Techtite's Playstation-2 Reviews!

"This [game] is the best of both worlds; you sneak around taking photos of unsuspecting enemies, then when you get to the 'bosses,' you kick their butts. This is a unique double quest."

---from the review

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You may also wish to buy:

 Beyond Good & Evil: Official Strategy Guide

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Sidebar :

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The peril of picking proper pics. Most times in a review I can quickly screen grab 10 pics, and choose half of them for a game review (5 pictures per review, as a rule). However, for this game, would you believe that by the time the game was done I'd discovered I'd made...29 screen captures? That's one of many signs that this was one engrossing game; one where I wanted to grab screens at every turn. The only reason I didn't include different screens than are seen in the review at left, is because I didn't want to spoil the story at some places, and at other places, I needed to show gameplay and game elements more than the "coolest scenes." However, rest assured: I have more than enough screen captures for a few "Big Pictures". A month's worth, at the very least!

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Feel free to contribute. As always, review submissions are accepted!

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Beyond Good & Evil

Click picture to order this game (Playstation-2)

A Techtite Review

I loved this game. That's all there is to it. This is actually pretty frustrating, because while many disappointing games this year (you know which ones I mean!) have been commercialized straight up to the wazoo, this potential Game of the Year (and Golden Otto contender) doesn't seem to be getting half the publicity it deserves. This is the "indie film" of games. Where's a screener tape when you need one?

This is the story of Jade: the typical mysterious woman of destiny, who until now calmly ran her small lighthouse/orphanage with her "Uncle Pey'j." Her planet is being invaded by The Doms; an alien horde that feeds on the souls of the townsfolk. The planet's only defense is an army known as The Alpha Section but why aren't they doing their job as well as they should? A band of rebels seeks to find out the truth. In time, they recruit Jade.

I think what I liked most about this game is its ingenuity. Instead of making just another shooter or just another action-adventure, your character is more in the habit of stealth tactics. With camera in hand, she must not only kick bad-guy butt, but she must also sneak up behind unbeknown enemies, and take pictures of their evil-doings, so she can report the truth to the public. This results in a quest of not only defeating the bad guys from a brute force perspective, but eliminating their hold on the unknowing populace as well. This is the best of both worlds; you sneak around taking photos of unsuspecting enemies, then when you get to the "bosses," you kick their butts. This is a unique double quest.

What's nice about the whole "sneak around taking photos" gaming style is: in order to make room for a slew of ingenious photo-taking puzzles, many of the other flawed puzzles of similar action-adventures are abandoned. There are no jumping puzzles here: YAY! There is no enemy that is unrealistically strengthened to super-human unfairness: double YAY!. These are two elements of the game that enhance the reality even more than you can imagine (in other words: no jumping puzzles of platforms floating inconceivably in mid-air!) In fact, this game often takes great strides to feel very "real," fictional planet notwithstanding. I particularly liked how the game remembers the photos you take, so when these photos show up in the local paper, your photo is shown, not a stock photo stored within the game. This was a nice added touch.

If the stealth tactics of this game sound like Thief, they are something like that, only different. In the Thief game series, lighting and even the sound of your footsteps come into play. This game bends the rules a bit, by creating a sort of robotic security guard that can see only directly in front of them, and furthermore, cannot hear you if you crawl. You can duck behind items in a room and not be seen, and what's more, you can crawl behind guards as they walk away from you, leading to some very guilty stealth pleasures here! If this sounds easy; it gets harder. In time you must leave crouch mode to take or even use items in a room, and then reach the exit. This gets tricky...but enjoyably so.

Of course, you can always decide to battle the guards. They are formidable opponents, but unless there are three or more of them they are not impossible to fight. Around one-third of the way through the game, you come across a hand-blaster of sorts, and around the same time, you learn that the guards have a weak spot...behind them. This adds to the fun even more because you must now choose between outright stealth, brute force, or best of all: sneaking up behind guards and blasting them when they aren't looking! While some rooms have only one option available, the majority of them allow for multiple solutions.

The best part of any game-storyline is in it gradually showing a difference in the world around you, based on your progress. As you begin to sway the public's opinion, the underground resistance gets rewards in the form of pearls, which you can use to buy stronger tools in your fight against the Doms. This is one of many small signs that you are "making a difference," enhancing the desire to keep playing to the very end. At one point the mayor herself makes an appearance so she can shake your hand; a nice touch. Win the hardest hovercraft race, and enjoy a stream of bubble-like confetti falling in the middle of the racetrack entranceway. I particularly liked how when you first enter the town square, there are a whole array of conversations praising the Alphas, with these praises slowly becoming picket signs and protests, as you slowly inform the public of the truth. These are nice little changes to the ongoing game environment, that most games would otherwise overlook.

Overall, Beyond Good & Evil is very non-linear. While larger missions more or less "trap" you until you complete them, the order of completing the vast majority of the game, is entirely up to you. A hovercraft speeds you to wherever in Hilys you wish to go, be it the local bar, a hovercraft race, or to any number of optional quests. Races can be replayed at will for added cash, as well as the shuffleboard-style game in the bar. In addition, there is an ingenious mini-quest throughout the game, to take pictures of any of 56 unique aliens you come across. While the first 6 photos get you a cool zoom lens for your camera (and your long-range weapon!), every 10 additional snapshots gets you a pearl. Of course, the true goal here is to reach the places on your compass and/or game map, and solve the mystery of the Doms and the Alpha Section Armies. However, for the most part, when and how you do each mission is up to you.

I especially loved the characters of this story. With numerous facial expressions depending on the mood of the scene, these are not the mere Barbie and G.I. Joe dolls that you more often see in games. Whenever a turning point in the story occurred, I truly felt for the characters involved, because so few times did I see them as mere video game caricatures. No matter how many years graphic accelerators have been sold, these are some of the most "3D" characters I've ever seen, if you catch my meaning. The story is effective, thanks to effective characters.

This culminates in a game finale that does leave the door slightly ajar for a sequel, yet is still the most satisfying action-adventure game finale I've seen in a long time. Consider the first Star Wars film. The death star blows up into several souvenir chunks but hey; what about that Emperor we heard about in once scene? This ending is something like that; it keeps the door open yet maintains a feeling of major victory, for you and for Jade. I especially enjoyed the final battle, where Jade finds herself in an almost literal battle of sprit and wills with the "Big Bad" of this game, including the almost enjoyably devious puzzle of your controls being reversed, due to alleged "mind-control" by the villains. This was a great final battle. It makes victory only sweeter.

Of course, there is the minor grievance of no quick save option, but I didn't find this as annoying as other games of this type. You simply have to search for the little save game terminals scattered throughout the cities; a very easy search, because there are so many of them! What's more; dying within a mission often results in merely a restart to the beginning of that room, not just that level, so it's a fair compromise. The bottom line is: there is no way I'd bemoan the lack of quick saving in a game like this. I'm too busy loving this game to care.

Sure, some have said that the game is over quickly. I guess if you have a quickie el cheapo walkthrough this is true, but...not really. Anyone who enjoys experiencing a whole alternate reality in action-adventure form will have a lot more than merely "15 hours" of gameplay here (as one reviewer claims elsewhere). I simply loved this game. If this review hasn't given you enough explanation as to why, nothing will.

---Techtite