In 2003, I was unfortunately an idiot.  I spent 98% of my gaming time trapped in MMORPG-land.  As this was the golden age of PlayStation 2 gaming, I feel foolish for having been trapped. Though I missed out on many games in the years between 2000 and 2006, I did finally go back and play one that I had heard nothing but quality things about.  It starred a young reporter named Jade, and I quickly realized just what a treasure I had missed.

The story of Jade and her piggish companion Pey’J is set on a planet called Hillys.  In the beginning of the game, Hillys is invaded by the evil DomZ, an Empire that sucks the life force from hapless Hillys inhabitants.  There is a defense force called the Alpha Sections, but their intervention is always either too timely, or not timely enough. It is this inconsistency which leads Jade to join an underground resistance and begin her true adventure.

The gameplay is charming. You fight with a staff and take photographs to complete missions.  It plays much like a Zelda title. You collect power ups to increase your life bar and your vehicle’s durability. The vehicle in question is a ship, upgradable throughout the game into fancier versions, and makes the game play very similar to Wind Waker, which was released prior to Beyond Good and Evil. That fact, combined with the necessity to take photographs, which was also a Wind Waker feature, makes a player often feel like they’re playing the same game. The tone, however, is completely different. Where Wind Waker has the feel of adventure and freedom, Beyond Good and Evil always has an oppressive feel to it, and Jade’s actions are always furtive and undercover.

Aside from the general polish and fun gameplay, what exactly makes Beyond Good and Evil so very worth playing?  It’s difficult to define.  Much of it is Jade herself.  I’ve written about her before as one of the great characters in gaming history.  She really is.  She’s strong, attractive, and sharper than fifteen-year old cheddar.  She’s the kind of female character that I assume most women had been looking to play as since the dawn of gaming.  She never felt the need to flaunt her goods, but neither was she unattractive to either male or female.  And oddly, she looks more Asian than most Asian characters, but was created by a French development team.  To counterpart Jade, you have the comic and somewhat tragic Pey’J, and the completely comic but endearing Double H.  They both team up with Jade throughout the game in one way or another, and both offer the lighter side of the adventure.  Pey’J is a pig who seems to be straight out of some southern mechanic’s garage, and Double H is… just odd.  He’s slow and loyal and very militaristic.  He’s also Three Stooges funny.

The story itself is fairly typical in a Star Wars way.  But Jade and her crew make it memorable.  The game manages to juggle staff wielding combat with water racing and exploration in ways that few manage to do to this day.  It’s almost Uncharted-like in that manner, and in fact has quite a bit in common with one of today’s best treasure hunting expeditions, though it isn’t quite as linear. 

To sum the game up, when I beat Beyond Good and Evil, some twenty hours in, I distinctly remember sitting back on my couch, smiling, and thinking to myself, “Yes, that felt right.”  And what more can you ask for a video game than that kind of satisfaction?   

Title: Beyond Good and Evil Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Ubisoft Platform(s): Nintendo Gamecube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC Release Date: November 11, 2003

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Tags: Beyond Good and Evil, ubisoft

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