Beyond Good and Evil - PC

Platforms: PC, GameCube, Xbox, PS2.
Released in 2004
Rated T
Pick it up for under $15, especially cheap on Amazon

Probably the first thing you should know is the game is a console port so if you get the PC version like I did you'll notice the menues are pretty consolie and there's a distinct lack of a cursor throught much of the game. But this is a minor quibble so it didn't affect the rating.

Overview:
You play as Jade, a brave reporter with some pretty slick fighting skills. You're initially accompanied by your "Uncle" Pey'J, who, oddly enough is a pig. As you progess through the game you uncover secrets about a goverment conspiracy and have to use everything at your disposal to save face. You soon become part of a secret organization, called IRIS, a group of rebels that support your cause and most of the missions become focused on their orders as you progress. There's also a photography aspect as Jade is hired to photograph specimins of exotic creatures around your vast homeworld.
To travel around you use your hovercraft, which is upgradable. You can also participate in optional races to fund your endevours.
Throughout the game you essentually do the following: Uncover the conspiracy and resore justice, photograph animals and explore your homeworld, and with the help of a sidekick, kick butt with your staff of disk gun.
Gameplay:
There's a lot to like here. You have plenty to do, and as you progress, more and more to explore. If you have no pressing objectives you can compete in races, scavenge for credits and perils, which can be used to purchase things like upgrades. You have plenty of baddies to face and wherever you go you can always search for new specimins to photograph.
At first many areas are blocked or taped off but as you preceed and find new items and areas you will periodically be able to open certain doors and bypass different areas. For instance several stretches of ocean are blocked off by either patrolling security bots or lasers. But as you upgrade your hovercraft with homing missiles and jump jets you can destroy the bots and hop over the lasers.
And of course most everything you do is tied into the story so you learn about the conspiracy, your past and uncover a few plot twists along the way. Good fun.
Story:
There are few games that have actually told as story I cared about but this one really nails it. You become attached to the characters, particulaly Pey'J, and find yourself longing to uncover the next secret. Though the whole evil alien race doesn't seem too origional it's conveyed in such a manner it feels fresh. Overall the storyline is one of the stongest aspects of the game, well worth the money.
Control:
Though intended for the console, and I imagine it controls well there too, Jade and here hovercraft handle well. Although not perfect due to a few wonky camera angles now and then there's rarely a problem with the mostly intuitive controls. Taking snapshots is a breeze, and fighting feels satasfying yet very easy. Though some may be turned off by the simply fighting system it looks pretty sweet in action. You basically just hit the action button a bunch of times and get different acrobatic moves depending on how fast you hit it, how long you hold it, and what direction you press. The vehicles also handle well, later on when you move to the skys (and later space) it gets a little taking used to but it was really just as simple, and fun, as fighting after the first few minutes.
Difficulty:
I did have some very frustrating moments with this one I'll admit. There's some light puzzle solving you you get better at as you get more experienced. Often involving a clever way to get to new animal specimins. But some combat sequences do get a little tricky. Particularly the last boss battle. Which is actully insanely hard untill you've done it a million times. You have to memorize where he'd going to appear and your timing has to be flawless, screw up and you've got to make up for it very quickly. There are also some very tough "don't get spotted" stealth bits well into the game that you've got to play though a bunch of different ways before you know just how to do it. Not easy but it is gratafying when you get by them. And fortunantly the game is good enough that you want to keep playing instead of crusifying your play disk.
The only real gripe I have here is, being a console port you can't save whenever you want. However they do their best to make up for this as, in addition to checkpoints there are bit save console type things lying all over teh world in pretty convienient spots so you can save it manually there if you like.
Sound:
Though not outstanding its definatly not a weak point. The musical score is pretty nice when it comes in and often fitting to the setting. The combat sounds comically graphic and satasfying and the voice acting is excellent. Whoever Ubisoft hired to do Pey'J's voice has some real talent, just perfect for his character. My only gripe is sometimes the music just fades away and you're left feeling a little empty but it's not too big a deal.
Graphics:
Both beautiful and simple. There fairly stylized and not exactly next gen but for this game they work perfectly. Pey'J and Jade are particularly well rendered and all the animation is very fluid and impressive. Though some things look a little half-assed, like certain trees in the city, or some rocky out croppings it's generally a beautifully origional look and feel.
Multiplayer:
Or lack thereof, but I gave it a five because in a game like this there's really no need for it. Moreover it would probably be worse if they implemented it as aside from maybe a hovercraft race there's little they could do to invent something fun yet relevent. The only way it would be cool is if it were a MMO of sorts, though they'd need to do a lot of adjusting obviously. It's a single player game and that will be enough for most anyone with a storyline this good.
Replay value and overall value:
Quite high actually. Aside from wanting to play again just because it was cool you also want to find more creatures, perals, and check out any areas you missed. For your $10 bucks it's an awesome value, there's a lot of hours to invest in this and the payoff is pretty major. I hope they come out with a sequel.

Hope this review was helpful