I first played this title back in 2010 when the HD version came out for Xbox 360. It was one of the first games I ever wrote an essay about online, which is proof enough of how much Jade’s adventure means to me. While I have little hope of ever seeing a sequel, I am very happy to be able to enjoy the “enhanced and expanded” version of the original game to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Beyond Good & Evil and so write a new review.
Michael Ancel —one of the creators of Rayman— directed the original game, which was released for PS2, Xbox and GameCube in 2003. It wasn’t a huge sales success, but it did gain a cult following. It’s also one of the least ambiguously political stories from that era of gaming.
The plot is the same as it was over two decades ago. Hillys is one of the planets under attack by an alien species called DomZ. Although the military forces known as Alpha Sections are fighting back, the situation is getting worse for the inhabitants. Jade, a young photographer who is in charge of an orphanage with her uncle Zerdy, is hired to take some photos that begin to unravel a serious conspiracy related to the war.
Is the camera mightier than the sword?
Beyond Good & Evil is an action-adventure game. While its plot suggests infiltration, photography, puzzles, and stealth—and those elements are definitely present—there’s also plenty of hand-to-hand combat, vehicular combat, and high-speed escapes. That sounds exciting, but you have to remember that this is a video game from another time. The combat mechanics aren’t all that complex. Many of its most interesting ideas have already been expanded and improved upon by other titles since its initial release. That doesn’t mean this game isn’t worth your time, but it’s something to keep in mind when playing it.
Despite the fighting, Jade’s main weapon is not her staff or disc shooter, but her camera. This game does a fantastic job of conveying the idea that this war cannot be won by punching and shooting, but by bringing the truth to light. Jade’s mission when infiltrating the DomZ and Alpha Section bases is to photograph incriminating situations and send them to her allies to publish them so that the people can rebel against what is happening. It is satisfying to visit the city after a mission and see more and more people with signs protesting thanks to our actions.
It is refreshing how direct the message of this title is. It directly attacks military power and shows how it uses propaganda to manipulate public opinion. There are also elements that criticize colonialism and defend the role of a free press. Of course, it is a utopian idea. Today we see how the truth does not need to be manipulated because people choose to believe what suits their ideology, no matter how false it may be. The media has been taken over by corporations that use it for their benefit and the little free press does not have the reach or the power to change hearts and minds. The truth is not stopping genocides or fascist victories.
This 20th anniversary edition of Beyond Good & Evil It came when I needed it most. Since I can’t do anything to fix the real world, it’s nice to experience a power fantasy where I can save everyone armed with the truth.
20 years of history
The elephant in the room with this enhanced version is how much we’ve been waiting for its sequel. Ubisoft announced Beyond Good & Evil 2 in 2017 and we still don’t know anything about it. It’s supposedly still in development, but few people really believe we’ll ever see this game.
This 20th anniversary edition has several new features — such as new character skins, a speeddun mode, and quality of life improvements — but the most striking is a new mission. Not only does this reveal details about the mysterious past of protagonist Jade, but it makes a direct link to the sequel we are still waiting for. It is not a long mission and is based on visiting known locations from the game. It also includes new video sequences that fans of this title will definitely want to see.
The other big addition is a well-stocked gallery full of designs, art and videos of the development of Beyond Good & Evil This is absolutely fantastic and has a lot of material that even the most hardcore fans have never seen before. A true treasure trove of video game preservation and history.
Something is wrong in Hillys
Sadly, not everything is so beautiful in Beyond Good & Evil: 20th Anniversary Edition And as much as I want to praise the game in this review, I have to mention the problems I had with it as well.
During the nearly 11 hours of my playthrough, I experienced two crashes that kicked me out of the game, a corrupted save file, and a bug that prevented me from continuing the story. I was able to fix all of these issues by restarting or loading a previous save, thanks to the Anniversary Edition’s excellent autosave system, constant checkpoints, and the ability to upload saves to the Ubisoft Connect cloud.
I also noticed some strange textures in the graphics. I found characters blocking the path forward and a camera that got stuck on a few occasions. These issues are on top of those brought by the original game, such as controls that are sometimes imprecise and companion characters with poor AI.
This brings me to the always unpleasant problem of giving a numerical rating in this review of Beyond Good & Evil: 20th Anniversary Edition. Even with the gameplay elements feeling dated, it’s an excellent title. However, I can’t give it a rating higher than 8/10 because of the issues I encountered. I know that many readers consider all games below that rating to be not worth their time. That makes me angry. 7/10 and even 6/10 are positive ratings for games that many can enjoy despite the negative points they may have.
That’s why I end this review by asking those readers to consider everything they’ve read here before dismissing the game for a score they think is low (although it definitely isn’t). This is a great classic that deserves to be played. This anniversary edition gives us the perfect excuse to do so for the first time or to relive that experience.
Beyond Good & Evil: 20th Anniversary Edition review made with a digital copy for PS5 provided by Ubisoft. The game is also available on PS4, Xbox One, Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and PC.
