Games
Sony
Microsoft
Nintendo
Other Platforms
Upcoming &
Recent Releases
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.
Beyond Good & Evil

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 40 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 14 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game >
Game Info
Publisher: Ubi Soft
Developer: Ubi Soft
Genre(s): Action, Adventure
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Release Date: December 2, 2003
Summary
The planet of Hyllis has fallen under siege by a ruthless alien race. Despite the assurances of the Alpha Section defense squad, the war drags on, terrorizing the once-beautiful planet and crushing the faith of the people. From the rubble of a tiny island rises Jade - a rebellious young action reporter left traumatized by a brutal attack. When Jade is hired by the rebel organization IRIS, she learns that the Alpha Sections are secretly trafficking humans to the enemy. Still wary of who to believe, she sets out to expose the gruesome conspiracy and bring proof to her people. Armed with her camera, dai-jo staff, and unflinching resolve, Jade plunges into a sinister web to untangle the truth and restore justice to her planet. But as she earns the trust of her beleaguered people, Jade discovers that sometimes, in order to find the truth, you must look beyond good and evil. [Ubi Soft]
Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central
Also On The Web: Games Domain Preview GameSpot Preview GameSpy Preview IGN Hands-On Official Website TechTV Preview
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Just Adventure
Everything in the game feels well thought-out. The interface works like a charm, and the controls are easy to master.
Read Full Review >Play Magazine
Where most games entertain us with cutscenes to observe, Beyond Good & Evil is a cutscene. This is the first game to fully, properly inject the undeniable power of cinematic technique into the experience. [Nov 2003, p.70]
Yahoo! Games
Packed with atmosphere, accessible gameplay and sweet visuals, Beyond Good & Evil has most definitely reached beyond our expectations. Don't miss it.
Read Full Review >GameReviewer
A modern gaming masterpiece. It's as playable as any "Zelda," and as memorable as any "Metal Gear."
Read Full Review >XboxAddict
The audio component in this game is top of the line. Award caliber voice acting combined with an atmospheric and enchanting soundtrack creates an audio master piece of cinematic proportions.
Read Full Review >Worth Playing
BG&E is all about originality and uniqueness and no place does it shine better than in the graphics department. The sheer number of characters is astonishing, but the fact that each one has a personal style and attitude makes that game so much more believable.
Read Full Review >VGPub
It is titles like this that are the backbone of the industry and the reason I got into gaming in the first place. Few games draw you in as much as this gem does.
Read Full Review >Game Chronicles
Do I really mean that after 25 years of gaming, and thousands of titles in my collection, that Beyond Good and Evil is one of the best games I have ever played? Yes.
Read Full Review >Next Level Gaming
I’m of the belief that you should always leave your audiences wanting more instead of wishing for the experience to end. While some might consider that a sign that a game is too short, I was satisfied and indeed wanted more.
Read Full Review >Game Over Online
Beyond Good & Evil's gameplay is part and parcel of an elegantly imagined gameworld. The animation is so smooth as to be almost flawless.
Read Full Review >GameZone
Rarely does a game so innovative and so uniquely fresh come along to grab a gamer’s complete interest the way Beyond Good & Evil does. It is, by far, one of the most original games to come along for the Xbox and will certainly be enjoyed by those gamers who crave something completely new and downright fun.
Read Full Review >Cincinnati Enquirer
A visual treat because of its beautifully rendered indoor and outdoor environments, smoothly animated characters and subtle lighting techniques that contribute to the game's atmosphere.
Read Full Review >GameBiz
If you’re an RPG fan and are sick of constantly repetitive RPGs hitting the market, and you overlooked Beyond Good and Evil due to it being a new franchise, GameBiz thoroughly recommends checking this title out.
Read Full Review >Xbox Nation Magazine
Players are made to feel as if they're interacting with real characters in a dynamic world. [Mar 2004, p.97]
Official Xbox Magazine
The fact is that there's no other Xbox game that offers you the uniquely multi-layered experience that BG&E does. And isn't that what gaming is all about? [Dec 2003, p.98]
IGN
One of those rare games that shines from all points with an unmistakable quality of intelligence and personality...It is pierced throughout with humor, intelligence, and humanity.
Read Full Review >Gamers' Temple
A cool game with a wonderful style and just enough gameplay variety to keep you around until the end.
Read Full Review >TotalGames.net
Few adventures out there give you a world as detailed and lush as Beyond Good & Evil.
Read Full Review >XGP Gaming
Beyond Good & Evil is easily worth the 9/10 I award it, and maybe even a bit more based of the power of the story alone. Hurry up and go buy it.
Read Full Review >GameCritics
A fully realized game, utilizing the JADE engine which "Prince of Persia" borrows. But more importantly, it has partially realized characters that have more feeling than human characters in other games.
Read Full Review >GameSpy
A combination of solid Zelda-style gameplay and cinematic excellence push Beyond Good & Evil into the upper echelons of action / adventure games. This is what an interactive movie should be.
Read Full Review >Village Voice
The cartoonish environment, though small, abounds with hidden desirables and fine detail—blaring propaganda, rich reflections and shadows, site-specific music, assorted visual gags—and even minor characters, unlike Paris and Ashton, possess crisp, individual personalities.
Read Full Review >Deeko
It’s an inventive creation that basks in some of the finest voice acting available, an incredible amount of visual pizzazz, and an incredible mixture of gameplay.
Read Full Review >AceGamez
Beyond Good & Evil is a gaming masterpiece, blending together light combat, stealth, platform action, puzzle solving and racing to form a compelling gameplay mix, tied together with a terrific story and wrapped up in gorgeous visuals and audio.
Read Full Review >Team Xbox
Wonderful direction, excellent storytelling, and a compelling plot. The gameplay is good enough to hold its own within the cinematic confines and actually does its fair share to charge the story forward.
Read Full Review >Electronic Gaming Monthly
Mixing Walt Disney's colorful whimsy, the industrial distopias of French cinematographers Jeunet and Carot ("City of Lost Children"), and "Zelda" mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto's genius for flexible gameplay, BG&E is mesmerizing, ominous, and, most of all, memorable. [Dec 2003, p.200]
Xequted
The plot of the game itself sweeps you through a wide range of emotions from joy to anger to despair and although quite short, it achieves everything it wants to achieve.
Read Full Review >Gamenikki
A delicious blend of adventure, platform hopping, action and puzzle solving makes Beyond Good and Evil not necessarily revolutionary, but it's a wonderful combination nonetheless.
Read Full Review >MS Xbox World
The animation is superb and very fluid. The controls are simple enough with a great interface.
Read Full Review >GameSpot
While the game's repetitive nature and short length take away from its overall impact, Beyond Good & Evil is a fantastic-looking game that tells its story well.
Read Full Review >GameShark
What will keep people engrossed in the game are the characters, their humor under fire and their surprisingly poignant moments.
Read Full Review >games(TM)
Rather than force you from one style of gameplay to another depending on which level you're on, BG&E blends the transitions together almost seamlessly. The additional styles never really encroach on the main crux of the adventure; they're always peripheral and therefore serve to enrich the experience, rather than dilute it. [Dec 2003, p.114]
GamePro
Good, but it never really lives up to its title - a vision that could have benefited from a little more focus... Jack-of-all-trades, master of none. [Jan 2004, p.110]
Game Informer
A lot of people will look elsewhere for gameplay depth, but what BG&E sacrifices in control comlexity, it makes up for in story and pacing. [Dec 2003, p.174]
Read Full Review >Cheat Code Central
A relatively short, but sweet, action adventure game that is packed with a compelling story, intense gameplay and excellent production values in both the audio and visual department... A lot less about action than it is about adventure.
Entertainment Weekly
For the most part, this game plays like a kid's TV show with buttons: albeit one that is finely crafted and colorfully animated. [21 Nov 2003, p.L2T 46]
1UP
There is a place for games that are simply very, very well-executed, and BG&E fills that role with panache. But every time a cutscene pops up, it reminds you that it could have been so much more.
Read Full Review >NTSC-uk
Some of the puzzles in BG&E will have you tearing your hair out, though their solutions are tangible and never obscure.
Read Full Review >Edge Magazine
It's an 'experience' as much as a game, meaning that it will leave as many people cold as it grabs by the right half of the brain. Beyond good, then, but not quite excellent. [Christmas 2003, p.104]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this game is 9.5 (out of 10) based on 14 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
IamNlCK gave it a9:
Great story. Great original characters and plot. A lot of new innovative gameplay elements. Example of what an action/adventure game should be. The only hinderance would be with the frusterating "stealth/sneaking" mode...some minor camera issues. Can't wait for part 2.
Nick P. gave it a10:
One of the greatest games I ever played. I couldn't stop playing. I also replayed the game twice, once with my 9 year old and once with my 6 year old. A game we could all play together.
Marica R. gave it a10:
One of the greatest games I ever played. Great experience. Real adventure, great plot, great involvement. Cool characters. Buy it, play it.
Alx gave it a10:
Dammmmmn this game kicked serious ass... make a sequel!
Ryan Ford G. gave it a10:
A truely incredible game. The story is engaging from the start, the graphics set an imaginative atmosphere, the animation and cinematic presentation makes me feel like I'm in a movie. Loved the different elements that it contained. The ending leaves me wishing for a sequal. One of the Best games on the Xbox(which is saying alot)!
Baron S. gave it an 8:
I'm just stingy about the marks I give to games but Beyond Good and Evil is probably the best game I've played yet in 2004. It's absolutely fantastic! The character design is tremendous (you actually end up caring what happens to the people in the game, worryingly enough), the world and its animal life are beautiful and the story is riveting and drives one to keep on playing. At no point does it become entirely frustrating. Some people have complained it's too short but it could easily take about eighteen hours (or more) to fully complete. It's just so good it seems short because it is so enjoyable to play. Here's hoping we see a follow-up in the near future.
Dave gave it a 10:
A slendid cross between Zelda and Metal Gear Solid. Not only does this game look great, but its easy to learn the controls and the story will leave you wanting more.
