You don’t really expect a game made in the wake of 9/11 to look like Beyond Good & Evil. There’s no flashback to Afghanistan, no presidential address from the White House. The only American accent in the main cast belongs to an anthropomorphic pig whose exclamations evoke the gold rush era (“Cramity! Flagnabbit!”). Yet this colourful fantasy adventure from 2003 is politically of its time.
Ubisoft Montpellier set its adventure in Hillys – supposedly a whole planet, but home to just one Mediterranean-style town set in the mountains, which the locals mine for crystals. This otherwise placid setting is disturbed by two things: first, a distinctly French approach to roundabouts; and second, daily attacks by a parasitic alien race known as the DomZ.
A private military force called the Alpha Section has stepped in to loudly declare itself the protector of the people of Hillys – especially when there are television cameras around – but bombings and kidnappings continue apace. This isn’t a game about the fall of the Twin Towers, but what came afterward: the wars and affronts to personal freedom justified by a vague crusade against a non-specific enemy.
Beyond Good & Evil’s protagonist, Jade is no soldier or vigilante. As the game begins, she’s running a refugee shelter out of a lighthouse. Actually, at the very moment it begins, she’s practicing yoga beneath the boughs of a blossoming tree, on the shore of a still lake, as the sun sets over the hills of Hillys. There’s an undeniable spirituality to Ubisoft Montpellier’s work that can be traced back to Rayman 2, a 3D platformer about saving the Glade Of Dreams from clanking, industrialised Robo-pirates.
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Denne historien er fra September 2021-utgaven av PLAY Magazine UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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NOT SO SILENT
With a Silent Hill renaissance on the horizon, the Western developers who worked on the most recent four entries - Silent Hill: Origins, Silent Hill: Homecoming, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, and Silent Hill: Downpour - talk to James Winspear about keeping a light aflame while the fog rolls in
Late night with the devil
My, my, what manner of BAFTA is this?\" said Andrew Wincott, slipping into Raphael's dulcet tones with ease as he accepted the BAFTA for Performer In A Supporting Role earlier this year.
NCE BITTEN, THRICE SNEAKY
We base-jump towards our first taste of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, talking with series producer Noriaki Okamura about our hands-on with the remade Virtuous Mission section of the classic stealther.
Crimson Desert
Devils may cry, and so might you after this
Spine
Looking to equal gun-fu classics
Lost Records: Bloom & RageTape 1
Hitting play on Don't Nod's coming-of-age tale
PS5 Pro to launch
PS5 architect Mark Cerny finally revealed' one of the worstkept secrets in gaming history - stick 7 Nov in your calendar
Batman: Arkham Asylum
15 years!? Holy depressing passing of time, Batman!
The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road
Keeping us engaged with the carat-and-stick approach
Alan Wake 2: Night Springs
Keepin' it weird