I’m sure there’s a thread down there someplace… but I don’t see it offhand.
Anyhow, I just finished the PC version of Beyond Good & Evil (which is not a particularly good name, since there is no moral ambiguity anywhere in the game, nor are there any Nietzchean references.) For some reason my local EBs refused to believe the game existed for the PC, so I had to order it.
I think this is my favorite game of 2003. OK, I actually played it in 2004, but you know what I mean.
Yes, it’s a silly console game with a funky console UI ported directly to the PC with little if any game system modification. Yes, it crams martial arts combat, sniping, platform leaping, driving, racing, item collection, puzzle solving, and sneaking into a single game, not even counting the many minigames. Sure, it has weak French translations. OK, the game makes you go through a slow menu system every time you play, including choosing the language every time. I agree, the character graphics are pretty silly. And yeah, I had to upgrade my motherboard driver to get the game to work (!). You can even say it’s too short, I won’t argue.
Still, it’s a great game, the best single-player gaming experience I’ve had in a long time.
It was cunningly hidden on the second page. Perhaps I could introduce you to your friend and mine, the ‘search’ function? Someone will be along shortly to provide a helpful graphic, I’m certain.
I agree completely, I played the xbox version non stop (After my inverted mouse woes on the PC version) I didn’t have to take the PC version back, I finished the xbox one before the rental was done.
It’s hard to describe what makes the game as good as it is. Everything comes together perfectly. Now I eagerly await a sequel. The ending implies one. (If you didn’t sit through the ending credits… go back and watch what happens after them)
I think the game is largely being overlooked though. It might share the same fate as Anachronox and Outcast.
Sadly, the developers have confirmed that the game sold so exceptionally poorly that a sequel is entirely out of the realm of possibility. I blame Ubisoft for giving it no marketing support whatsoever, and the developers for giving it just a horrible, horrible, horrible goddamn name.
Crap. Well knowing that, uh, when you’re at the closing credits TURN THE GAME OFF. If there is no sequel coming you’d be better off not seeing the very end.
Just finished this one myself. Fantastic game. The chase sequence across the rooftops after infiltrating the alpha section HQ is worth the money I paid for it (15.99, pre-owned, though I had to inform the guy at my EB that the list price was 19.99 before he’d give it to me at that.)
I’m not entirely sure that I want to see a sequel, honestly. Some sequels outshine the originals, but the directions in which this plot can go seem to me like they could only dilute the license.
Marketing would have helped this game tremendously, because the box art and screenshots aren’t exactly compelling. I bought it because it was cheap, and was thoroughly surprised to enjoy it (My love for platformers is only matched by my love of being bludgeoned by cinder blocks).
And yes, the sequence after the credits does leave the door open for a sequel, but Ubi has always claimed that Project BG&E was intended as a franchise. God knows they could use something with a bit more oomph than Rayman character-wise.
Who knows, though. Games that sold less have had sequels. Developers say many things, but they aren’t always true. If M. Ansel wants to make another one, I’m sure it can be realized.
If Ico can wrangle a sequel, BG&E might be able to pull it off, too. BG&E actually reminds me of Ico a bit in the sense that they’re both exceptional games with a certain unique flair that’s hard to describe. They’re more than the sum of their parts, highly praised by critics, and almost universally overlooked by the game-buying public. Damn shame.
But yeah, they should probably have named it something that maybe related to the content of the game.
I’ve a PC and Xbox. Would people recommend the game for one platform over the other? The super-low prices aren’t happening in Vancouver, so price is not a factor for me.
Online? I never thought of that. Seriously, I’ve never purchased anything from an online shop before. :)
Amazon.ca has some pretty awful pricing for video games, though. It’s not uncommon to find lower prices in local stores. They list it for $49.99 on each console and a mind-bogglingly stupid $79.99 for the PC version (I can get it at a store here for $45). I’ll nose around on Google for a bit, see what turns up.
EDIT: Just realized the amazon.ca search link won’t work.
Apparently the developers had named the game “Between Good and Evil”, but Ubi wanted something better.
And as a general rule of thumb; the final naming of the game is usually decided by the publisher (the name being a part of marketing)
I would recommend the Xbox version. I’ve played both. The control is much better on the xbox version, the graphics are suprisingly close, and I had out of synch audio during cutscenes with the pc version.
And my pc system isn’t half bad, a 2700xp, 512 DDR ram, and a Radeon 9500 pro video card.
I wish they had left the main character alone, in regard to the bandana, belly shirt, Hip Femme Jacket ™ and green lipstick. She was much more appealing when she looked like a regular woman. The marketing guys really made her look tacky, and annoying.
I’m going to make this my grumpy thread because I did flowery praise in the several dozen other BG&E threads.
I’m playing it now and one thing that is really starting to annoy me is the ham-handed attempts at raising the ‘How much can we trust what we’re told in the media?’ question. The message is so forced and simplistic that it feels exactly like what it doesn’t want to be - propaganda. Which is sadly ironic, though you can overlook it most of the time. Most of the time! Not all the time, because it’s drilled into you throughout the entirety of the game. Even in the frigging music played in the bar (which felt like it was on a continuous 5 second loop). I mean, I think they’re making a good enough point and all, but it would be nice if they could shut up every now and again.
