Iambaytor Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 So I was at Gamestop the other day perusing the cheapo games and hit paydirt in several forms I grabbed Silent Hill 2, Siren, Onimusha, and Escape From Monkey Island all for under $40. And since they were running a special on buy 3 get one free I snagged a copy of Beyond Good and Evil. I'd never been terribly interested in playing it as I'd seen previews and it looked pretty "meh" in storyline, characters, and just variety. I have never been so wrong in my life... This game is kind of like Ratchet and Clank and Jak and Daxter, the only difference being that Beyond Good and Evil brings you in and gives you enjoyment and time to learn things and explore the world around you, whereas Jak and Ratchet tend to wail on your groin with a meat tenderizer whilst calling you a dirty little bitch. The story is involved and serious, involving invading space aliens and their possible connection to an elite force of soldiers who are supposedly fighting the aliens. You play as Jade who with her pig man uncle Peyj uncover a government conspiracy as new members of the secret society IRIS, which is dedicated to revealing the government's true intents. Jade's job is to infiltrate facilities and take pictures of incriminating behavior to publish in a newsletter sent out to the entire planet of Hillys This game is a platformer, it's combat, it's a stealth game. Imagine if you will a combination between Pok'e Mon Snap, Jak and Daxter, Tomb Raider, and Metal Gear and you've got something similar to this game. My only complaints are that the cartoony animation style makes it a bit difficult to take the game seriously sometimes. The Rastafarian Rhinoceros Men and an overly valiant armored hero at your side were obvious plays at humor, the character of Peyj was entirely serious. Which confused me as he's a cartoony anthropomorphic pig. Also at the last boss fight the game decides to adopt the meat tenderizer to the groin method by making the screen go all blurry and reversing your controls. But otherwise, characters, gameplay, and storyline are all solid. The music is amazing, hypnotic, and just overall enjoyable and the animation though questionable at times is sharp, never has that PS2 blocky look, and works well. If you own a Playstation 2, Xbox, or PC you need to get this game. I hold it up there with Psychonauts as a lost masterpiece of the gaming world, a true example of games as art. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Very much seconded, one of the few PS2 classics (along with Psychonauts) i praise without managing to yet finish, but i really should. This was a birthday gift from Bish a while back, and a great one at that. I think it was Gamecube too, its name comes up a lot when people talk about amazing adventure games that didnt get love without the right advertising/some easily recognizable character/etc. The Metal Gear and other gameplay elements are here, but id even add a touch of Zelda. oh, and props on your gamestop finds, Silent Hill 2 and Escape are awesome and hard to come by! i just copied Siren a month back and barely got to play it, it reminds me of one of those japanese play-novels, but should i give it a go, baytor? im a horror gaming junkie but between being stuck in fatal frame 2 and debating rule of rose, it just got lost in the storm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the division of joy Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 i played this a bit back in the day... loved it nick, i picked up rule of rose online for about 75 euro.... there's a gigantic 75 euro shaped hole in my wallet ever since... if you want i can sends you my copy to see if it works, but i really do not reccomend it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Bob Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Welcome, all of you, to the Beyond Good & Evil fan club. I think there are about eight of us now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Sad, though likely true. it begs the question, though: there's amazing games like Okami that can be written off as being too esoteric, but if you sit someone down, theyll likely realize, its a fresh take on zelda, and a lot more. Similar argument can be made for a game like this. So how could it not have bombed? you cant just say "marketing" cause i recall innovative, fun Dreamcast games getting MTV ads and still not selling well. Id like to say Playstation Network & XBL demos give things a chance, but even that might be limited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Bob Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 It's not action oriented. It's not a first person shooter. It's not part of a known franchise or an inept tie-in with a popular movie. The lead character is a woman who isn't scantily clad and doesn't carry a gun. The graphics, while fantastically well-done, are not cutting edge and photorealistic. And the art style is cartoonish and the overly macho FPS-playing 14 year old boys that make up a lot of the industry's audience don't like being caught with cartoons. Sadly, the videogame industry is a lot like the movie industry now. The majority of people are only interested in franchises and the current trends. They'll shell out big bucks to get a marginally updated Madden game every year but they won't take a chance on an original. It's a shame. Even moreso than films, videogames have a chance to offer truly innovative and unique experiences to the audience, but like any form of entertainment, most companies - and most consumers - are perfectly content staying in the middle of the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signal08 Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 I think you said it all DJ. You need to wait a good 3 or 4 years between Madden like games to see any difference in the quality of gaming. The real only benefit to buying a game year after year is just for roster updating and jersey updating. As far as no name titles, that isn't "safe" yet timely classics are in the making and most of the users dont even know about it. I really liked the PS2 game "winback" and "psi: ops" but people were so into gta2 and 3, metal gear, and of course the highly raved about SoCom Navy Seals, and even crash bandicoot was getting more looks than Bleeth got on Baywatch in its prime. I remember reading about the numbers for Matrix the game, and it was one of the record holding opening week sales... all because of the mainstream, familiarity, big advertisement backing...yet Max Payne 1 had 'bullett time' which is the same damned thing as 'focus' in the matrix, and Maxi Pad Payne had that in what, 2001 was it? On a side note, Max Payne the movie is due to come out in 2010 as mark wahlberg plays Max... only took 8 years for the game to catch on into a flick. So, I say everyone should invest in spending the 5 bucks once a month or so and renting that new game thats out that looks sorta kinda cool but you dont know jack about it. If you try to keep in touch with the sequals of games... just hope they dont get progressively worse like the Driver series has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iambaytor Posted February 8, 2008 Author Share Posted February 8, 2008 (edited) Welcome, all of you, to the Beyond Good & Evil fan club. I think there are about eight of us now I'll recommend it to my fellow Giants: Citizen Kabuto fans, then there might be nine of us! (of course I'd have to find someone other than me who loves Giants: Citzen Kabuto first...) As for Siren, I've no clue, but Metgear from The Knoll spoke highly of it and the boy practically pisses good video game recommendations. Haven't played it I've still got MDK 2, Splinter Cell, Metal Gear Solid 2, Resident Evil 4, and Kingdom Hearts 2 to play. And I still need to finish the Punisher, Giants, The Thing, and The Great Escape to finish. I imagine I'll get to Siren after Silent Hill 2 and maybe before Resident Evil 4. EDIT: Missed one of Nick's posts. I never played Okami because I think the arc of the covenant is easier to find than that fucking game. But I did play the Viewtiful Joe games and I know why they didn't do better, they were fucking difficult. It was everything I used to love about side-scrolling arcade games and everything I hated as well. But Okami, and Iko (which I still maintain was a piece of shit I don't care how much its praised or how pretty it looks) I can understand, they were a bit against the grain. But Beyond Good and Evil wasn't anything different for the time I mean some of it seems page-by-page the same as Jak 2 which got good sales (Seriously Mammago/Brutter, Jak/Jade, Alpha Guard/Krimson Guard, Domz/Metalheads, it's staggering.) But around that time we had Jak and Daxter (and subsenquent sequels), Ratchet and Clank (and subsequent) sequels, Sly Cooper, Ty the Tazmanian Tiger, and Tak and the Power of Juju. That type of gameplay wasn't exactly odd or off the market at the time. I think on the whole Beyond just didn't sell itself well enough, anyone who plays it can't deny its greatness, but the previews were all kinda... bleah, boring. I picked this game up because it was cheap, I bought Max Payne, Driv3r, and Dead to Rights for the same reason and chucked them (Actually I sold them to a friend for far more than they were worth) I mean just random shopping has paid off a few times it netted me Giants: Citizen Kabuto, Tiny Tank, Clock Tower, and Einhander (which I will guard like Gollum as those things are selling for like $120 right now) This game wasn't a given for me like Psychonauts. I mean it had no-one attached to it, the biggest thing it had going for it was that the people who made Prince of Persia: Sands of Times were involved and that's not the greatest endorsement one can have. I can see why it didn't sell, it doesn't make any of those people any less of fools for not owning it, but I understand. Edited February 8, 2008 by Iambaytor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Bob Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 (edited) I love me some Sly Cooper. I really hope they do another one of those games. I was also a big fan of Psi Ops, Sig. But, you're right, I didn't mean to suggest that BG&E reinvented the wheel or anything, just that the storyline and the characters were complete originals and there was nothing there that had a ready-made built-in fanbase. You could find games like it all over the place at the time of its release, but you'd be hardpressed to find one that had so much quality. By the way, I remembered yet another fan of the game - Pete Jackson. He played the game during the early stages of filming King Kong and enjoyed it so much that when it came time to do a videogame adaptation of the flick, he insisted on BG&E's development team. Granted, the King Kong game couldn't have been more different, but like Beyond Good & Evil, it took things that had been done before and ratcheted the quality up to 11. So that makes like ten fans. Edited February 8, 2008 by Silent Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newtype Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 It's OK. Rub your eyes. I did. But it's true: Beyond Good & Evil creator Michel Ancel has told French magazine JeuxVideo that work on a sequel to one of the past decade's most underappreciated titles is underway. And not just underway, but it's been underway for around a year now, with 10-12 staff toiling away on pre-production duties. Good news, yes? Well, sit back down, Mr Bernard Excitey-Pants, because there's a catch: Ubisoft have yet to green-light the project and kick it up into full production. Yes, I'm as confused and angry as you are. No, I have no idea why the hell they're stalling on this. What the fuck is Ubisoft waiting for. Green light this shit already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Bob Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iambaytor Posted May 16, 2008 Author Share Posted May 16, 2008 Ubisoft has priorities they have to make Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell:Sassy Bandit and Prince of Persia:Epic Yet Gothy Title first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 oh shit, i really gotta go finish that first one now. it doesnt get to an unpassable point like psychonauts later, does it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Bob Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 Nope, but it does, unfortunately, end sooner than you expect it to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iambaytor Posted May 17, 2008 Author Share Posted May 17, 2008 oh shit, i really gotta go finish that first one now.it doesnt get to an unpassable point like psychonauts later, does it? It remains fun but the last boss will make you his bitch, I seriously think by lass boss standards no one short of Mike Tyson is harder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 crap. well, at least its for both systems, anyway. dont know much more than that yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Bob Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 Oh yeah, the last boss does kinda cheat. But still, you'll get through it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newtype Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 YES!!!!!!! FINALLY FUCKING YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 ill be damned. i really have to go finish part 1 now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iambaytor Posted May 29, 2008 Author Share Posted May 29, 2008 I don't remember Part 1 ending with it becoming Mad Max, but you know what I don't remember Jak 2 ending with it becoming Mad Max so it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Bob Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Yay for BGaE2! Boo for new voice actors (I hope Jade is the same). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iambaytor Posted May 29, 2008 Author Share Posted May 29, 2008 That wasn't the same Peyj? Here's hoping that Double His back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NZA Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 i'm not gonna believe in this one till after it's booted up...also, might be time to go back & finally finish up part 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keth Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Ehhhh. Not sure how I feel about the over the top cursing and more mature tone. I need to finish the first one also, and this could be fun. But what Ive played of the firstone, art style aside, this doesnt really seem like a sequel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iambaytor Posted June 13, 2017 Author Share Posted June 13, 2017 Man they're really trying to hammer home that this one is more mature, eh? I went from "did he just say 'fuck'" to "I get it, now stop saying 'fuck!'" I'm not super crazy about the prequel angle, I wanted more adventures with the same characters and that trailer from however long ago had me looking forward to Jade and I-forget-the-pig-man's-name in a post-apocalyptic wasteland type setting. Also not digging the less cartoony look of things. But then again the chance that this may never happen is significant, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.