Vorax Nocturnus

At the beginning of the game, Jade accepts a gig from a mysterious research agency photographing the flora and fauna of her home planet Hillys. The earnings can be used to buy food, supplies, and vehicle upgrades that she’ll need to accomplish her mission, so you’ll spend a lot of time exploring the nooks and crannies of Hillys for exotic life forms that lurk beneath the sea, in the air and shadows, or simply hiding in plain sight in clever disguises. Framing is tricky (good shots earn more), and you’ll have learn to use the camera even under attack (to capture rare shots of aggressive critters, which earn even more money) and to tease out shy creatures for the camera.

Above: One of hundreds of photogenic creatures that populate the planet of Hillys

When reviews gush about Beyond Good & Evil’s immersiveness, this is the kind of thing they’re talking about. Once you get a feel for the incredible diversity of wildlife Ancel and his development team brought to the world of Hillys, you begin to identify more and more with Jade’s outrage over those who would put this kind of world in jeopardy (she’s also the caretaker of a litter of anthropomorphic friends who’ve been orphaned by alien attacks). You get the sense that this is a world worth defending.

Contrast this with, say, Crysis, a game that reaches for immersiveness with near-photorealistic graphics. The effect is nothing less than astonishing, but it’s also inherently limited. Once you’ve seen one realistic chicken, you’ve literally seen them all.  the more realistic the graphics, the easier it is to pick out flaws and limitations. Chicken-tossing and crab-skeet are all well and good, but in terms of story, you’re basically tossed into a world and given orders. I’m all about the Colonial Marine approach in shooters, but Ancel’s stylized and meticulously realized world is a far more imaginative and immersive experience than Crysis could ever be.

 A Timely Theme

Above: You’re either with us, or you’re against us

Actually, this one really depends on how you look at things. If, for example, you don’t believe that a government that purportedly respects freedom and liberty would exploit acts of violence and terrorism in order to promote terror among its citizens so that it can restrict civil liberties and accumulate more power, then the plot Beyond Good and Evil is completely fanciful and irrelevant to us today.

Something for Everybody

This is only a slight exaggeration. I’m sure you-know-who would find some fault in it, but Beyond Good and Evil is the only game that every single person I have ever known who has played it has enjoyed. That includes fans of first-person shooters, RPGs, and MMOs, young gamers, abandonware trolls, people who hate console games, female gamers, death-metal enthusiasts, a former Army Ranger, a video game-loathing book editor, and my sister.

Above: A day at the races

Name me one other game with this kind of broad appeal. OK, Peggle. Name me one other game. That’s right - you can’t!