Overview

Plot

War has come to the gates of the "peaceful mining world" Hyllis. An invading alien force, known as "The DomZ,” has made several raids across the surface of the planet, also abducting members of the populace. The only force that can stand against the might of the invaders is the Alpha Sections. Led by General Keck, the Alpha Sections are the only force that have been successful in fending off the DomZ....or so they say. Reports, mostly surfacing from an underground newspaper published by and organization known as the IRIS network, suggest that the Alpha Sections aren't as effective as they would have the populace to believe. The reports claim that the Alpha Sections arrive at the scenes of attack too late to do any damage to the DomZ forces and question how dedicated General Keck is to eradicating the Alien attackers.

Enter Jade, a young woman living on a small lighthouse Island on near the city of Hyllis. With her Uncle Pey'j, Jade has taken it upon herself to protect all the children made orphans since the DomZ invasion. While enjoying afternoon meditation, she witnesses a large DomZ strike force descend from the Sky. Activating a defensive shield (to protect the island from the artillery barrage) Jade is informed that her bank account is empty, and the power company won't supply her necessary energy for the shield leaving the island exposed to attack. The alien forces land on the island, and Jade, along with Pey'j, manage to defeat the DomZ soldiers before they abduct the orphins. Upon defeating the DomZ (and defeating a boss that crash landed deep into the surface of the island), the Alpha Sections arrive at the island and begin to take credit for Jade and Pey’j's actions.

In the fallout of the attack, Jade receives two messages. The first, from a biologist asking her take photographs of every unique species of life on the planet for financial reward (Jade uses this money to restore the functionality of the shield). The second message comes from a mysterious gentleman who tasks Jade with retrieving something from a dark cave on one of the many islands of Hyllis. The adventure, as Jade comes to find out, was a test by the IRIS network, a group of agents who suspect that the Alpha Sections are behind many of the DomZ kidnappings. Asking her to sneak into government facilities to photograph any evidence of malfeasance, Jade is soon roped into a conspiracy that will send her all over Hyllis, and even to the dark side of the moon.

Gameplay

Beyond Good and Evil combines aspects of a number of game genres for various styles of play. These include sneaking, fighting, racing, photo-snapping, and shooting.

Jade will spend the majority of the game sneaking around the various Alpha Section facilities, avoiding the heavily armed Alpha Sections guards. She can press herself up against walls, crawl through gaps, and roll to quickly avoid being detected. If needed, Jade can "quietly" take out the armed Alpha Sections soldiers by sneaking behind them and kicking their large air tanks. One hit to the tanks will cause green smoke to rupture from their helmets. As the soldiers begin to run around and restore the proper air pressure, a second hit will cause the soldiers gas tank to burst, rocketing them to the sky before they explode.

In the game's boss fights (as well as any battles with specific creatures, and a few battles with Alpha Section) Jade will pull out her "Dai-Jo" staff to battle with the enemies. Jade doesn't lock onto enemies, but can very easily switch the target of her attacks by pointing the analog stick towards a different opponent. Actual battle, often compared to combat in the 3-D Legend of Zelda games, has Jade dodging around attacks and attacking enemies when an opening appears. There are also other items that Jade can use in and out of combat that are collected througout the game such as the disc shooter.

Jade often enters combat alongside Pey'j and Double H. These A.I controlled companions will help Jade find openings against targets.

The key goal of Jade's missions are taking pictures of any suspicious activity inside the Alpha Section bases and exposing the conspiarcy.

Since Jade is a photographer, much of the game takes place behind a camera lens. Like the N64 game Pokémon Snap and the upcoming PS3 game Afrika, Jade can take pictures of various animals. Taking a picture of one of these animals results in financial reward which used for purchase of new items.

Pearls are another form of currency found throughout the world. They can be obtained by defeating bosses, winning races and finding secret caves and sections of the city. Pearls are mainly used to upgrade Jades hovercraft giving it new capabilities that open up new sections of the world.

The actual game world of Hyllis is a large Ocean (divided into several “maps" by loading screens), filled with tiny islands and alcoves for Jade to explore via hovercraft for new upgrades and finding new species of animal to photograph. There is also the main city of Hyllis which is often returned to for mission updates and item purchase.

Towards  the end of the game, the hovercraft merges with a large spacecraft - the Beluga. This allows Jade to fly into space for the final mission of the game.