Beyond Good & Evil

1001 Video Games

Beyond Good & Evil appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Jade

Jade's character design is actually based on her French voice actress Emma De Caunes.

Nietzsche

In an interview on LadyGamers.com, Tyrone Miller explains how the game relates to Nietzsche:

Many people assume that Beyond Good & Evil is a reference to the Friedrich Nietzsche book by the same name. Although you could probably make an argument – this game really has no connection to the German philosopher. As an action reporter, players need to investigate beyond the superficial facts of what is good and what is evil – which is dictated through government propaganda in the game. The player has to see what nobody else can see, what is hidden to the people of Hyllis. This theme is relevant to issues we face today – understanding the reasons behind the apparent facts.

Promotional websites

The publishers registered the websites for both the iris network (www.irisnetwork.net) and the Hyllian gov. (www.hylliannews.com) both featuring promotional material and assorted stuff.

Save games code

All the saved games in Beyond Good & Evil are marked with an "Internet Code". The purpose of this code is two-fold, first it enables you to go to the official website and check your ranking against all the other BG&E players in the world. Secondly, upon completion of the main game, you'll be able to use your saved game code on the official website and obtain instructions on how to go about obtaining missing MDisk #13 within the game.

Soundtrack

1. In the Beginning
2. Dancing With Domz
3. Home Sweet Home
4. Hyllian Suite
5. Mammago's Garage
6. Isle de Noir
7. Mineshaft Madness
8. Say Cheese, Fellas
9. Akuda House Propaganda
10. Ancient Chinese Secrets
11. Don't Fear the Reaper
12. Fear the Reaper
13. Fun and Mini-Games
14. Funky Bar 100
15. When Domz Attack
16. Slaughterhouse Scramble
17. Sneaky Jade Suite
18. Organic Beauty
19. Violent Jade Suite
20. Heart of Darkness
21. Metal Gear Domz
22. Something Completely Different
23. Behind Enemy Lines
24. Free Your Mind
25. Thoughtful Reflections
26. Enfants Disparus
27. Above and Beyond
28. Unacceptable Losses
29. In Hot Pursuit
30. Sins of the Father
31. Redemption

In February 2004, Ubisoft released MP3s of Beyond Good & Evil soundtrack to NintendoInsider.com. These are still available for download, but as of April 2005, downloaders must register with the web site and go to the Members-Only Board to receive a frequently changing password.

Title

According to Michel Ancel, the game was originally to be named Between Good & Evil, but the marketing department did not like that name, so it was changed to Beyond Good & Evil.

The original title I gave the game was Between Good & Evil (see my first logo included) - which the marketing department didn’t like back then. For me, the meaning of this title is that you are always in the middle of an internal and external conflict, based on our conception of good and evil. In this game and in our world, propaganda thinks in our place; tells us these are our enemies and these are our friends. When you go beyond the appearances, you discover your own truth. That’s the theme of the game and marketing finally accepted this title, and just replaced the between by beyond, which fits better with the vast universe and story.

Awards

• 4Players
  • 2003 – Best PC Action-Adventure Game of the Year
  • 2003 – Best Console Direction of the Year
  • 2003 – Best PC Music of the Year
  • 2003 – Best PC Direction of the Year
  • 2003 – Biggest PC Surprise of the Year
• EGM
  • February 2006 (Issue #200) - #171 out of 200 of the "Greatest Games of Their Time"
• GameSpy
  • 2003 – #3 Game of the Year
  • 2003 – #2 GameCube Game of the Year
• PC Powerplay (Germany)
  • Issue 06/2005 - #8 Likeable Secondary Character (for Pey'j)

Information also contributed by Big John WV, Mark Ennis, Sciere, Terrence Bosky, WildKard, WindowsKiller and Zovni