Beyond Good and Evil

[mt50]

Charlie- hang on untill the end, the ending is very shocking not what i thought it would be atall. only a few more hours to go for you anyway.

well ok the ending wasn't that good just got to convince him it was )

[hoathenfold]

Well I've just finished it and what a bloody good game start to finish. (especially good if you dont get hours and hours to spend on games like me!)

[Omega]

Is the GC and xbox PAL versions in 50 HZ only and with added borders ontop of the NTSC version?

[karlidog]

no 60hz, but the cube version's definitely a perfect full-speed port and the borders aren't any bigger. you can force it into 60hz with the freeloader (just press z and select US), and it doesn't look any different or run any slower at all.

[Omega]

cool. I used the zoom function on my tv to cut out the borders Everything is fine now.

[iloveannie]

Picked this up yesterday morning. So glad I sold XB Rainbow Six (made ?9 profit too) for this. The difference in gaming is so marked. I know it's all down to taste but all the same...

My three niggles are probably the same as everyone else's though;
1. BORDERS!!! Sorry widescreen. (Mumbles to himself about them still looking like bloody big borders).
2. Why can't I get into all the little houses and places I see? I know this never happens but it's a crticism levelled at a multitude of titles past, present and future.
3. I keep expecting item usage in the same way as Zelda. Yes I know this is going to get me shot at dawn but it's something that I can't help wishing for. It's not my fault! They made the game world so good I just want to play with it more :-(

Well I think I can say from those three 'niggles' that the game is pretty bloody good. And I want to support Ubisoft at the moment. POP, XIII and BG&E. All different, all with some excellent ideas, and all possesing a wonderful visual flare. Rare better watch out...

And she has the most amazing lips

[E. Randy Dupre]

For everyone complaining about the borders: it's cinema, innit? The format is supposed to better reflect the way that you see things in real life. But yeah, the lack of proper widescreen support is just daft.

Did anyone else get the feeling that there were things missing here, like the design had been compromised on? You upgrade the hovercraft to the you-know-what and all it does is open up one teeny-tiny sub-dungeon. There's a huge expanse of empty land that you can travel to, but there's no point. So you end up spending 25 pearls just for the sake of it, which makes it feel like a delaying tactic on the part of the designers.

Then there's the whole 88 pearls thing. "88 pearls to collect? **** me, I've only got two."

/me walks into cave, kills eleven dragonfly things in two minutes.

"Oh. Thirteen pearls now."

I know I shouldn't complain about the length of a game when I've enjoyed it more than most other of last year's releases, but it's *because* I enjoyed it so much that this stuff annoys. Like <i>Wind Waker</i>, the impression it gives you initially is that it's going to be huge (and even if the main story isn't, there'll be enough sub-quests to make up for it). Then you get a way into it and realise that the end is just around the corner.

I notice nobody else has mentioned the Yo Pearl mini-game you get for all 88 pearls, btw. Brilliant use of the dual analogue set up, even if the sections where you end up controlling the left orb with the right stick and the right with the left are making my brain leak out of my ears.

[SharkAttack]

Just started playing this as I am taking a motion sickness metroid breather haha

So far I am VERY impressed. I love the way it throws you straight into the action. None of that tutorial whimpy beginning like most games.

The only thing I am struggling to get used to is the camera control. My only other niggle (this is the GC version) is a slight stuttering as the screen scrolls around the environment. Anyone else notice this? Its like a framerate drop but not.

Anyway I think the presentation and atmosphere of this game so far is absolutely fantastic and I look forward to playing more.

[Adam Stone]

I thought the camera control felt a little restricted at first too, yet that was mainly due to being so used to the utter smoothness of the c.c. in Wind Waker. Soon got used to it though. There is definitely some stuttering going on which seems quite apparent at first, but again, soon just merges itself unnoticeably with the rest of the game.

Good to see your enjoying it Mr SharkAttack. I particularly liked the music played simultaneously with the slow mo effect during that first section. In fact, the music as a whole is definitely above most games' efforts. Also I love the propaganda continuously being drummed into your head when in the town area. Plus the music in the pub/inn as well as during the racers. Find myself humming to those subconsciously sometimes. Heh.

About your motion sickness? do blurring effects and surreal colours cause you problems? I was just thinking that the last 30mins or so will probably give you some problems if it does. Ubisoft have done some utterly wonderfully surreal things, and it will be a shame if it causes you problems.

I found BG&E got better and better as I progressed, so you definitely have a great time ahead of you. A friend is borrowing mine at the mo, but I shall definitely have to play through again in a month or so.

[SharkAttack]

I don't even know mate. One minute I could sit through a game like the upcoiming Unity wired into my eyeballs and not feel a thing, the next I will let my eyes sway on the donkey konga conveyer belt and feel like puking.

Yes that slow mo and music combo in the opening section was ace.

[Lyris]

There's a difference in letterboxing and PAL games being squashed (although Edge seemed to use the term to mean both). Letterboxing is there to keep the original proportions (play a Widescreen DVD on a conventional TV with the player set to 16:9 mode if you don't understand), PAL borders shouldn't be there and cause the image to get squashed.

I think using 16:9 as the aspect ratio worked really well - a lot of the cut-scenes wouldn't look right in 4:3. But yeah... why the hell is there no anamorphic? I have to put up with horrible scan-lines on my 16:9 CRT

[iloveannie]

Finished this this week (and POP funnily enough) and although enjoyable I now feel slightly deflated. Side quests? Explorable environment? I know they made some heavy changes in direction to this game but all the same...

Let's hope we see a sequel that does the game justice. Now that they have created the world (not to mention some pretty good characters) they owe it to themselves to make it into a game. And sort out the widescreen (still look like bloody big borders to me!).

The ending had me turn the controller upside down and it worked fairly well ;-)

[Brats]

I believe enjoyment of a title is based on expectation. Sorry again with a Wind Waker comparison, but I expected the Earth from that title and it didn't deliver. Obviously the pedigree if the series and the early reviews skewed my expectation.

On the otherhand, BG&E is a gem of a game. I still wasn't expecting much despite the praise in this thread, but playing it has been like sticking your hand down the side of the sofa and finding twenty quid. A real surprise and I'm glad you guys convinced me to try it out.

Two things have really impressed me. Firstly is the quality of the diverse elements of the game. The hovercraft races, the air hockey type game, the part where you have to escape the base. They've all been implemented exceptionally well and are really good fun within the main game itself.

The other part is the design. The characters are marvellous and show that Western developers can compete with anyone else in this regard. The world itself feels real too and I'm impressed that the game maintains a sense of menace despite the beautiful landscapes and sunny climate. The main city reminds me of Luc Besson's Fifth Element, another French genius.

All in all, this has kept me gripped over the whole weekend. Wind Waker is probably the better game, but I'm enjoying this one more because of the lack of expectation.

[SharkAttack]

I was really enjoying this game but didn't find it exceptional. Now I have just gone past the part in the bar...

Things just picked up!

Great game so far.

[JRMacumber]

Finished this last night. What an amazing game. Definitely an 8/10 experience for me, with some moments that rank even higher. I loved every aspect of the game, and I can only hope it gets a sequel made, though I doubt it.