Hillys a world under constant threat from the DomZ needs help. That help comes in the form of the action-reporter Jade, uncover the truth with her camera!

Beyond Good and Evil is either a game you have played and loved or never even heard of. Unfortunately the latter is the common answer, this classic Ubi Soft gem never had the sales that reflected anywhere near its quality.

We saw an adventurous step in its launch with the lead character being a female (Jade) and sidekick was a Pig (Pey’g) and a talking, walking Pig at that!, an interesting combination if ever there was one. Developed in mind of creating a trilogy which sadly has yet to realised this game showed a lot a promise and it didn't let down. Will there ever be the completed trilogy? I hope so, from my conversations with an Ubi Soft worker there is “a lot of buzz about it in the office”, here’s to hoping!

If you look back over the history of gaming there are very few female leads, the ones that we know are all busty babes with no character depth. BGE broke this trend, smashed it in fact, when character Jade came out as an intelligent tom-boy who uncovers the truth about the world using her camera, stealth skills and adding the mix a few kick-arse moves. Perhaps this is a reason why it didn’t sell, cup size has proven to sell many products.

The story is set on a world called Hillys where the population is under constant threat from an enemy force known as the DomZ. The defence of the planet is down to the useless Alpha Section, things are clearly not how they should be. Jade, our heroine, decides to take action into her own hands and uncover the truth behind the mysterious DomZ. She knows that alone she is powerless but if the world is informed of the truth then they shall be able to join together and save the planet. To do this Jade infiltrates both the DomZ and Alpha section, using her camera to unveil what the Alpha section don’t want people knowing.

You also use your camera to take photographs of animals, this rewards you with much needed currency and Pearls with which you use to upgrade your vehicle. Photographing all the animals can be an adventure in itself, enjoyable and challenging.

At points in the game you will be collaborating with 2 other characters in the direct vicinity (yes the walking talking Pig is one of those!). They are controlled by AI when you are in a group, some individual missions you will play briefly as others. I encountered few problems with this except from when they run in my line of fire and I end up taking a healthy chunk of their health away with a bash on the head from my staff, oops! The items that you have are shared between the group by the players own discretion, you can assign health packs for other characters to use on their own accord and with relatively little difficulty. They will complain to you if they feel that Jade has more health than them, greedy SOB’s.

Its controls are the standard to all adventure players, the camera is picked up in seconds and there are even stealth aspects for all you Sam Fisher wannabies. Switching items between characters is simple and you can upgrade and downgrade their health as and when you please. There is also your hovercraft which you use to traverse the world and battle leviathan like monsters with. There is nothing here that can be found frustrating or awkward, simply put it’s a perfect system.

For all its beauty in story the game does have a short length, the average player will have this done in under a week of casual play. This isn’t a bad thing at all, games like this are ones that you aspire to play again, doing better than the last time. You can expand the time you take on it by trying to photograph all the animals and collect all pearls scattered around the world.

This is a game that has depth and involvement rather than cute characters and minimalist story. IGN described it as “A stylised. Extremely gorgeous third-person action-adventure... It’s Zelda for grown-up’s” every word of that is gospel.

If you like action adventure games then this is a must in your collection. You will probably be able to track a copy down for less than £10, well worth it. Don’t get put off by the whole photographs speak louder than action message, there is enough action to keep the player satisfied.

When you reach the end of this game you will appreciate the beauty behind it and join in with the queue of people eagerly anticipating the next two games, if they ever see light of day.
Check ebay now, internet shop or go to the high street... I don’t care, just as long as you get this game.