BG&E takes place on the planet Hillys, a planet currently under attack by an alien force called the DomZ. The DomZ frequently pelt the planet with small meteorites, destroying many important buildings and locations, greatly hindering the ability of the citizens to organize or fight back. The DomZ also capture people during these raids, taking them away where they are never seen again. However, there exists a group called the Alpha Sections, who work to stop the DomZ and protect the people from their raids. Our protagonist here is Jade, a freelance reporter and foster mother who has been hired by a shadowy organization called IRIS, who claims that the Alpha Sections are bad news and are somehow doing more harm than good. The rest of the story follows Jade and her companions as they dig into the whole mess and try to figure out exactly what is going on. Its a great story that at first sounds pretty basic and slightly cliche, but quickly picks up with some deep plot twists and fantastic character development.
The game was created by Michel Ancel, the man that I am starting to want to dub the Joss Whedon of games, but to explain why requires some very minor story spoilers. So if you'd like to avoid them, skip the rest of this paragraph.
BG&E has had its fair share of executive meddling done to it. For starters, those who have finished the game may find themselves confused at the title of the game; there is a clear evil side, and a clear good side. Nothing goes beyond this concept at all. Well the original title of the game was BETWEEN Good & Evil, which fits much better with the events of the story. It's a small change, but it does a MUCH better job of conveying the overall plot, and I honestly have no idea why they would change it. The most common theory I've heard is that it was done to draw comparisons to Nietzsche's book of the same name. But even worse is the fact that the game was supposed to be the intro to a trilogy. (I believe you already see where this is going, so warm up your face-palming hand of choice now.) The game ends with some very big questions being raised, and even has an after-credits cliffhanger. It all does a very good job of setting you up for the rest of the series. Unfortunately, the game sold horribly, due to a combination of a terrible release date and a 100% lack of any kind of advertising at all. Even so, Ancel still wanted to work on BG&E2. Sadly for him, though, he also just finished making another game, Rayman Raving Rabbids. (Knowledgeable readers may want to go ahead and do their face-palm now.) This mini-game collection launch title for the hot new Wii system sold like crazy and earned Ubisoft, who I guess serves as a Fox to Ancel's Whedon, oodles of cashmonies, so of course they pressured Ancel into just doing more Rabbids games and forbidding him to work on anything BG&E related. After being locked away in the tallest tower of Ubisoft Manor and being forced to spin straw into Rabbids for a couple years, Ancel was all "fuck this shit" and basically said that if he wouldn't be allowed to work on BG&E2, he'd leave the company. So they let him start it, and even let him work on it long enough to get a trailer put out. But rumors are circulating that the game has now officially been "suspended indefinitely." Go team Ubisoft. >:|
Anyway, despite its hardships, BG&E is a fantastic and beautiful game. It fills every tube of the multimedia machine with pure genius, and creates a truly enjoyable experience for a wide variety of gamers. So lets take a look at some examples!
Environment
Hillys is a beautiful planet that is almost entirely covered by water, with the population living on small islands scattered about. And you can really tell that the designers took their time with the design of the overworld. Sunsets cast gorgeous mellow light over the ocean as you see whales breaching the water in the distance, the hills of the largest island in the area are dotted with windmills and cottages, and when traveling between areas, dolphin-like creatures will swim along with you, playfully jumping and splashing along with your craft. Most people travel the planet with flying cars, but those of the lower class, like our protagonist Jade, are forced to make due with vehicles more like our own water-skimming hovercrafts. Because of this, most areas have water access, turning cities into futuristic renditions of Venice. However, you do not get to stay in this beauty forever. Your various missions will take you into the seedy underbelly of the Alpha Sections' bases, presenting you with a dark, gritty atmosphere that is a huge contrast to the beauty of the surface. The attention to detail in all these areas is great, and really puts you in the mood of the scene.
I suppose this is also a good place to discuss the society of Hillys. While it is a beautiful land, it is clear that the DomZ and the Alpha Sections quarantines are slowly turning the place into a slum. The bar is full of people that are either busy gambling or being depressed that they can't provide for their families. Nearby caves are packed with thieves and bandits, and illegal hovercraft races are held near constantly. Its even hinted at that the Governor has no real power over the city. Despite this, the streets are still lined with people willing to fight, and as you publish more stories, more and more protesters will whip up signs and catchy chants and station themselves around the city.
Oh, the city is also a furry paradise. It's hinted at that Hillys is basically a planet of immigrants, and as such, the population is widely varied. There are your usual "normal" humans, but there are also shark-people, goat-people, walrus-people... the list goes on. Even some that aren't just the result of a barnyard radiation spree, like one of Jade's orphans that the game insists is a homo-sapien, but I've never seen a person with blue skin and a ghost-face. This adds some flavor to the setting and helps to create a unique world for the series to take place in.
Music
Read with your eyes as you listen with your ears.
Any discussion of this game will lead to its soundtrack. To be blunt, it's amazing. It ranges from beautiful pianos to grungy tunes to upbeat latin-inspired tracks. It also has some pure badassery up its sleeves for some of the more epic moments of the game. Every moment has the perfect song to go along with it, either relaxing you as you take in the scenery, or pumping up your adrenaline as you run for your life along the rooftops of the city. Listening to these songs after playing the game very strongly brings back emotions felt during some key scenes, proving that a good soundtrack really is as important as good storytelling or sets.
Characters
Again, as this was intended to be just the intro to a whole trilogy, a lot of the side characters aren't developed a whole lot. But the main cast, pictured above, is pretty deep. And of course, our heroine Jade (center) is the deepest of them all. She's the standard fare "tough as nails female protagonist," but she's also a caring mother, a devoted niece, and an all around soft-hearted, snarky girl. She reacts to things like a real person would instead of just being a flat hero. She's not doing this to be some grand figurehead of all that is good; she's simply trying to pay the bills. (The game actually opens with the power at her orphanage being cut because she hasn't paid her bill, which conveniently allows the current DomZ attack to damage the place as her energy shield has no juice to run.) She has converted a nearby abandoned lighthouse into a makeshift orphanage for the children of people that have been abducted or killed by the DomZ, along with her "uncle" Pey'j, pictured on the right. They're clearly not related by blood, but he's still the closest thing she has to family, aside from her kids. He essentially serves as the game's comic relief, but he also deeply cares for Jade and, of course, has a huge secret history. It's touched upon that he worked with her parents before they were killed, which is why he took on the role of "uncle." And then there's "Double H" (pictured left), an operative for the IRIS Network and a frequent partner to Jade as she infiltrates various lairs and dens and other words found in a thesaurus. He doesn't get as much screentime as Jade or Pey'j, but his presence is still heavily felt, and he has an interesting character that's hard to put into words. Together, the three of them make a fun, but touching, team.
Gameplay
Of course, none of this would matter if the game played like shit. Which it does not by any stretch of the word. Very basically, what you get is a mix of stealth, combat, platforming, photography, and mystery. You'll always be doing something different, so gameplay never feels stale. One of the first missions you get is one that lasts the entire game. You are asked to catalog all life on Hillys, which you do by taking pictures of them. A good shot will make it into the official catalog, and completing a roll of film gets you rewards, often the illegal currency "pearls," which are used at the black market to buy upgrades for your hovercraft. So you'll always be looking for new things to take pictures of, from basic flies, to whales, to the various citizens of the city. A lot of your detective work also involves getting past guards and soldiers. You often have the choice to either fight your way through, sneak past them all, or stealthily sabotage them, so you can always play to your strengths, and repeat plays of the game can be done radically different. Sometimes you are just simply vastly outnumbered, and your only choice is to flee. These situations always play out pretty badassly (is that a word? It is NOW!) For fun, you can enter yourself into various hovercraft races to win more pearls, or chase down thieves for even MORE pearls. And the mystery aspect keeps you drawn in to the plot. You find out pretty early that something shady is going on, but it takes the bulk of the rest of the game to find out exactly what that shadyness is. The only downside to the game is that it's relatively short. But again, it was supposed to be an intro. But what there is is still lots of fun, and there's tons of extra stuff to do for completionists to be kept busy.
I guess I've said all there is to say. Beyond Good & Evil is simply art, and it really did deserve to do better than it did in the market. Whenever discussion turns to cult classics or sleeper hits, this game is almost always the first example I give of my favorites, and I heavily urge all fans of quality games to give it a try. It's short, but good, and can easily be finished in a weekend if you don't do any of the side stuff, like tracking down every single animal to photograph. You really have nothing to lose, aside from the ability to say that you've never played a game made by a bunch of Frenchies.
No comments:
Post a Comment