It's hard to begin a review of a game that has everything.  Beyond Good & Evil has large cities with talkative locals (like an RPG), and you use a watercraft to get from city to city (like Grand Theft Auto).  Its combat system is a mixture of Prince of Persia and The Legend of Zelda.  To earn currency, which is needed to purchase health and other important items, players can take pictures of every new species they come in contact with.  It may not sound too inviting, but taking pictures is actually a very fun, addictive and rewarding aspect to the game.  New information is given every time you photograph a new species.  You can also use your camera to photograph things like important maps.  Think of it as a tool rather than a camera.  Its functions are very close to the scanner featured in Metroid Prime, except that you don't have to photograph switch after switch to pass through all of the locked doors.

Men are the primary game players, and let's face it, it's much cooler for us guys to play as a strong woman than it is to play as some boring jock (Solid Snake excluded).  That's why Beyond Good & Evil stars Jade, an action-reporter, as opposed to her dull, sometimes annoying sidekicks.  (You'll have to deal with and enlist in the aid of her sidekicks at certain points in the game, but Jade is the main star.)  Jade comes pre-equipped with natural fighting skills.  This didn't seem to be explained in the story, but that doesn't really matter.

The first taste of the game thrusts you into combat.  In this battle you'll get to see how great the battles are.  If you've played Zelda and/or Prince of Persia, you pretty much know what to expect here.  Jade can move a little bit faster than the stars of Zelda and Prince of Persia.  Her attack moves are also quite different.  They're all performed with the same attack button (X), but her combos change and become more extravagant as you increase the speed of your button taps.  A super attack can be performed by holding the X button and letting your Dai-Jo energy build up.  (The stick that Jade uses to attack is called the Dai-Jo.)  The super attack lifts Jade into the air with a powerful blast, killing all enemies within the vicinity.

The game slows down when the battle ends, but be patient.  A story needs to develop, and the game needs to explain the importance of Jade's camera.  It is at this point that hyper, eager gamers could fail to see the beauty of Beyond Good & Evil.  I don't like to "slow down" and I'm not someone who wants to sit back and take pictures within a video game.  But this game combines all of the said elements in a charming way that I just can't resist.  This was the first game I had played since 2001 that made me feel like I was embarking on a real journey.  There have been lengthy RPGs and huge adventure games released in the past 12 months, but none of them have demonstrated this kind of magic.  Although this title is in many ways a culmination of gaming's past, in all truthfulness Beyond Good & Evil is in a class all its own.

Once the game picks up again (it doesn't take long to do so, especially if you pay attention to your objectives), players will find themselves lost in a world of joy and amazement.  By all accounts the people are suffering, but it was a world I didn't want to leave.  Every sub-world is like entering a different time and place.  It's not Star Wars-y, but it is sort of like going to a galaxy far far away in that many of the locales have a half-futuristic, half-primitive look.  It's an odd blend, but it works very well.

Nothing you see and nothing you read can prepare you for this game.  Beyond Good & Evil is a masterpiece through and through.  Its slower pace makes it less of a mainstream title than Ubi Soft's other major offerings, but there's no denying its greatness.  I urge all gamers to devote several hours to it.  An hour wouldn't be long enough to really begin the quest, let alone form an opinion of the title.  This is the kind of game that should never be available in demo form.  It's the whole package – everything that Ubi Soft has included in this title – that make Beyond Good & Evil one of my favorite PlayStation 2 games.

Gameplay: 9.5
More options than you can shake a Dai-Jo stick at.  Beyond Good & Evil is the game that everyone will want to be in 2004.  It sets a new standard in game development ambition.

The Zelda-style combat is not only great fun, but is likely to be a key element in attracting legions of gamers this Christmas.  The clever camera tool is used for more than just earning currency; some puzzles must be solved with it as well.  There are some really clever twists that take place, not so much with the story but with the visuals.  You really have to pay close attention while playing this game.  The rarer the creature, the greater the reward for taking its picture.  Sometimes discovering a new species is as easy as turning out a light...

Beyond Good & Evil is also like Zelda in that it has one enormous-enormous (that's doubly enormous) world with interlocking cities, caves and other areas to explore.  The world is set on water, so you travel via an impressive watercraft.  The watercraft has a basic weapon for attacking, but when a robotic guard becomes a major hassle, you'll be able to upgrade it with a powerful cannon.  Actually there are several upgrades, each of which is obtained through the exchange of pearls.  Pearls are obtained by taking a large number of pictures and by performing various game objectives.

There are more gameplay options than one could possibly list in a single review.  This is another masterpiece from Ubi Soft.  If they keep this up, they'll crush the competition in 2004!

Graphics: 9
Beyond Good & Evil's graphical beauty is in its worlds.  The monsters look good, but the unique designs of the world are really awe-inspiring.  You know, I find myself using the word "unique" a lot when describing the worlds featured in a Ubi Soft game.  There's a reason for that.

Sound: 8.5
An appropriate, moderately emotional soundtrack accompanies this stellar adventure game.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
To sum things up: some of the puzzles are truly puzzling.  And some of the surprises are, well, surprising.  Would you have as much fun if I spoiled 'em for ya?  I think not.

Concept: 9
A collection of the world's greatest gameplay mechanics.  Beyond Good & Evil combines the best of the best to create one of the most ambitious titles I have ever played.  It's an inspired journey from start to finish.

Overall: 9.5
I'm going to throw away the hype right here by saying that you should not take my word for all of this praise.  Beyond Good & Evil is incredible, but why should you believe me?  The only thing you should do is make a point of setting aside enough time to give this game a real shot.  This is a different kind of game with so many gameplay options that you're likely to think it's crazy or too good to be true.  I was one of the former thinkers, fearing that it was all hype and no reality.  But I was crazy to think that.  Beyond Good & Evil took me back to the final days of the PSone and the early days of the PS2 when RPGs were in their prime.  This isn't exactly an RPG, but it has many of the finer role-playing game elements.  If you give this game a chance, you won't be able to put it down.  It will grab you and hold onto you in a way that few games have.  Rarely do I have this much fun with a game that is solely intended for one player.  You'll want to shut the door to the rest of the world until it's complete.

Could I continue to praise Beyond Good & Evil?  Of course.  But I'd be wasting your time.  You shouldn't waste another minute of your time when you could be spending it with this game.