Game of the Month #29 (June 2017) - Beyond Good & Evil

In a distant star system, there is a mining planet called Hillys. The planet has been invaded by alien monsters called the DomZ who have been abducting citizens for who knows what. Our story follows Jane who runs an orphanage in the lighthouse with her uncle, Pey'j. They have also been down on their luck as they have run out of money to keep the DomZ Shield up. To gain money, Jane has taken up a job for a science center to catalog the planet's wildlife. She also gains the attention of an underground resistance group called the Iris Network which recruits her to help them expose the truth about the Alpha Sections and rally the people of Hillys against them. As a member, Jane will uncover what the DomZ are, what the Alpha Sections is trying to hide, and the meaning beyond her visions.

Neat-o! A friend has been trying to get me to play this for AGES and I think I still have the beginning of a save file tucked away somewhere, so definitely count me in. :D

Nice! My first ever suggestion.
Hope it's as good as I've been led to believe.

I always really liked this game. I've wanted to replay it for years, so I might jump in if I can get my PC to cooperate or find my GC/disc (it's so nice I bought it twice...or something).

I own the game, so I'm in!

I always really liked this game. I've wanted to replay it for years, so I might jump in if I can get my PC to cooperate or find my GC/disc (it's so nice I bought it twice...or something).

Oh yeah, this game requires a bit of google's help when it comes to running it without graphical glitches and stuff on PC. There was some sound issues too which are quite easy to fix.
Another recommendation: don't try to remove letterbox. It can cut small part of whole image.

This game is one of my favorite game of all time. It's got such a great and unique atmosphere! I played it many times already, but I might play it again this month if I have some leftover time on my hands, who knows! I do recommend it to people who haven't played it yet though, especially since everybody got it for free during Ubi30!

I'm 6 and a half hours in, just finished the Slaughterhouse. Playing on PC. This game has one of the worst cameras I've ever seen in my entire life.

I'm 6 and a half hours in, just finished the Slaughterhouse. Playing on PC. This game has one of the worst cameras I've ever seen in my entire life.

Huh? In some stealth segments camera was a bit too low, but besides that there is nothing wrong with it.

I'm 6 and a half hours in, just finished the Slaughterhouse. Playing on PC. This game has one of the worst cameras I've ever seen in my entire life.

It's 15 years old, back in the day it was OK (still is). Almost caught up with you in the Slaughterhouse.

What a fitting game of the month. I will be starting the 360 version this coming weekend. Haven't played since it originally came out but remember loving it. Hope it stands up.

It's not good. It's huge and clunky and the contrast is way off in half the pictures you take!

Dad jokes aside the camera really was terrible. Maybe it was the way I played, I dunno. It was like another enemy I had to defeat. Don't think I'd encounter most of these problems if I was replaying the game.
1) I like cameras that follow you. I like Resident Evil 1-3 style cameras. I don't like when they switch between the two constantly.
2) During some sections (stealth or maybe crouching) the camera would either drop to the floor and look at your ass OR fly in the air and focus on your hair. In both cases you have limited visibility of what's in front of you. It was impossible to set it in between those two extremes. If you try that it's gonna spaz up and down.
3) There were at least 2 dozen times when I was running away from an enemy I didn't want to fight or was trying to get out of a cave when the camera would suddenly (*imagine me snapping my fingers*) switch 180 degrees and make me run into enemies. One particular spot made me carefully tiptoe forward till the camera switched and then press the opposite direction and tiptoe there.
4) The main problem for me is that the normal 3rd person camera seems to have been programmed into specific points of view. You can change it if you want to look around but for no reason in a particular spot you have to move your mouse 3 times across the mat to turn it.
5) The boat.

Not even gonna mention when the camera collides with objects or walls. I wish I recorded myself on a boat trying to find the secret entrance in Race 3. The camera was stuck looking back hitting walls, I was moving my mouse across the mat like 7 times, the camera kept moving back, then I pressed forward and... I mean honestly, it was kind of incredible how fucked up the camera got in that racetrack.

Funny thing is, I had very similar (almost exact) problems with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Another Ubisoft game from 2003.

Camera bitching aside the game was ok. Nothing I can say I really liked, except maybe photographing animals. But it was fine. It was a game.

The story didn't connect with me and some "dramatic" moments were either laughable or fell flat but the ending was great. The pig was annoying so when he suddenly gave you a disk with what I assumed were letters from dead parents and was immediately "killed" I actually burst out laughing. The only thing missing was him saying how he likes to live and has 2 days left until retirement. The knight that replaced him was funny. Enjoyed having him around. The kids being kidnapped had zero impact on me. I saw them once 7 hours ago, I have no idea who they are. The ending spider boss fight was cool, as was the final boss.

The combat was fine. I actually liked it more than stealth so I fought enemies instead of sneaking around them when possible. I had this super attack that can basically incapacitate every guard in the room if you're lucky. Unfortunately, I couldn't use it unless I was already detected, that kinda sucked.

Ooh, this is a small thing but I loved the design of the code entering device. That helix shaped thing was cool.
It was odd how you have to collect like 88 pearls and it seems like the game is huge, this is gonna take a long time, and then like 45 of them are in 4 places.

But yeah, overall it was okay. I wouldn't care for a sequel but I had some moderate amounts of fun playing it.
6/10
Completion time: 8 hours 49 minutes.

Dad jokes aside the camera really was terrible. Maybe it was the way I played, I dunno. It was like another enemy I had to defeat. Don't think I'd encounter most of these problems if I was replaying the game.
1) I like cameras that follow you. I like Resident Evil 1-3 style cameras. I don't like when they switch between the two constantly.
2) During some sections (stealth or maybe crouching) the camera would either drop to the floor and look at your ass OR fly in the air and focus on your hair. In both cases you have limited visibility of what's in front of you. It was impossible to set it in between those two extremes. If you try that it's gonna spaz up and down.
3) There were at least 2 dozen times when I was running away from an enemy I didn't want to fight or was trying to get out of a cave when the camera would suddenly (*imagine me snapping my fingers*) switch 180 degrees and make me run into enemies. One particular spot made me carefully tiptoe forward till the camera switched and then press the opposite direction and tiptoe there.
4) The main problem for me is that the normal 3rd person camera seems to have been programmed into specific points of view. You can change it if you want to look around but for no reason in a particular spot you have to move your mouse 3 times across the mat to turn it.
5) The boat.

Not even gonna mention when the camera collides with objects or walls. I wish I recorded myself on a boat trying to find the secret entrance in Race 3. The camera was stuck looking back hitting walls, I was moving my mouse across the mat like 7 times, the camera kept moving back, then I pressed forward and... I mean honestly, it was kind of incredible how fucked up the camera got in that racetrack.

Funny thing is, I had very similar (almost exact) problems with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Another Ubisoft game from 2003.

Camera bitching aside the game was ok. Nothing I can say I really liked, except maybe photographing animals. But it was fine. It was a game.

The story didn't connect with me and some "dramatic" moments were either laughable or fell flat but the ending was great. The pig was annoying so when he suddenly gave you a disk with what I assumed were letters from dead parents and was immediately "killed" I actually burst out laughing. The only thing missing was him saying how he likes to live and has 2 days left until retirement. The knight that replaced him was funny. Enjoyed having him around. The kids being kidnapped had zero impact on me. I saw them once 7 hours ago, I have no idea who they are. The ending spider boss fight was cool, as was the final boss.

The combat was fine. I actually liked it more than stealth so I fought enemies instead of sneaking around them when possible. I had this super attack that can basically incapacitate every guard in the room if you're lucky. Unfortunately, I couldn't use it unless I was already detected, that kinda sucked.

Ooh, this is a small thing but I loved the design of the code entering device. That helix shaped thing was cool.
It was odd how you have to collect like 88 pearls and it seems like the game is huge, this is gonna take a long time, and then like 45 of them are in 4 places.

But yeah, overall it was okay. I wouldn't care for a sequel but I had some moderate amounts of fun playing it.
6/10
Completion time: 8 hours 49 minutes.

Funny thing is, I had very similar (almost exact) problems with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Another Ubisoft game from 2003.

They actually use the same engine. If I remember right it was first made for BG&E and called the Jade Engine after the main character, then also used for PoP. I played BG&E on console, and the camera was mostly fine there for me. No worse than most other contemporary stuff anyway. I tried playing PoP on PC, and the camera and controls were a goddamn nightmare.

Dad jokes aside the camera really was terrible. Maybe it was the way I played, I dunno. It was like another enemy I had to defeat. Don't think I'd encounter most of these problems if I was replaying the game.
1) I like cameras that follow you. I like Resident Evil 1-3 style cameras. I don't like when they switch between the two constantly.
2) During some sections (stealth or maybe crouching) the camera would either drop to the floor and look at your ass OR fly in the air and focus on your hair. In both cases you have limited visibility of what's in front of you. It was impossible to set it in between those two extremes. If you try that it's gonna spaz up and down.
3) There were at least 2 dozen times when I was running away from an enemy I didn't want to fight or was trying to get out of a cave when the camera would suddenly (*imagine me snapping my fingers*) switch 180 degrees and make me run into enemies. One particular spot made me carefully tiptoe forward till the camera switched and then press the opposite direction and tiptoe there.
4) The main problem for me is that the normal 3rd person camera seems to have been programmed into specific points of view. You can change it if you want to look around but for no reason in a particular spot you have to move your mouse 3 times across the mat to turn it.
5) The boat.

Not even gonna mention when the camera collides with objects or walls. I wish I recorded myself on a boat trying to find the secret entrance in Race 3. The camera was stuck looking back hitting walls, I was moving my mouse across the mat like 7 times, the camera kept moving back, then I pressed forward and... I mean honestly, it was kind of incredible how fucked up the camera got in that racetrack.

Funny thing is, I had very similar (almost exact) problems with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Another Ubisoft game from 2003.

Camera bitching aside the game was ok. Nothing I can say I really liked, except maybe photographing animals. But it was fine. It was a game.

The story didn't connect with me and some "dramatic" moments were either laughable or fell flat but the ending was great. The pig was annoying so when he suddenly gave you a disk with what I assumed were letters from dead parents and was immediately "killed" I actually burst out laughing. The only thing missing was him saying how he likes to live and has 2 days left until retirement. The knight that replaced him was funny. Enjoyed having him around. The kids being kidnapped had zero impact on me. I saw them once 7 hours ago, I have no idea who they are. The ending spider boss fight was cool, as was the final boss.

The combat was fine. I actually liked it more than stealth so I fought enemies instead of sneaking around them when possible. I had this super attack that can basically incapacitate every guard in the room if you're lucky. Unfortunately, I couldn't use it unless I was already detected, that kinda sucked.

Ooh, this is a small thing but I loved the design of the code entering device. That helix shaped thing was cool.
It was odd how you have to collect like 88 pearls and it seems like the game is huge, this is gonna take a long time, and then like 45 of them are in 4 places.

But yeah, overall it was okay. I wouldn't care for a sequel but I had some moderate amounts of fun playing it.
6/10
Completion time: 8 hours 49 minutes.

This was pretty much what I thought of the game, back when it came out. It was fine, I'm not sure what all the clamor for a sequel was about. Honestly I think it's because it had such an incredible twist/hook ending that would apparently never be resolved.

This was pretty much what I thought of the game, back when it came out. It was fine, I'm not sure what all the clamor for a sequel was about. Honestly I think it's because it had such an incredible twist/hook ending that would apparently never be resolved.

It still probably won't be, given that BG&E2 is reportedly a prequel!

Just finished it up, here are some quick thoughts.

-Loved the code helix. Nice twist on something that doesn't get much variation

-The ending fell flat for me a bit. Through the whole thing it was about loss and stuff and then everyone lives. I feel a more bittersweet ending would have felt more natural given the rest of the game, but maybe I can chalk that up to it originally intending to be the first of a trilogy? Perhaps with the 2nd and 3rd it wouldn't have had that effect but as a stand alone it felt like it through some things out for a happy ending.

-On that note, I wish the sequels had actually happened. I want to know more about her and her parents and everything. So much was hinted at through the game.

-Combat was meh. Stealth was okay. Favorite part of the stealth/combat was launching a gyro disk at enemies' packs from in hiding then doing the same to whoever came to help. Ended up with a room full of flailing enemies to pick off almost every time haha.

-Photography was one of the better parts of the game.

-Ended up getting every pearl since it was pretty easy. Most annoying one was that dumb shuffleboard-y game. Was going to get all the animals but didn't feel like backtracking through the Slaughterhouse lol.

Overall it was a good game. Despite its flaws and more-or-less meh combat/stealth it tickled my fancy. Glad I finally played it. Also might have to bring Jade up now when people complain about how there are NEVER EVER any good female protags lol. I can see why it has a cult following and will be eagerly awaiting the prequel... even though it literally just started development...

I don't understand what the cliffhanger is, I thought it wrapped everything up? Jade realises she is space Jesus and saves everyone. And I guess she's beyond good and evil somehow. Is it the post credits scene where a character grows a big green pustule? Because that exact problem was solved in the middle of the game by an antidote injection.

Beat it last week, so might as well write something here as well. Overall I quite liked it, I felt like they did a pretty good job balancing the sillier moments with the more serious stuff. The ending was kinda weird, though not really bad per say. I also liked collecting the animal photos. The combat was fairly dull. The stealth was better, but still nothing special and I think I'd have liked playing it more with a controller.

I don't understand what the cliffhanger is, I thought it wrapped everything up?

We never found out what the connection between Jade and the Domz was. That seemed to be a pretty big deal.

Beat it last week, so might as well write something here as well. Overall I quite liked it, I felt like they did a pretty good job balancing the sillier moments with the more serious stuff. The ending was kinda weird, though not really bad per say. I also liked collecting the animal photos. The combat was fairly dull. The stealth was better, but still nothing special and I think I'd have liked playing it more with a controller.

I don't understand what the cliffhanger is, I thought it wrapped everything up?

We never found out what the connection between Jade and the Domz was. That seemed to be a pretty big deal.

So I think you and Monolight both hit on what the big cliffhanger was. For the entire game Jade appears to be a more or less normal human with the power of photography, and then that ending happens.

Why does Jade have supernatural powers? Which also begs the question, did she inherit those powers from her parents? Who or what were her parents? And yes, what is her connection to the Doms? They mention at the end that they'd been hunting her for centuries. Huh? So Jade is a centuries old supernatural being?

I just remember seeing that ending and yelling "Wait what?! What does all that mean! You can't just end it without explaining any of that!"

And NinjaRic, that's actually really good to hear :) Since all of the questions revolve around Jade's past, a prequel is just the thing to give us some answers.

Yeah, the ending really felt like it came out of nowhere to me. I wasn't thrilled with it, but since I first played it in 2003 or 2004 I was able to just go along with it and hope the later games would explain it satisfactorily. We can all see how that played out though.

So I think you and Monolight both hit on what the big cliffhanger was. For the entire game Jade appears to be a more or less normal human with the power of photography, and then that ending happens.

Why does Jade have supernatural powers? Which also begs the question, did she inherit those powers from her parents? Who or what were her parents? And yes, what is her connection to the Doms? They mention at the end that they'd been hunting her for centuries. Huh? So Jade is a centuries old supernatural being?

I just remember seeing that ending and yelling "Wait what?! What does all that mean! You can't just end it without explaining any of that!"

And NinjaRic, that's actually really good to hear :) Since all of the questions revolve around Jade's past, a prequel is just the thing to give us some answers.

And NinjaRic, that's actually really good to hear :) Since all of the questions revolve around Jade's past, a prequel is just the thing to give us some answers.

Good news all around then!

I started the game today and played about an hour. For a 13+ year old game, it holds up pretty well. There are some hints at its age, such as the auto-jump and the clunky game save method, but niggles aside I've really been enjoying the game so far. The two main highlights for me have been the soundtrack and the photography.

So I think you and Monolight both hit on what the big cliffhanger was. For the entire game Jade appears to be a more or less normal human with the power of photography, and then that ending happens.

Why does Jade have supernatural powers? Which also begs the question, did she inherit those powers from her parents? Who or what were her parents? And yes, what is her connection to the Doms? They mention at the end that they'd been hunting her for centuries. Huh? So Jade is a centuries old supernatural being?

I just remember seeing that ending and yelling "Wait what?! What does all that mean! You can't just end it without explaining any of that!"

And NinjaRic, that's actually really good to hear :) Since all of the questions revolve around Jade's past, a prequel is just the thing to give us some answers.

"Wait what?! What does all that mean! You can't just end it without explaining any of that!"

See, I just thought "Oh she's space Jesus and that creature was using her as a battery to stay alive before she was kidnapped and turned human. OK" So it wasn't a cliffhanger for me lol.

Forgot I hadn't posted anything about it yet. This was a replay, I already knew I liked the game before so this let me appreciate it again since I'd forgotten most of it. I don't really have much to say about it really, it's just a fun imaginative game. I collected all the pearls, photographed all the animals, almost detrimentally when a boss popped up I'd be busy trying to catch a shot of it while taking a few hits. I agree with those saying the camera was bad, not the worst I've ever experienced but annoying enough to cause some problems. Worst fight I think was in the Slaugherhouses, a bunch of manta ray things appear and they keep jumping over you, my camera went crazy at that part. Actually playing the Prince of Persia series you can really feel Ubisoft going through this period of being desperate with what it wants to show you at the expense of player control. It's understandable mainly in PoP, frustrating, but understandable, and thankfully something they've refined through to the Assassin's Creed series.

Surprisingly some of my favourite parts of the game were the looter's cave races, I enjoyed piloting the hovercraft and those segments have a real adrenaline rush to them. I had forgotten how "short" the main story is as well, I know it clocked in around 8 hours but that's going after side quest stuff, I can only imagine how fast you could complete this if you really beelined to everything. Still, it's quality over quantity, but it's got both so it doesn't really matter too much

I couldn't find enough time to replay it this month, but I have to say, listening to the soundtrack of this game brings back a lot of good memories. Doing the races listening and singing along with those catchy tracks in the background (and the announcer quotes) made everything much more exciting! I used to know the ''gibberish spanish'' lyrics by heart!



(Special mention to the Mammago's Garage song which is just as catchy)