58: Green-Eyed Grrl
- Thread starter The Escapist Staff
- Start date
BGE is one of the most memorable experiences I ever had with games. From the juxtaposition of fairy-taily colours and dictatorship world through great characters and gripping story to small details, everything is just spot-on. And the theme song, Propaganda, I remember until now although I played the game more than two years ago. And the song is not even very prominent in the game, it only plays in background! Some say that the game is short and I quite agree, with an addition that - unlike most much longer games - it is never dull. It flows, is homogenic and connected. You never have to grind through something, you are only having fun. Very few games achieve that.
I bought Beyond Good & Evil the first week it was available. I sat on it for a few weeks while I focused on other games like Need For Speed Underground and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. But then, one day, I decided to put it in.
Boy am I glad I did.
The game is a masterpiece, and I consider myself one of the lucky few who got to play it. The only possible complaint I can make about it is there's simply not enough of it. But after you finish it the first time, you plug in the code it gives you to the website and you realize you're number 1296 in the world, so you play it again, this time trying to get all the pearls, animals, etc. And suddenly the game is a lot longer, deeper and meatier.
BG&E is truly an underappreciated classic.
(On a related note, PoP:SoT was an equally unique and daring game from Ubisoft at the time that managed to sell well. Then they went all aggro and Godsmack on us for the sequel.
)
And one more thing... CAAARLSON AND PETERSSSSSS!!!!
Boy am I glad I did.
The game is a masterpiece, and I consider myself one of the lucky few who got to play it. The only possible complaint I can make about it is there's simply not enough of it. But after you finish it the first time, you plug in the code it gives you to the website and you realize you're number 1296 in the world, so you play it again, this time trying to get all the pearls, animals, etc. And suddenly the game is a lot longer, deeper and meatier.
BG&E is truly an underappreciated classic.
(On a related note, PoP:SoT was an equally unique and daring game from Ubisoft at the time that managed to sell well. Then they went all aggro and Godsmack on us for the sequel.
)And one more thing... CAAARLSON AND PETERSSSSSS!!!!
I wasn't aware that The Escapist was in the business of writing game reviews. Usually there's at least something more to the article than just talking about a game.
Personally, I've been avoiding BG&E - not because I expect it to be bad (quite the opposite in fact), but because I'm worried that if I play it, I'll find its undertones heavy-handed, which is the one sure way to annoy me. As it stands now, I see it as a very good game, and I don't want a good game to have a poorly-told story, not when the story is so central to the game. One of these days I'll probably work up my nerve, but it'll take more than a plain old game review to do that.
Personally, I've been avoiding BG&E - not because I expect it to be bad (quite the opposite in fact), but because I'm worried that if I play it, I'll find its undertones heavy-handed, which is the one sure way to annoy me. As it stands now, I see it as a very good game, and I don't want a good game to have a poorly-told story, not when the story is so central to the game. One of these days I'll probably work up my nerve, but it'll take more than a plain old game review to do that.
Interesting - I don't know if I consider this to be a review, but I do know that one of the original 'goals' of The Escapist was to call attention to underappreciated works. Hidden gems as it were.Bongo Bill said:
I definitely think this qualifies. BG&E should be sitting on every gamer's shelf, right next to Psychonauts.
Agreed. To criticise a game mag (even one as universally assumed to be "stodgy" as The Escapist) for reviewing a game misses the point I think. But I don't consider this article a review; it's more of an homage.
Besides, Rossignol is one of the industry's best writers. I'd read his shopping list, and probably print it - after a few edits, of course
Besides, Rossignol is one of the industry's best writers. I'd read his shopping list, and probably print it - after a few edits, of course
I was watching this game before its release. I was quite excited by it, in fact. But I was in school at the time and not able to purchase many games. This is one that has managed to stay on the underside of my radar for a while. The more I see it, the more I want to get it. So, which platform?
Four of us took turns playing this on the PS2, each picking up where the other left off. We all watched the others play. It was entertaining even when you were only an observer. Only Oddworld games have ever been so enthralling to me. And it was completely original. I just recently purchased it for PC from eBay and look forward to playing this again.
Making something alike isn't a clone in my eyes - that kind of thing just smells the same way as of the whole Portal discussion going on about who got portals first, Valve or 'the makers of Prey'.
Just sayin'.
I bloody loved Beyond Good & Evil and still play it on the odd day. I finally managed to accept the whole Pey'j-thing which I found so very 'they can't do this when things are just so beautiful!' (which I don't spoil, naturally).
I really think it's a work of art and it's a bit sad for me to see Michel Ancel working on new Rayman games. I love his cunning inventions and Rayman really is a game series that I began to dislike halfway through replaying Rayman 2 and upon the demo of Rayman 3; I just thougth 'this is too... too... just knock it!'. I still adore the first one, though.
I hope one day Michel Ancel makes something new - a sequel to BG&E I don't need (I saw the story as finished the moment the end-credits arrived, thank you) but a new game would tintalize my artistic organs. Whichever those are.
Just sayin'.
I bloody loved Beyond Good & Evil and still play it on the odd day. I finally managed to accept the whole Pey'j-thing which I found so very 'they can't do this when things are just so beautiful!' (which I don't spoil, naturally).
I really think it's a work of art and it's a bit sad for me to see Michel Ancel working on new Rayman games. I love his cunning inventions and Rayman really is a game series that I began to dislike halfway through replaying Rayman 2 and upon the demo of Rayman 3; I just thougth 'this is too... too... just knock it!'. I still adore the first one, though.
I hope one day Michel Ancel makes something new - a sequel to BG&E I don't need (I saw the story as finished the moment the end-credits arrived, thank you
) but a new game would tintalize my artistic organs. Whichever those are.One of the most fitting characterizations of the game I've ever read. I actually loved the game the first time I heard about it (can't remember where that was) and the buying felt really easy while mostly when you buy a game you are still a bit uncertain if it's really as good as it's supposed to be.
However it is one of the few games where story and game have found the perfect type of cooperation, where the action doesn't stop the narration and vice versa. As the article says everything about it is unique. Through this and another game called XIII Ubisoft has proven to be a publisher that is willing to bring innovation to the market and give a chance to new ideas which other companies - like uhm... EA - don't even seem to try. If there is any future to games as an art form I'm sure BG&E will make it to the hall of fame. Well, for now, it is in mine.
However it is one of the few games where story and game have found the perfect type of cooperation, where the action doesn't stop the narration and vice versa. As the article says everything about it is unique. Through this and another game called XIII Ubisoft has proven to be a publisher that is willing to bring innovation to the market and give a chance to new ideas which other companies - like uhm... EA - don't even seem to try. If there is any future to games as an art form I'm sure BG&E will make it to the hall of fame. Well, for now, it is in mine.
I played this on PC and my PC struggled like a hogtied pig to run the game, I was missing textures, things wouldn't render correctly, and it would crash, but I STILL had to play it. The game was just too good to ignore, and I'm so glad I played it.
For all the amount of people who say they played it and loved it, surely this game should have done well!
For all the amount of people who say they played it and loved it, surely this game should have done well!
I just want to add my name to the list of people that played and absolutely love this game. It's an amazing piece of work. I particularly enjoyed the level design, the way your path interweaved upon itself without ever backtracking. It made the environments feel more real and less linear while still keeping on you on track with the level's progression.
If you haven't played it, do so.
If you haven't played it, do so.
Well, what you all can imagine into a game, I wonder?
I'm obvious one of the few who didn't enjoy the game as much as others. As much as I tried to like it I find myself in the "clash of gaming cultures" that is depicted in this article. I didn't know what to think of the game and while I got the political references (Iraq? never crossed even once my mind) and it's really something different.
Yet the gameplay ultimatively was boring IMHO. Maybe I should get that game from my book shelf and start up my console again...
I'm obvious one of the few who didn't enjoy the game as much as others. As much as I tried to like it I find myself in the "clash of gaming cultures" that is depicted in this article. I didn't know what to think of the game and while I got the political references (Iraq? never crossed even once my mind) and it's really something different.
Yet the gameplay ultimatively was boring IMHO. Maybe I should get that game from my book shelf and start up my console again...
It's a bit dangerous to suggest that Beyond Good & Evil is for everybody. Sometimes it seems we need to 'excuse' ourselves for playing unpopular games such as Psychonauts or Beyond Good & Evil by saying that, hey, it was just overlooked. I wouldn't mind playing it if it wasn't popular with most people (that might even be a pre for my liking).
The problem does lie, of course, with those who make the games. They'd rather make a popular game than an unpopular one, sadly. Then again, who can blame them. Apart from me, that is.
The problem does lie, of course, with those who make the games. They'd rather make a popular game than an unpopular one, sadly. Then again, who can blame them. Apart from me, that is.
What a funny trend to find games that are critically successful but commercial flops, and put them on a pedestal of profundity. The purpose of this article seems to be: proselytize the unwashed masses who were obviously duped by "Prince of Persia" and "Zelda Wind Waker" back in the day.retronaut said:
I picked up BG&E back when it came out, and was amazed by the high production values and obvious love put into the game...but the platformy/racing/photography mish-mash of gameplay sent me right back to Zelda and PoP. If BG&E had been a run-away commercial success do you think it would have place here among the disenfranchised? A place of derision perhaps.
Well, the article doesn't mention The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and makes no comment on whether Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was a good game. I don't think that for BG&E to be good, ZWW or SoT have to be bad. The difference in this case is that SoT was anticipated and commercially successful, not that BG&E is good and SoT is bad.FuriousBroccoli said:
I played and loved all three games, myself.
It seems like you prefer focused gameplay: platforming is for platformers, racing is for racers, and so forth. That's not an indefensible position, but I think it's worth keeping in mind that some people like games that draw from mutiple genres. That BG&E is a "mish-mash" of genres isn't inherently a criticism.FuriousBroccoli said: