Introduction

Welcome to the world of Hilys, or rather a part of it; a small chain of islands with a city not unlike Venice but with far more sinister things going on underground.

Beyond Good & Evil is an excellent game, bringing the sneak-em-up styled gameplay of MGS and the somewhat free-roaming adventure elements from Zelda together almost perfectly with a sinister, deep and sometimes humorous plot.

Graphics

BG&E certainly shines in the graphical department, with superbly detailed landscapes, animals and characters; not to mention the waves and reflections in the water which dominates most of Hilys. Combine this with the sections of the game set both indoors and in space and you have an engine which does excellently in all situations sometimes even blending indoor and outdoor environments seamlessly. The "bad guys" levels are dark and forbidding whilst the rest of the world is bright, vivid and beautiful. The inhabitants of Hilys are, for the most part, humanoid animals; including such citizens as Rasta Rhinos running a black market garage and hovercraft racing sharks.

Sound

I didn't notice the sound in BG&E unless things got serious, this is almost certainly a good point as the same can be said about the real world. The music is light and not intrusive, the guards make noises so you know they're there and everything goes to audio madness when you run into trouble. Everything sounds the way it should. As for vocals a great proportion of the game is voice acted to perfection, characters come out with funny sayings and even make comments in certain locations to guide you through the game. Unlike other games of its ilk where characters just follow you around until a cut-scene you feel the characters in BG&E are truly part of your adventure.

Gameplay

Beyond Good & Evil is one of those "straight to the action" games which does away with needless annoyances such as the lengthy introductions in similar games and drops you right in at the deep end, choosing to introduce you to the game whilst you play it.

I have always liked games with a reasonable degree of free roaming; this is probably what draws me into BG&E. Not only can you wander around on land but you can also jump into a hovercraft (which can be upgraded with better weapons and a 'jump kit' allowing you even more freedom) and, eventually a spaceship.

With your feet, hovercraft and spaceship you are free to explore Hilys at your leisure, almost, riding the waves from island to island. You will be guided by the presentations you find around the world on small discs which start you out on quests and give you hints on what to do next.

One thing I must not forget to mention is your primary, essential piece of equipment in BG&E; the camera. Your camera is used not only to take damning photographs to uncover the enemies’ plots but to identify items and people in the world. When you focus on an item you receive information which can be very helpful (but is often nonsense such as the voltage of a switch). Your first quest is to document all the wildlife in Hilys using your camera, this is an ongoing quest which gives you a constant stream of credits which can be used to buy upgrades and other things.

Combat resembles that in Prince of Persia: SOT, however on top of the basic "hammer X to kill things" style fighting you can ask other members of your party or group to perform their special move which will usually adversely affect the enemy and sometimes allow you to achieve more powerful attacks. You can also hold X to charge up a super attack that affects every enemy in the area and can be upgraded during the game.

Vehicle based combat is a different story, at certain times throughout the game the sky will turn dark and you will be attacked whilst in your vehicle; the action turns blisteringly fast here resembling a cross between wipeout and vigilante 8, early in the game I enjoyed hurtling about in the hovercraft after some bizarre flying snake-like creature blowing it to kingdom come and later on blatantly failing to hit DomZ attack ships with my newly bought weapon.

Story

The plot is not necessarily complicated but it certainly has a few twists, which whilst not entirely surprising add to the atmosphere of the game. Fear not I haven’t yet completed BG&E yet so I can't spoil it for you. I can, however, say that you are taken on as an agent for a group of revolutionaries represented by the Alpha Sections (the bad guys) as terrorists and tasked to discover what the Alpha Sections are really doing and what ties they might have to the evil DomZ attackers that plague Hilys.

Summary

With the best sneak-em-up elements of MGS, albiet not as complex, and the adventure elements from games such as Zelda forming the fabric into which the innovation for BG&E is woven it makes for a different gaming experience without entirely alienating gamers. Although I haven't completed BG&E yet it's certainly a game I will eventually defeat. The promise of space flight and more blasting action will keep me going to the end. PH