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Beyond Good & Evil (video game)
Encyclopedia
Beyond Good & Evil is an action-adventure
video game developed and published by Ubisoft
and released in late for the GameCube
, Microsoft Windows
, PlayStation 2
, and Xbox
platforms
. The story follows the adventures of Jade
, an investigative reporter and martial artist, who works with a resistance movement
to reveal a planet-wide alien conspiracy. The player controls Jade and allies, solving puzzles, fighting enemies, and obtaining photographic evidence.
A full HD, re-mastered, version of the game was released on Xbox Live Arcade
in March 2011 and on PlayStation Network in June 2011. It features improved character models, textures, and soundtrack. Achievements, trophies and online leaderboards were also added.
Michel Ancel
, creator of the Rayman
series, envisioned the game as the first part of a trilogy. Beyond Good & Evil was a commercial failure due to its ill-timed release and lack of popularity; however, it was critically acclaimed and received a nomination for "Game of the Year" at the 2004 Game Developers Choice Awards
. In 2010, the game was included as one of the titles in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die
. The sequel, Beyond Good & Evil 2
, is currently in development.
In the game's interior spaces, the player solves puzzles and make their way past enemies in order to reach areas containing photographic evidence. Jade's main tools are her Daï-jo combat staff (a melee weapon
), discs for attacking at range, and a camera. Jade's health decreases when attacked by enemies, and health can be restored by using fictional food items "Starkos" and "K-Bups". She can also gain extra hearts by collecting PA-1s. If Jade's health is depleted, she will restart at the last checkpoint. Certain stealth segments later in the game will automatically kill Jade if she is detected.
At times, it is only possible to advance in the game with the help of other characters. The characters are computer-controlled
, and players direct them via contextual commands. For example, the player can order them to perform a "super attack", either pounding the ground to bounce enemies into the air, allowing the player to hit them from long distances, or knocking them off balance, making them vulnerable to attack. These allies also possess a health bar and are incapacitated if their health is depleted. Jade is also able to share some of her items, such as Starkos or PA-1s.
In addition to obtaining evidence and completing assignments, Jade's camera can be used to take pictures of animal species in exchange for currency and scan objects to reveal more information about the environment. When the "Gyrodisk Glove" is obtained, Jade can attack enemies or activate devices from a distance using the camera interface. There are also various minigame
s and sub-missions offered by NPCs scattered throughout the world.
A hovercraft
is used to travel around the world, and also used for racing and in other minigames. Later, the spaceship
Beluga is acquired. The hovercraft can park on board the spaceship. Both vehicles require upgrades in order to reach new areas and progress through the game. Upgrades are purchased using pearls that are collected throughout the game. Pearls can be gained by completing missions, exploring areas, filling in the animal directory or by trading credits for them. The vehicles have a boost ability, and can be repaired using a "Repair Pod" if damaged by enemies.
The main city serves as a hub, allowing the player access to the various areas that must be explored in order to expose the conspiracy. Jade can earn credits by defeating enemies, taking pictures or completing assignments, which can be used to purchase additional items for both Jade and her vehicles.
on the mining planet of Hillys, located in Sector Four, a remote section of the galaxy. The architecture of the city around which the game takes place was designed with a rustic European style. The world itself combines modern elements, such as e-mail
and credit card
s, with those of science fiction
and fantasy
, such as spaceships and anthropomorphic
animals coexisting with humans. The once-peaceful planet is under siege by aliens called the DomZ that abduct beings and either drain their life force for power or implant them with spores to convert them into slaves. A military dictatorship
called the Alpha Sections takes power, promising to defend the populace. However, the Alpha Sections seem unable to stop the DomZ despite their public assurances. An underground resistance movement, the IRIS Network, fights the Alpha Sections, believing them to be in league with the DomZ.
Beyond Good & Evil
), a boar-like creature, is Jade's "uncle" and guardian figure. Double H, a heavily built human IRIS operative, assists Jade during missions. He wears a military-issue suit of armor at all times. Secundo, an artificial intelligence built into Jade's storage SAC, offers advice and "digitizes" items. The main antagonists are the DomZ High Priest, who is the chief architect of the invasion, and Alpha Sections leader General Kehck, who uses propaganda
to gain the Hillyans' trust, even as he abducts citizens to sustain the DomZ.
. She is recruited by the IRIS Network, which suspects that the Alpha Sections are behind planet-wide disappearances. Jade's first target of investigation is an Alpha Sections factory. She discovers evidence of human trafficking
being orchestrated by the DomZ under the Alpha Sections' authority. Along the way she rescues Double H, who was kidnapped by the DomZ and subjected to torture. Pey'j is abducted by the DomZ and taken to a slaughterhouse that is to be launched to a lunar base. After failing to extract Pey'j from the slaughterhouse in time, Jade learns that Pey'j was, in fact, the secret chief of the IRIS Network.
It becomes clear that the Alpha Sections are being possessed and manipulated by the DomZ. Using the Beluga, the ship Pey'j used to travel to Hillys, Jade and Double H go on a mission to the DomZ lunar base. There, Jade finds Pey'j dead. but a strange power inside her brings back his soul, reviving him. After rescuing Pey'j, transmitting her final report, and sparking a revolution, Jade confronts the DomZ High Priest. She learns that her human form is the latest container to hide a power stolen from the DomZ centuries ago. It was stolen hoping that the High Priest, who must have spirit energy to survive, would starve to death. But he managed to find a substitute energy in the souls of all those kidnapped from Hillys. Using the power, she is able to defeat the DomZ High Priest, though nearly losing control of her soul in the process, and revive and rescue those that have been abducted. But, in a post credits scene, A DomZ spore grows up on Pey'j's hand back on Hillys.
Beyond Good & Evil was developed by Michel Ancel, the creator of the Rayman
video game, at Ubisoft's Montpellier studios in France. The game was developed under the codename "Project BG&E", with production lasting more than three years. A group of 30 employees comprised the development team. After years working on Rayman, Ancel wanted to move on to something different. He recalled that the goal of Beyond Good & Evil was to "pack a whole universe onto a single CD—mountains, planets, towns. The idea was to make the player feel like an explorer, with a sense of absolute freedom."
The second goal behind Beyond Good & Evils design was to create a meaningful story amid player freedom. In an interview, Ancel said that the linear nature of the gameplay was necessary to convey the story; player freedom was an experience between parts of the plot. He also strove to create a rhythm similar to a movie to engage and delight players. The game drew on many influences and inspirations, including the Miyazaki universe
, politics and the media, and the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. In creating the lead character, Ancel's wife reportedly inspired the designer who wanted to portray a persona that players could identify with.
The game was first shown publicly at the 2002 Electronic Entertainment Expo, where it received negative reception. Originally more "artistically ambitious" and resembling games like Ico
, the game was substantially changed in order to make it more commercially appealing. Jade, originally a teenage girl, was redesigned to be more powerful and fitting of her job. The game was also shortened by removing long periods of exploration due to Ancel's dislike of this aspect of gameplay in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
. The development team was "demoralized" by the changes, with Ancel commenting that the finished game resembled a sequel more than a reworking. Prior to release, playable previews of the game were offered in movie theaters.
. Héral was hired by Ancel to compose the soundtrack of Beyond Good & Evil due to his background in film. Hubert Chevillard, a director
that Ancel had worked with, had also worked with Héral on a television special
, The Pantin Pirouette, and referred him to Ancel. Héral was assisted by Laetitia Pansanel, who orchestrated
the pieces, and his brother Patrice Héral, who performed some of the sound effects and singing.
The soundtrack incorporates a wide variety of languages and instruments from around the world. Mainly Bulgaria
n lyrics were chosen for the song "Propaganda", which plays in the game's Akuda Bar, to allude to the Soviet
propaganda of the Cold War
. It uses a recording of a telephone
conversation by Héral with a female Bulgarian friend to represent the government's control of the media
. It also incorporates Arabic string instruments and Indian percussion. A song called "Funky Mullah" was originally planned to be used in the Akuda Bar, but it was replaced by "Propaganda" because Héral decided that its muezzin
vocals, recorded on September 8, 2001, would have been in bad taste in the wake of the September 11 attacks. "Fun and Mini-games", a song that plays during hovercraft races and other mini-games, includes Spanish lyrics. The lyrics for DomZ music were created from a fictional language with prominent rolling "r"
sounds. The crashing metal sound effects of "Metal Gear
DomZ", music played during a boss fight, were recorded from the son of Héral's neighbor playing with scrap metal
. The voices in the city of Hillys were also recorded by Héral himself.
The music has never been published as an album, though it has been released in its entirety as a free download by Ubisoft. The soundtrack is featured in the Video Games Live
international concert tour. Beyond Good & Evil was nominated for the "Audio of the Year", "Music of the Year", "Best Interactive Score", and "Best Sound Design" awards at the second annual Game Audio Network Guild awards. It was similarly nominated for the "Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition" and "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design" awards at the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' 2004 Interactive Achievement Awards.
, which compiles video game review scores into an average, the various versions of the game have scores ranging from 83.2% for the PC version to 88.2% for the Xbox version. On Metacritic
, the game has scores from an 83 for the PC version to an 87 for the GameCube and Xbox versions. Prior to its release, Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine and PlayStation Magazine
praised the game's showing at the 2003 Electronic Entertainment Expo and described it as one of the best titles on display.
The game's graphics were generally well-received. In reviewing the GameCube version, Game Informer
wrote that "Every moment of Beyond Good & Evil looks as good as a traditional RPG cutscene" and that the game's effects and character animations were "amazing". Jon Hicks of PC Format wrote that while some effects were excellent, the game's otherwise unspectacular graphics were unwelcome reminders of the game's console roots. 1UP.com
and Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, however, cited glitches such as frame rate
as irksome because the game did not appear to tax the console's hardware.
Edge
commended the game for its storytelling and design, but criticized its plot as unable to "match Jade's initial appeal", becoming "fairly mundane" without "the darkness and moral ambiguity suggested by the title", and Jade's everyman
appeal being undermined by the revelation of her "mysterious hidden identity". Dan Toose of Icon Magazine
called the game's setting "dark, baroque and earthy, a far cry from the squeaky-clean action of the Final Fantasy
games", describing the game as "a very European take on the role-playing genre" and "one of the best adventure games in years". Star Dingo of GamePro
commented that the game was a "jack of all trades, master of none
" that "never really lives up to its title", adding that its vision could have been more focused.
Among complaints with the game were control issues and a lack of gameplay depth. Game Informers Lisa Mason wrote that the game's controls were serviceable, but simplistic, and that she wished she could do more with the character. PC Gamer
s Kevin Rice found most of the gameplay and its exploration refreshing, but called hovercraft races "not much fun" and felt combat was the game's weakest element. Edge called the gameplay interaction "hollowed out" as an unintended consequence of Ancel's attempt to streamline the game.
Beyond Good & Evil was not a commercial success. The game saw poor sales upon its release in the 2003 Christmas and holiday season. Retailers quickly decreased the price by up to 80 percent. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine staff attributed the poor sales of the game—among many other 2003 releases—to an over-saturated market, and labeled Beyond Good & Evil as a commercial "disappointment". The magazine staff further commented that the lack of marketing from Ubisoft and the game's odd premise naturally reserved it to obscurity. Part of the disappointing sales stemmed from Ubisoft not knowing how to market the title, something that Ubisoft North America CEO Laurent Detoc labeled as one of his worst business decisions. At the time, Ubisoft's marketing efforts were more focused on the release of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
. Ubisoft's former North American vice-president of publishing, Jay Cohen, and its European managing director, Alaine Corre, attributed the commercial failure of the game to a lack of marketing. "The game play was there, the technical excellence was there but perhaps the target audience was not there," Corre told the BBC
. The game was intended to be the first part of a trilogy of games, but the game's poor sales placed those plans on hold at the time.
nominated the title for three honors at the 2004 Game Developers Choice Awards
: "Game of the Year", "Original Game Character of the Year" (Jade) and "Excellence in Game Design". Ubisoft titles garnered six of eleven awards at the 2004 IMAGINA Festival in France, with Beyond Good & Evil winning "Best Writer" and "Game of the Year Team Award". The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences nominated the game for "Outstanding Achievement in Character or Story Development" at the 2004 Interactive Achievement Awards. In IGN.com's "The Best of 2003", the PlayStation 2 (PS2) version won "Best Adventure Game" while the GameCube version received "Best Story".
In 2007, Beyond Good & Evil was named 22nd-best Xbox game and 12th-best GameCube game of all time by IGN. Game Informer
listed the title 12th on its "Top 25 GameCube Games" list. In another list, "Top 200 Games of all Time", Game Informer placed the PS2, Xbox, and GameCube versions of Beyond Good & Evil as the 200th best. The Official Nintendo Magazine ranked it as the 91st-best Nintendo game, while Nintendo Power
ranked it 29th. Nintendo Power placed the GameCube version as the 11th-best GameCube game of all time in its 20th anniversary issue. Destructoid
ranked the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox versions as the 6th-best game of the decade. Gamesradar placed it as the 70th best game of all time.
Ancel stated his desire to produce a sequel to the game. Ubisoft announced at the Ubidays opening conference that there would be a second game. The sequel, tentatively titled Beyond Good & Evil 2
, is currently in development.
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
video game developed and published by Ubisoft
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....
and released in late for the GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
, Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, and Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
platforms
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
. The story follows the adventures of Jade
Jade (Beyond Good & Evil)
Jade is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the action-adventure video game Beyond Good & Evil. She is a photo journalist, and was created by Ubisoft developer Michel Ancel, who had the intention of creating a character who resembled a real person rather than a "sexy action woman." In...
, an investigative reporter and martial artist, who works with a resistance movement
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
to reveal a planet-wide alien conspiracy. The player controls Jade and allies, solving puzzles, fighting enemies, and obtaining photographic evidence.
A full HD, re-mastered, version of the game was released on Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
in March 2011 and on PlayStation Network in June 2011. It features improved character models, textures, and soundtrack. Achievements, trophies and online leaderboards were also added.
Michel Ancel
Michel Ancel
Michel Ancel is a French video game designer for Ubisoft. He is best known for creating the Rayman franchise for which he was the lead designer for the first two games, and which as of 2008 has sold the most units for the publisher. He is also known for the cult favourite Beyond Good & Evil and...
, creator of the Rayman
Rayman
Rayman is a platform video game published, produced and developed by Ubisoft and is the first game in the Rayman series of videogames. Originally released on the PlayStation in 1995, it was re-released for the Atari Jaguar, Sega Saturn and MS-DOS in 1996. It has also been ported to various formats,...
series, envisioned the game as the first part of a trilogy. Beyond Good & Evil was a commercial failure due to its ill-timed release and lack of popularity; however, it was critically acclaimed and received a nomination for "Game of the Year" at the 2004 Game Developers Choice Awards
Game Developers Choice Awards
The Game Developers Choice Awards are annually presented by the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games.Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were presented from 1997 to 1999.The 2009 award presentation was...
. In 2010, the game was included as one of the titles in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die
Quintessence Editions Ltd.
Quintessence Editions Ltd. is a publishing company based in London which is the originator of the "1001 Before You Die" series. Typically, the titles in this series are intended as reference books. They are illustrated books authored by multiple contributors...
. The sequel, Beyond Good & Evil 2
Beyond Good & Evil 2
Beyond Good & Evil 2 , or BG&E2, is the sequel to the 2003 video game Beyond Good & Evil, currently in development by Ubisoft Montpellier and published by Ubisoft. Michel Ancel, the creator of the original game, is back as lead designer of the sequel...
, is currently in development.
Gameplay
Beyond Good & Evil is an action-adventure game with elements of puzzle-solving and stealth-based games. The player controls the protagonist, Jade, from a third-person perspective. Jade can run, move stealthily, jump over obstacles and pits, climb ladders, push or bash in doors and objects, and flatten herself against walls. As Jade, the player investigates installations in search of the truth about a war with an alien threat.In the game's interior spaces, the player solves puzzles and make their way past enemies in order to reach areas containing photographic evidence. Jade's main tools are her Daï-jo combat staff (a melee weapon
Mêlée weapon
A melee weapon is any weapon that does not involve a projectile — that is, both the user and target of the weapon are in contact with it simultaneously in normal use...
), discs for attacking at range, and a camera. Jade's health decreases when attacked by enemies, and health can be restored by using fictional food items "Starkos" and "K-Bups". She can also gain extra hearts by collecting PA-1s. If Jade's health is depleted, she will restart at the last checkpoint. Certain stealth segments later in the game will automatically kill Jade if she is detected.
At times, it is only possible to advance in the game with the help of other characters. The characters are computer-controlled
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
, and players direct them via contextual commands. For example, the player can order them to perform a "super attack", either pounding the ground to bounce enemies into the air, allowing the player to hit them from long distances, or knocking them off balance, making them vulnerable to attack. These allies also possess a health bar and are incapacitated if their health is depleted. Jade is also able to share some of her items, such as Starkos or PA-1s.
In addition to obtaining evidence and completing assignments, Jade's camera can be used to take pictures of animal species in exchange for currency and scan objects to reveal more information about the environment. When the "Gyrodisk Glove" is obtained, Jade can attack enemies or activate devices from a distance using the camera interface. There are also various minigame
Minigame
A minigame is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game...
s and sub-missions offered by NPCs scattered throughout the world.
A hovercraft
Hovercraft
A hovercraft is a craft capable of traveling over surfaces while supported by a cushion of slow moving, high-pressure air which is ejected against the surface below and contained within a "skirt." Although supported by air, a hovercraft is not considered an aircraft.Hovercraft are used throughout...
is used to travel around the world, and also used for racing and in other minigames. Later, the spaceship
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
Beluga is acquired. The hovercraft can park on board the spaceship. Both vehicles require upgrades in order to reach new areas and progress through the game. Upgrades are purchased using pearls that are collected throughout the game. Pearls can be gained by completing missions, exploring areas, filling in the animal directory or by trading credits for them. The vehicles have a boost ability, and can be repaired using a "Repair Pod" if damaged by enemies.
The main city serves as a hub, allowing the player access to the various areas that must be explored in order to expose the conspiracy. Jade can earn credits by defeating enemies, taking pictures or completing assignments, which can be used to purchase additional items for both Jade and her vehicles.
Setting and characters
Beyond Good & Evil takes place in the year 243525th century
The 25th century of the anno Domini era will span from January 1, 2401– December 31, 2500 of the Gregorian calendar.-List of long total solar eclipses:* April 20, 2414 : Solar eclipse, , of saros 145....
on the mining planet of Hillys, located in Sector Four, a remote section of the galaxy. The architecture of the city around which the game takes place was designed with a rustic European style. The world itself combines modern elements, such as e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
and credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
s, with those of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
, such as spaceships and anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
animals coexisting with humans. The once-peaceful planet is under siege by aliens called the DomZ that abduct beings and either drain their life force for power or implant them with spores to convert them into slaves. A military dictatorship
Military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....
called the Alpha Sections takes power, promising to defend the populace. However, the Alpha Sections seem unable to stop the DomZ despite their public assurances. An underground resistance movement, the IRIS Network, fights the Alpha Sections, believing them to be in league with the DomZ.
Beyond Good & Evil
David Gasman
David Gasman is an actor, director and translator who also directs dubbing of films, cartoons, video games and documentaries. He has appeared in many popular cartoons and video games, such as Rayman and Code Lyoko...
), a boar-like creature, is Jade's "uncle" and guardian figure. Double H, a heavily built human IRIS operative, assists Jade during missions. He wears a military-issue suit of armor at all times. Secundo, an artificial intelligence built into Jade's storage SAC, offers advice and "digitizes" items. The main antagonists are the DomZ High Priest, who is the chief architect of the invasion, and Alpha Sections leader General Kehck, who uses propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
to gain the Hillyans' trust, even as he abducts citizens to sustain the DomZ.
Plot
Jade and Pey'j are care-taking the children of Hillys orphaned by the DomZ. When Jade runs out of money to run the shield that protects them, she finds a photography job, cataloguing all the species on Hillys for a science museumScience museum
A science museum or a science centre is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in museology have broadened the range of...
. She is recruited by the IRIS Network, which suspects that the Alpha Sections are behind planet-wide disappearances. Jade's first target of investigation is an Alpha Sections factory. She discovers evidence of human trafficking
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
being orchestrated by the DomZ under the Alpha Sections' authority. Along the way she rescues Double H, who was kidnapped by the DomZ and subjected to torture. Pey'j is abducted by the DomZ and taken to a slaughterhouse that is to be launched to a lunar base. After failing to extract Pey'j from the slaughterhouse in time, Jade learns that Pey'j was, in fact, the secret chief of the IRIS Network.
It becomes clear that the Alpha Sections are being possessed and manipulated by the DomZ. Using the Beluga, the ship Pey'j used to travel to Hillys, Jade and Double H go on a mission to the DomZ lunar base. There, Jade finds Pey'j dead. but a strange power inside her brings back his soul, reviving him. After rescuing Pey'j, transmitting her final report, and sparking a revolution, Jade confronts the DomZ High Priest. She learns that her human form is the latest container to hide a power stolen from the DomZ centuries ago. It was stolen hoping that the High Priest, who must have spirit energy to survive, would starve to death. But he managed to find a substitute energy in the souls of all those kidnapped from Hillys. Using the power, she is able to defeat the DomZ High Priest, though nearly losing control of her soul in the process, and revive and rescue those that have been abducted. But, in a post credits scene, A DomZ spore grows up on Pey'j's hand back on Hillys.
Development
Rayman
Rayman is a platform video game published, produced and developed by Ubisoft and is the first game in the Rayman series of videogames. Originally released on the PlayStation in 1995, it was re-released for the Atari Jaguar, Sega Saturn and MS-DOS in 1996. It has also been ported to various formats,...
video game, at Ubisoft's Montpellier studios in France. The game was developed under the codename "Project BG&E", with production lasting more than three years. A group of 30 employees comprised the development team. After years working on Rayman, Ancel wanted to move on to something different. He recalled that the goal of Beyond Good & Evil was to "pack a whole universe onto a single CD—mountains, planets, towns. The idea was to make the player feel like an explorer, with a sense of absolute freedom."
The second goal behind Beyond Good & Evils design was to create a meaningful story amid player freedom. In an interview, Ancel said that the linear nature of the gameplay was necessary to convey the story; player freedom was an experience between parts of the plot. He also strove to create a rhythm similar to a movie to engage and delight players. The game drew on many influences and inspirations, including the Miyazaki universe
Styles and themes of Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki is a prominent Japanese filmmaker and producer whose animated works are characterised by several recurring themes and motifs.Many of these recurrent features are notable for being so uncommon in the medium, for example the lack of evil or villain characters, the advocacy of a...
, politics and the media, and the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. In creating the lead character, Ancel's wife reportedly inspired the designer who wanted to portray a persona that players could identify with.
The game was first shown publicly at the 2002 Electronic Entertainment Expo, where it received negative reception. Originally more "artistically ambitious" and resembling games like Ico
Ico
is an action-adventure game published by Sony Computer Entertainment and released for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It was designed and directed by Fumito Ueda, who wanted to create a minimalist game around a "boy meets girl" concept. Originally planned for the PlayStation, Ico took...
, the game was substantially changed in order to make it more commercially appealing. Jade, originally a teenage girl, was redesigned to be more powerful and fitting of her job. The game was also shortened by removing long periods of exploration due to Ancel's dislike of this aspect of gameplay in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, released as in Japan, is an action-adventure game and the tenth installment in The Legend of Zelda series. It was released for the Nintendo GameCube in Japan on December 13, 2002, in North America on March 24, 2003, in Europe on May 2, 2003, and in Australia on...
. The development team was "demoralized" by the changes, with Ancel commenting that the finished game resembled a sequel more than a reworking. Prior to release, playable previews of the game were offered in movie theaters.
Audio
The soundtrack of Beyond Good & Evil was composed by Christophe HéralChristophe Héral
Christophe Héral is a French film- and video game-composer. He has composed music for among other things Beyond Good & Evil and Rayman Origins along with the currently unreleased Beyond Good and Evil successor....
. Héral was hired by Ancel to compose the soundtrack of Beyond Good & Evil due to his background in film. Hubert Chevillard, a director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
that Ancel had worked with, had also worked with Héral on a television special
Television special
A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...
, The Pantin Pirouette, and referred him to Ancel. Héral was assisted by Laetitia Pansanel, who orchestrated
Orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...
the pieces, and his brother Patrice Héral, who performed some of the sound effects and singing.
The soundtrack incorporates a wide variety of languages and instruments from around the world. Mainly Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n lyrics were chosen for the song "Propaganda", which plays in the game's Akuda Bar, to allude to the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
propaganda of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. It uses a recording of a telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
conversation by Héral with a female Bulgarian friend to represent the government's control of the media
Media (communication)
In communications, media are the storage and transmission channels or tools used to store and deliver information or data...
. It also incorporates Arabic string instruments and Indian percussion. A song called "Funky Mullah" was originally planned to be used in the Akuda Bar, but it was replaced by "Propaganda" because Héral decided that its muezzin
Muezzin
A muezzin , or muzim, is the chosen person at a mosque who leads the call to prayer at Friday services and the five daily times for prayer from one of the mosque's minarets; in most modern mosques, electronic amplification aids the muezzin in his task.The professional muezzin is chosen for his...
vocals, recorded on September 8, 2001, would have been in bad taste in the wake of the September 11 attacks. "Fun and Mini-games", a song that plays during hovercraft races and other mini-games, includes Spanish lyrics. The lyrics for DomZ music were created from a fictional language with prominent rolling "r"
Alveolar trill
The alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar trills is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r. It is commonly called the rolled R, rolling R, or trilled R...
sounds. The crashing metal sound effects of "Metal Gear
Metal Gear
Metal Gear is a series of video games.Metal Gear may also refer to:*Metal Gear , bipedal tanks appearing in the Metal Gear series-Metal Gear video game series:...
DomZ", music played during a boss fight, were recorded from the son of Héral's neighbor playing with scrap metal
Scrap Metal
Scrap Metal were a band from Broome, Western Australia who played rock music with elements of country and reggae. The members had Aboriginal, Irish, Filipino, French, Chinese, Scottish, Indonesian and Japanese heritage. The band toured nationally as part of the Bran Nue Dae musical and with...
. The voices in the city of Hillys were also recorded by Héral himself.
The music has never been published as an album, though it has been released in its entirety as a free download by Ubisoft. The soundtrack is featured in the Video Games Live
Video Games Live
Video Games Live is a concert series created and produced by industry veterans and video game composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall. The concerts consist of segments of video game music performed by a live orchestra with video footage and synchronized lighting and effects, as well as several...
international concert tour. Beyond Good & Evil was nominated for the "Audio of the Year", "Music of the Year", "Best Interactive Score", and "Best Sound Design" awards at the second annual Game Audio Network Guild awards. It was similarly nominated for the "Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition" and "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design" awards at the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' 2004 Interactive Achievement Awards.
Reception
Beyond Good & Evil received generally positive reviews on release. On the critic aggregate web site Game RankingsGame Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
, which compiles video game review scores into an average, the various versions of the game have scores ranging from 83.2% for the PC version to 88.2% for the Xbox version. On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, the game has scores from an 83 for the PC version to an 87 for the GameCube and Xbox versions. Prior to its release, Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine and PlayStation Magazine
PlayStation: The Official Magazine
PlayStation: The Official Magazine is a magazine originally known as PlayStation Magazine . After Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine was canceled, Sony Computer Entertainment announced on October 1, 2007 that PSM would become "PlayStation: The Official Magazine"...
praised the game's showing at the 2003 Electronic Entertainment Expo and described it as one of the best titles on display.
The game's graphics were generally well-received. In reviewing the GameCube version, Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
wrote that "Every moment of Beyond Good & Evil looks as good as a traditional RPG cutscene" and that the game's effects and character animations were "amazing". Jon Hicks of PC Format wrote that while some effects were excellent, the game's otherwise unspectacular graphics were unwelcome reminders of the game's console roots. 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
and Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, however, cited glitches such as frame rate
Frame rate
Frame rate is the frequency at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. The term applies equally well to computer graphics, video cameras, film cameras, and motion capture systems...
as irksome because the game did not appear to tax the console's hardware.
Edge
Edge (magazine)
Edge is a multi-format computer and video game magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. It is known for its industry contacts, editorial stance, distinctive anonymous third-person writing style, yearly awards and longevity....
commended the game for its storytelling and design, but criticized its plot as unable to "match Jade's initial appeal", becoming "fairly mundane" without "the darkness and moral ambiguity suggested by the title", and Jade's everyman
Everyman
In literature and drama, the term everyman has come to mean an ordinary individual, with whom the audience or reader is supposed to be able to identify easily, and who is often placed in extraordinary circumstances...
appeal being undermined by the revelation of her "mysterious hidden identity". Dan Toose of Icon Magazine
Icon Magazine
Icon Magazine is a bi-monthly magazine set up in 2005 by ex-professional footballers Tim Sherwood and Jamie Redknapp along with Redknapp's wife Louise. The magazine is the first venture of Redknapp Publications and its readership is exclusive as it is not sold in shops and it is aimed at a...
called the game's setting "dark, baroque and earthy, a far cry from the squeaky-clean action of the Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
games", describing the game as "a very European take on the role-playing genre" and "one of the best adventure games in years". Star Dingo of GamePro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
commented that the game was a "jack of all trades, master of none
Jack of all trades, master of none
"Jack of all trades, master of none" is a figure of speech used in reference to a person that is competent with many skills but is not necessarily outstanding in any particular one....
" that "never really lives up to its title", adding that its vision could have been more focused.
Among complaints with the game were control issues and a lack of gameplay depth. Game Informers Lisa Mason wrote that the game's controls were serviceable, but simplistic, and that she wished she could do more with the character. PC Gamer
PC Gamer
PC Gamer is a magazine founded in Britain in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future Publishing. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games magazines in their respective countries...
s Kevin Rice found most of the gameplay and its exploration refreshing, but called hovercraft races "not much fun" and felt combat was the game's weakest element. Edge called the gameplay interaction "hollowed out" as an unintended consequence of Ancel's attempt to streamline the game.
Beyond Good & Evil was not a commercial success. The game saw poor sales upon its release in the 2003 Christmas and holiday season. Retailers quickly decreased the price by up to 80 percent. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine staff attributed the poor sales of the game—among many other 2003 releases—to an over-saturated market, and labeled Beyond Good & Evil as a commercial "disappointment". The magazine staff further commented that the lack of marketing from Ubisoft and the game's odd premise naturally reserved it to obscurity. Part of the disappointing sales stemmed from Ubisoft not knowing how to market the title, something that Ubisoft North America CEO Laurent Detoc labeled as one of his worst business decisions. At the time, Ubisoft's marketing efforts were more focused on the release of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a third-person action-adventure computer and video game published by Ubisoft. It was released on November 21, 2003 and is a reboot of the landmark video game series Prince of Persia, created by Jordan Mechner in 1989.The Sands of Time, developed internally at...
. Ubisoft's former North American vice-president of publishing, Jay Cohen, and its European managing director, Alaine Corre, attributed the commercial failure of the game to a lack of marketing. "The game play was there, the technical excellence was there but perhaps the target audience was not there," Corre told the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. The game was intended to be the first part of a trilogy of games, but the game's poor sales placed those plans on hold at the time.
Awards and legacy
Beyond Good & Evil was nominated for and won many gaming awards. The International Game Developers AssociationInternational Game Developers Association
International Game Developers Association is the professional society for over 10,000 video and computer game developers worldwide.It is incorporated in the United States as a non-profit organization....
nominated the title for three honors at the 2004 Game Developers Choice Awards
Game Developers Choice Awards
The Game Developers Choice Awards are annually presented by the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games.Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were presented from 1997 to 1999.The 2009 award presentation was...
: "Game of the Year", "Original Game Character of the Year" (Jade) and "Excellence in Game Design". Ubisoft titles garnered six of eleven awards at the 2004 IMAGINA Festival in France, with Beyond Good & Evil winning "Best Writer" and "Game of the Year Team Award". The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences nominated the game for "Outstanding Achievement in Character or Story Development" at the 2004 Interactive Achievement Awards. In IGN.com's "The Best of 2003", the PlayStation 2 (PS2) version won "Best Adventure Game" while the GameCube version received "Best Story".
In 2007, Beyond Good & Evil was named 22nd-best Xbox game and 12th-best GameCube game of all time by IGN. Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
listed the title 12th on its "Top 25 GameCube Games" list. In another list, "Top 200 Games of all Time", Game Informer placed the PS2, Xbox, and GameCube versions of Beyond Good & Evil as the 200th best. The Official Nintendo Magazine ranked it as the 91st-best Nintendo game, while Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
ranked it 29th. Nintendo Power placed the GameCube version as the 11th-best GameCube game of all time in its 20th anniversary issue. Destructoid
Destructoid
Destructoid is an independent video game-focused blog based in San Francisco, California that was founded in March 2006. It has since grown into one of the most widely read video game sites on the Internet, reaching more than 3 million unique visitors per month...
ranked the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox versions as the 6th-best game of the decade. Gamesradar placed it as the 70th best game of all time.
Ancel stated his desire to produce a sequel to the game. Ubisoft announced at the Ubidays opening conference that there would be a second game. The sequel, tentatively titled Beyond Good & Evil 2
Beyond Good & Evil 2
Beyond Good & Evil 2 , or BG&E2, is the sequel to the 2003 video game Beyond Good & Evil, currently in development by Ubisoft Montpellier and published by Ubisoft. Michel Ancel, the creator of the original game, is back as lead designer of the sequel...
, is currently in development.