Jade and Pey'J's enticing adventure soars above the game's disastrous camera.
Beyond Good and Evil was overlooked, and the repercussions of its failure are still being felt today within Ubisoft and by fans of the first title. Beyond Good and Evil 2 has been in development for nearly a half decade, with rumors and glimpses of the game appearing like a mirage before slipping back into obscurity. Ubisoft, perhaps in attempt to test the public's desire for Beyond Good and Evil 2, have released the original title in HD for Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network.
Crisp and prettier than before, Beyond Good & Evil HD is a solid adventure that successfully implements various gameplay elements in a consistently changing pace. It is a bit short, but length is not its main problem. One particular fundamental issue, the camera, threatens to derail Jade's enticing adventure, but spurred on by stellar writing and pleasant surprises, Beyond Good and Evil soars.
Jade is a young reporter and freelance photographer who occasionally does work for a local newspaper or for whomever needs her services. She lives in a lighthouse, which is also an orphanage, on an island in Hyllis with her "uncle" Pey'J, an outspoken, cantankerous pig who is skilled in mechanics. Hyllis has been in a bit of an uproar as of late due to strange invasions by harmful creatures called the DomZ. More strange is the fact that the Alpha Sections (Hyllis's military force), in impeccable timing, continuously fend off these attacks in heroic fashion. The Alpha Section is candid in its opposition to the underground Iris Network, whom it blames for the attacks and threat of war.
Jade eventually finds herself dead center in the Alpha-Iris conflict, discovering some age old secrets as the story progresses. Beyond Good and Evil's premise is unique and intriguing: photographer gone spy in a mission to expose Hyllis's true enemies. The inner-workings of the story are dark, but there is plenty of comic relief. Jade and Pey'J joke with one another like a couple of guys at a bar, and other vivid personalities are strewn throughout Hyllis.
This third-person action/adventure title lives up to its dark name when Jade infiltrates forbidden areas throughout Hyllis. Jade is equipped with a Daï-jo staff for fighting, but her greatest weapon is her trusty camera. Not only is she able to take photographs of horrendous schemes in action to send to important authorities but also of the abundance of animal species inheriting Hyllis which can be sent to the Science Center. Likened to Samus's scan feature in Metroid Prime, with an interface similar to Pokemon Snap's, taking photos is one of the most simplistic yet endearing features in Beyond Good and Evil.
Jade's Daï-jo staff is put to use in combat, though not often. Since fighting is a rare occurrence, encountering belligerent foes is usually welcome. It is juiced-up hacking and slashing done with one button, but enjoyable nonetheless. When Jade is accompanied by partner in combat (such as Pey'J), you can command her partner to perform a stun-attack and make Jade pummel the foe with a powerful strike in slow-motion.
More impressive than the combat are the stealth sequences in the game. With her thin, fit frame, Jade is able to squeeze into tight areas, scurry past guards, jump over security lasers, and even elude robotic artificial intelligence. Some of the game's most clever moments happen in these sneak missions; tactically using surrounding projectiles to hide and confuse paranoid guards is a blast. As simple and fun as the photography, combat, and stealth is, they all are hampered by one glaring, frustrating problem: the game's camera.
In open areas, the player is usually in complete control of the camera, but in many of the game's tight areas (especially stealth missions), free camera control is taken away for fixed angles. It is understandable that the developers would insert fixed angles in stealth missions for the player to sufficiently view the surrounding area, but it is mostly a hindrance rather than a help; much of the angles are not broad enough to view upcoming enemies, and in some cases, when it seems as though Jade has successfully made it past all of the guards, an alarm sounds because an unseen guard has spotted her.
Combat also suffers because of the camera. When facing an influx of enemies, Jade has the tendency to turn her head to one specific foe, and since there is no manual lock-on feature in combat, her attacks automatically gravitate to the enemy that she is focused on. This is problematic when other enemies are attacking from different angles. When the player switches to Jade's photography camera in first-person view to take a picture of an enemy, the view swings away to where Jade is looking, perhaps to an enemy out of focuse or too close, making photo-taking in combat very difficult and tedious.
Jade traverses throughout the waters of Hyllis on Pey'J's hovercraft, and when DomZ sea serpents attack, she has to shoot them up with the vehicle's gun. The water battles are rare, but they are also quite fast, as Jade zips up, down, and side to side on the waters in the hovercraft, firing at the speedy, flying beasts, and the camera has a hard time keeping in tune with the action. A manual lock-on feature would have done wonders to all sides of the game's combat, but instead, the player is forced to adapt to an issue that should have been fixed on this HD update.
Thankfully, the camera does not affect sub-missions and more laid back objectives in between central missions. Pearls are the game's most treasured items, and there are plenty to hunt. Outlawed by the Alpha Section, pearls can be secretly bought from Jade's vendor friends, earned by completing side-quests, or by winning hovercraft races and mini-games.
Pearls are currency in the Mammago Shop where Jade can purchase upgrades for the hovercraft, and they become crucial to the main quest near the end. Take heed to that warning, because the game does not emphasize the importance of pearls to the main quest. Embarking on the few side-quests in the game to earn pearls is fun: hovercraft races are similar to the racing on Jak II, with some F-Zero overtones-controls nicely, and Francis, a shark like creature who is a pro at the Akuda Bar's table hockey (sort of), is always up for a good betting match.
Beyond Good and Evil can be completed in a little over ten hours, but this writer believes that is one of its strengths. There is not enough at its core to be twice as long, but at its length, it is able to present its best elements in small doses, making it a consistently fresh adventure.
It has aged well, but the nightmarish game camera dampers the action. There is also a fair share of graphical and technical glitches that cause disruption. In one instance, as I controlled Jade along a thin ledge against a wall, she fell off into a black abyss, and I could not get out. I had to return to the Xbox 360 dashboard and load from my last save point.
In spite of its mishaps, Beyond Good and Evil remains a special video game. Its plot is exceptional, and the interaction and relationships between characters are commendable. At its core, it successfully implements familiar elements (done better by some games that forbore it and its contemporaries) into its dark and humorous identity.