Metacritic Games

Beyond Good & Evil (GameCube)

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]

Ubi Soft
Action, Adventure
Players: 1
T (Teen)
Developer: Ubi Soft
Released December 10, 2003

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

87 / 100

Critic Reviews

100 Yahoo! Games
Packed with atmosphere, accessible gameplay and sweet visuals, Beyond Good & Evil has most definitely reached beyond our expectations. Don't miss it.
100 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]
98 Nintendo Power
Michel Ancel's latest masterpiece is uniquely engaging and stunningly beautiful. [Jan 2004, p.156]
97 Game Chronicles
A highly polished game that covers so many genres and styles of gameplay that it can hardly be classified. In less than 15 hours Beyond Good & Evil has become my second favorite game of all time on the Cube and easily one of my top five games for 2003.
95 Worth Playing
One of the best games this year, and one of the best action/adventure titles ever released.
95 Loaded Inc
A game that is not only entertaining, it borders on art, including such a grand level of detail that I genuinely feel that they cared about making this game as well as they possibly could. My only real complaint is that the game is short.
94 TotalGames.net
By having multiple game styles - many of which are only additional to the main ones, as opposed to overpowering - helping enhance the overall experience rather than weaken it, Beyond Good & Evil is all the better for it.
92 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.
92 GameZone
The game plays like a dream. The mixture of all the different gameplay elements into this game is perfect!
92 Nintendophiles
I couldnít help to think this was what "Star Fox" should have been. In a genre which is getting drabber and more predictable by the day, Beyond Good & Evil has done what "Ratchet and Clank" did with the platforming genre and revitalized it.
91 GamingTrend
This truly is a great game with a well thought out story, beautiful graphics and great voices.
90 IC-Games
Beyond Good & Evil is all solid, familiar adventure gaming territory, but it's all been wonderfully worked and beautifully presented so that it’s an utter joy to play.
90 AceGamez
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.
90 NintendoWorldReport
Delivers a fantastic story with that’s almost as impressive. Everything comes together beautifully to create one of the most engrossing titles of the year.
90 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.
90 Voodoo Extreme
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.
90 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.
90 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.
89 Gamer's Hell
The story is intriguing, yet full of humorous interludes.
86 Inside Gamer Online
It is a wonderful title that exudes both charming beauty in its lush aesthetics and sophisticated brilliance in its streamlined, accessible gameplay.
85 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]
85 Nintendo Insider
A very compelling and entertaining adventure. It has its flaws – some fetch quest-like moments and very short – but the good far outweighs the bad.
84 Nintendojo
The story is fascinating and the use of voice acting to tell it tops "The Wind Waker," in my opinion. On the whole, however, there is nothing here that you haven’t experienced before.
84 Computer and Video Games
What makes BG&E really fun is the way you use your camera to gather information and earn cash. It works very much like Samus' Scan Visor in "Metroid Prime," but it's faster and, if anything, easier to use.
83 GameCube Europe
Hugely entertaining while it lasts, but lacks ambition when you want it most. You get the feeling sometimes they're saving the really good stuff for the sequel, just teasing us for the time being with a game that feels a lot like a trailer for its successor. But a damn good trailer, mind you.
83 GameSpot
While Beyond Good & Evil feels pretty short, its interesting premise and impressive presentation pick up the slack and make it a game well worth playing.
80 Gamenikki
Some framerate problems from the PS2 version and the great textures and flair from the Xbox version. Throw the two together and you get an odd half-breed.
80 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]
80 Gamestyle
Beyond the genre mainstays, BG&E further delivers through its intuitive interface.
80 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]
80 Game Informer
Every moment of Beyond Good and Evil looks as good as a traditional RPG cutscene. [Dec 2003, p.156]
75 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]
70 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]

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