Beyond Good & Evil HD Review

Back in 2003 Beyond Good & Evil was first released with rave reviews though the game unfortunately did not sell well due to an over-saturated market. Fast forward several years and Ubisoft have released a HD version of the cult classic. Is it worth a second look?

You play the character of Jade, a young human female photographer who with her human/pig uncle named Pey’J, run a lighthouse on the planet Hillys. The planet is at war, protecting it are the Alpha Squadron who are fighting against an alien force known as DomZ. But something is not quite right about the Alpha Squadron with reports of missing residents causing concern. An underground resistance known as IRIS has been formed with the aim to find out what Alpha Squadron are up to and that is where you come in as their latest recruit. You are tasked with breaking in to the Alpha Squadron areas to provide photographic evidence of the Alpha Squadrons intentions. IRIS will publish the proof via an underground magazine to reveal the truth to the planets inhabitants.

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There are four main missions including a visit to a mysterious island, a factory and a slaughterhouse. This may sound short but it is far from it as the expansive locations will each take a few hours to complete. There are also some relatively smaller side missions which become available as you progress through the main storyline as well as various areas to explore such as the City and Mammago’s Garage. Transport around the planet is done via your hovercraft which can be upgraded by spending collected Pearls and is necessary to continue the story.

There are over 80 pearls in total and they can be automatically earned by killing a boss or completing a mission, while the rest will need to be found by searching the game world and often completing certain tasks including mini-games and side quests. One particular side quest involves photographing local wildlife for the ‘Science Center’ while others revolve around winning hovercraft races. Credits are the main currency and can be earned by killing enemies or destroying boxes and they can be used for purchasing items such as health replenishment and character upgrades. There are also two mini games to play; a simple find the pea under the cup and a table hockey style game which you can bet credits to win in order to double up.

For the majority of your journey you will have a companion to assist you, initially starting with your uncle Pey’J. The companions are computer controlled but you can instruct them to perform some basic tasks including pushing buttons or help to push larger crates. They will also help fight any enemies you may encounter, they have their own health bar so keeping an eye on their health levels is essential as it will result in game over if either character dies. The game takes on a variety of play styles from first and third person combat to Metal Gear Solid style stealth influences and puzzle solving.

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Stealth is the main gameplay style of the game and I know for some players stealth games are a love and/or hate relationship. The Alpha Squad bases are protected by guards. You can choose to shoot a guards air tank which will briefly distract them, allowing you to run past or alternatively perform a swift kick to their tank to send them shooting off into the air. You will not always be able to shoot the guards, forcing you to take the stealth approach. This requires you to learn fairly simple patrol routes resulting in often closely creeping behinds guards backs. Alerting a guard will cause them to break their patrol and search the area, you can choose to fight but it is often recommended you find a hiding spot and wait a few moments for them to call off the search.

The stealth sections work well though there are camera angle issues in some areas which can lead to some cheap deaths and cause frustration. Dying will usually return you to the start of that room or immediate area so they can be forgiven to an extent. If you like stealth games there is plenty of it, personally I thought there was a little too much and would have preferred a more balanced mix of combat and stealth.

In between sneaking around avoiding guards and occasional combat you are often presented with some puzzle solving opportunities. They include your usual adventure puzzle solving such as pushing crates to reach otherwise unreachable areas and activating switches to open doors. Other puzzles include kicking electricity boxes to temporarily knock the power which allows you to safely remove the fuse and can be used to provide power to another area. Combat is also used in the puzzle process such as making a robot explode on a electrical barrier to disable it.

The puzzles are a fairly good mix, though the difficulty can vary. The majority are easy to figure out, but some may not be instantly recognizable which may lead to some aimless wandering around while working out what to do. Keep in mind that it’s a port of an old game though and a new game in the series would have updated mechanics and likely hints on where to go. The same can be said for the few bosses which you will encounter. They take on the time honored pattern method of dispatching them such as shooting them to distract/disable, then move in for a close combat attack.

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The original Beyond Good & Evil had some great graphics for its time and Ubisoft have done a sterling job in updating them for the HD generation. The textures are now more detailed and sharper than the original and look even better! Little touches such as an increasingly visible protester presence on the streets as you advance through the game add to the story and give it a purpose. This may seem standard by today’s games but at the time it was something not seen before. As mentioned the camera angles can often be less than perfect, which can lead to some confusion or at worst causing glitchy graphics or face you into a wall at the wrong time. One other strange issue is at one specific part later in the game, a foggy area with several guards, it caused my Xbox fan to go into overdrive. By coincidence I was in party chat with another reviewer at the exact same location and this area made his Xbox freeze.

The music takes on various themes from a reggae theme for the Mammago Garage and a crazy punk rock song for the hovercraft races through to more subtle tunes elsewhere. The music was one of my fondest memories of the game when I originally played it and they still sound great after all these years. Go and buy the soundtrack, it’s that good! Character and voice acting is also done well and there are plenty of comedy scenes with your companions as well as some serious scenes that hit home at the appropriate times.

For the paltry sum of 800 :MSPoints: you get a great looking game with a well-paced story that will take around ten to fifteen hours to see through to the end. While the game is a little heavy on the stealth sections it remains a very enjoyable game to play. Despite being several years old now, it has aged extremely well and if you never heard of or played the original you could be none the wiser to its age. We all knew that Beyond Good & Evil was great when it was first released and Ubisoft made the right choice in updating and re-releasing it for those that wrongfully ignored or missed out the first time around. Do not let Beyond Good & Evil HD slip past your game collection!

You can download the XBLA demo or purchase the full game from the Marketplace.