Beyond Good & Evil - Reception

Reception

Beyond Good & Evil received generally positive reviews on release. On the critic aggregate web site GameRankings, which compiles video game review scores into an average, the various versions of the game have scores ranging from 83.2% for the PC version to 88.2% for the Xbox version. On Metacritic, the game has scores from an 83 for the PC version to an 87 for the GameCube and Xbox versions. Prior to its release, Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine and PlayStation Magazine praised the game's showing at the 2003 Electronic Entertainment Expo and described it as one of the best titles on display.

The game's graphics were generally well received. In reviewing the GameCube version, Game Informer wrote that "Every moment of Beyond Good & Evil looks as good as a traditional RPG cutscene" and that the game's effects and character animations were "amazing". Jon Hicks of PC Format wrote that while some effects were excellent, the game's otherwise unspectacular graphics were unwelcome reminders of the game's console roots. 1UP.com and Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, however, cited glitches such as frame rate as irksome because the game did not appear to tax the console's hardware.

From this day forth, Michel Ancel is no longer 'the creator of Rayman'. From now on, he is 'the genius that brought us Beyond Good & Evil' Cast out amongst a slew of Christmas blockbusters, BG&E rises above them all and leaves an indelible impression.

Edge commended the game for its storytelling and design, but criticized its plot as unable to "match Jade's initial appeal", becoming "fairly mundane" without "the darkness and moral ambiguity suggested by the title", and Jade's everyman appeal being undermined by the revelation of her "mysterious hidden identity". Dan Toose of Icon Magazine called the game's setting "dark, baroque and earthy, a far cry from the squeaky-clean action of the Final Fantasy games", describing the game as "a very European take on the role-playing genre" and "one of the best adventure games in years". Star Dingo of GamePro commented that the game was a "jack of all trades, master of none" that "never really lives up to its title", adding that its vision could have been more focused. Among complaints were control issues and a lack of gameplay depth. Game Informer's Lisa Mason wrote that the game's controls were serviceable, but simplistic, and that she wished she could do more with the character. PC Gamer's Kevin Rice found most of the gameplay and its exploration refreshing, but called hovercraft races "not much fun" and felt combat was the game's weakest element. Edge called the gameplay interaction "hollowed out" as an unintended consequence of Ancel's attempt to streamline the game.

Beyond Good & Evil was not a commercial success. The game saw poor sales upon its release in the 2003 Christmas and holiday season. Retailers quickly decreased the price by up to 80 percent. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine staff attributed the poor sales of the game—among many other 2003 releases—to an over-saturated market, and labeled Beyond Good & Evil as a commercial "disappointment". In retrospect, Ancel noted that consumers at the time were interested in established franchises and technologically impressive games. Coupled with the amount of "big titles" available, he stated that the market was a poor environment for Beyond Good & Evil and that it would take time to be appreciated. The Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine staff further commented that the lack of marketing from Ubisoft and the game's odd premise naturally reserved it to obscurity. Part of the disappointing sales stemmed from Ubisoft not knowing how to market the title, something that Ubisoft North America CEO Laurent Detoc labeled as one of his worst business decisions. At the time, Ubisoft's marketing efforts were more focused on the release of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Ubisoft's former North American vice-president of publishing, Jay Cohen, and its European managing director, Alaine Corre, attributed the commercial failure of the game to a lack of marketing. "The game play was there, the technical excellence was there but perhaps the target audience was not there," Corre told the BBC. The game was intended to be the first part of a trilogy of games, but the game's poor sales placed those plans on hold at the time.