
Beyond Good and Evil HD follows a young female reporter by the name of Jade, whose peaceful home of Hillys is suddenly attacked one evening. A regular night is interrupted by beings who are suddenly falling from a darkening sky, threatening to fall on her island oasis where she and her porcine uncle Pey'j look after orphaned children in their lighthouse home. After a desperate and failed attempt to kick start their home's shield, Jade watches in horror as some of the beings crash land onto her island. Stunned by a quick attempt to escape from one herself, she's forced to view the events as her children are absorbed into the crystals inside of the unknown monsters. It is here that the game begins, with you playing as Jade, who is attempting to rescue the children by defeating their captors in melee combat.
Shortly after saving the children from their strange attackers, Jade and Pey'j become engulfed in a war that has been waging, taking the side of the rebel Iris Group, as they try to expose the area's military dictators, the Alpha Group. As a member of the Iris Group, Jade's responsibility is to document and report on the dastardly deeds that the Alpha Group have been up to behind closed doors, in order to try to win over the people of Hillys' support for their revolution. This is done by investigating Alhpa Group strongholds and factories, taking pictures of their misdeeds. This storyline is structured very well and is always interesting and engaging. It grabbed me from the beginning and didn't let go until the end. That's a sign of a great story and a great game.
The game is structured as a third-person action game, with a melee combat system and a heart-based health system that resembles what is found in the Legend of Zelda series. Jade uses melee combat (with a staff) to take out her opponents and also uses a camera to document animal life and wrongdoings throughout the campaign. Allies such as Pey'j and another Iris agent you meet along the way (known as 'Double H') assist in combat, but are particularly useful when it comes to solving the puzzles whose completion are required to navigate through the world's environments. Stealth also plays a large part within the game because Jade must attempt to be discreet during her investigations, so as to not be caught or killed by the Alpha guards who patrol those areas.
In addition to the aforementioned action, puzzle and stealth elements, the game also features a lot of other content. Jade and her allies use a hovercraft to get around throughout their world. Players get to drive the hovercraft throughout the map, in order to explore for hidden caverns (which are full of looters who you can chase in order to get a return on your lost money,) compete in four races, and travel from point A to point B. It is also utilized for vehicular combat (occasionally you'll fight gigantic fish-like boss enemies in the sea,) and can be upgraded to help you get to new areas. Upgrades are available at the local mechanic shop, and can be purchased with pearls, which you earn for completing tasks, winning minigames, or as a reward for searching hidden areas. There are 88 in the game and there is an achievement for finding, earning or buying 80 of them. Eventually, a spaceship is introduced that you can also pilot, which really shows the depth and scale of the game's world.
Most of the game is based on exploring new areas. During Jade's quests, she comes across factories and bases which are explored in a fashion that is similar to the Legend of Zelda games. You can take a picture of the map and verify it by pressing A, which will give you a memorized 3D version of it in your inventory. You're able to cycle between each floor and zoom in/out. Helpful map-based tools are available for purchase in one of the game's stores, with the ability to locate things such as orbs and animals on the map.
Three different minigame diversions can be found as you explore the world. This group includes four hovercraft races, which are actually pretty challenging and somewhat fun. There are also two games that you can bet on (and earn pearls/achievements for winning.) One is the iconic game where something will be put under a cup (or coconut shell in this case) and the host will swap the cups around quickly, then ask which one the item is underneath. The other is a fun mix of shuffleboard and air hockey, where you must shoot pucks through a small canal on a table, in an attempt to get all of the pucks on your opponent's side before they all end up on your side.
Combat is quite basic, but it works pretty well. As I mentioned before, Jade utilizes a staff to fight off her foes and this is accomplished by pressing the joystick in the direction of an enemy and pressing X. A charged attack can be completed by holding X for a few moments. She can roll with the use of the A button and can crouch with the use of the left trigger button on the 360 controller. A ranged weapon is also available, which shoots discs. These discs are incredibly helpful in some combat situations and also aid in the solution of some puzzles. Since a lot of the puzzles are switch-based, you are required to zoom in and shoot a disc at the switch to engage it in order to maneuver towards the next area. The two allies who accompany you at different parts of the game have their own combat abilities that can aid you, such as slamming down on the ground to temporarily make some enemies airborne. Players can get them to do this by pressing the Y button.
You start off with a low amount of hearts in your health meter. When you're attacked by enemies, you will lose different amounts of health based on how severe the attack is. Throughout the campaign, you will find hearts hidden in vending machines, secret areas and shops. Each heart you find will increase your amount of hears by one, which is somewhat similar to The Legend of Zelda. Health is increased by eating one of two different types of food that you can buy in the machines or find throughout the world. The more expensive food will replenish all of your health, whereas the smaller one will only replenish one heart. Vehicles also have health meters and must be repaired if they're about to break. These repair kits are also available within vending machines. Everything you buy (apart from stuff in the mechanics' shop) must be purchased with purple star bits that work as the game's currency and can be picked up through destroying glowing boxes, defeating enemies or destroying purple shards found in certain parts of the world.
As with a lot of other games in this genre, Beyond Good and Evil HD suffers from camera issues. Players are given control of the camera with the right joystick, but I found that the camera had a hard time tracking Jade at times and occasionally became disorienting. Major issues were rare, though. These issues also came into play during some of the vehicular sections, but they're mainly evident during indoor sections that take place in tiny corridors. The hovercraft and spaceship controls can be floaty at sometimes, which isn't aided by the camera issues.
There was one challenging part of the game where you had to stealthily sneak past several guards. If one saw you, then you'd be killed by a laser turret that was positioned behind you. These turrets popped up a lot in the later sections of the game, but I had issues with this particular one. The game froze twice on me when it took me out. Luckily, it stopped after that. I also experienced one other freeze, so I made sure to save often. I was curious as to whether it was my console (which I've been having issues with lately) or the game. I'm not entirely sure but I've heard reports from another person who had it freeze on him at the same section. Hopefully this issue will be patched in the very near future. It's not game breaking, but is frustrating.
To say that Beyond Good and Evil is charming and unique would be an understatement. It is easily one of the most creative and charming experiences I've played through, and features a large cast of colourful characters, who all have something interesting to say. Almost every character is designed in its own different way and looks drastically different from the next character you come across. It's impressive. Not all feature voice acting, but several do. The only characters who do like similar are the humans. Despite all of the variety, Ubisoft Montpellier did a great job in making the world feel immersive, varied and interesting, without making it feel too out there.
This is a game that is over seven years old now. So that must be taken into account when discussing its graphics, animations and overall visual fidelity. However, Ubisoft Shanghai did a great job of upgrading the visuals to high-definition, working on some of the textures and optimizing it for widescreen displays. I was impressed with how it looked, especially with its age taken into account. Even though it looks dated in some ways and some of the animations are somewhat stiff, the game makes up for it in its great art design, colourful palette and excellent character designs. Though some parts of the game are a bit too dark. Every area of the game world looks different from others and feature excellent creativity. In comparison to the original, it looks quite a bit better. Though it isn't the best looking game available these days, there are a lot of things that are still impressive when it comes to its visual style and fidelity. It is also important to note that the game ran very well for me, without any frame rate issues or visual bugs.
Accompanying the creative visuals is an excellent orchestral soundtrack that was nominated for several awards when the game first came out in 2003. The score is haunting, beautiful and works very well with the game, its environments and its narrative. Additionally, a lot of the characters feature great voice acting, which I was very impressed with. Not to mention the excellent scripted dialogue within the game, which is also varied, funny, unique and charming. This is one of the best sounding games I've played in a long while.
Overall, Beyond Good and Evil HD is a phenomenal game that video game fans should experience. I don't know how I missed it when it was first released, but I'm glad that I was given the opportunity to play it now. It's not perfect and borrows a little much from The Legend of Zelda at times, but it is unique in so many other ways that it's easy to overlook that. This game does a lot of things and features a lot of variety. Some parts work better than others, but each aspect is done pretty well. At a price of ten dollars (or 800 Microsoft Points) this is a game that I find easy to recommend. With a campaign lasting between 8-10 hours and featuring a wealth of additional content, this is one of the best XBOX Live Arcade deals available. It's a very well-made and full-length game, making it a steal at its current price. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 8.5/10
Beyond Good and Evil HD was released on the XBOX Live Arcade on Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011 It is available for ten dollars or 800 Microsoft Points.
