The Glade 4.0

Beyond Good and Evil is a game that everyone seems to love now, although next to no one bought it upon its release. The cult favorite is getting a second chance on the Xbox Live Arcade next month, and the preview given to press during CES got high marks.

Beyond Good and Evil told the story of Jade, a photojournalist who exposes a vast conspiracy with her friend, a humanoid pig named Pey'j. The third-person play was top-notch, and the characters, the world they inhabit, and the way the story unfolds were far above what most games were capable of when it was released on the GameCube, PS2, and PC. The game failed to find an audience, but with improved buzz and a graphical overhaul, it now has the opportunity to find a more receptive public.

What has been changed
"All of the demo kiosks had a frames per second counter going in the lower right hand corner of the screen," Destructoid reported about the preview of the game. "BG&EHD sat at 60.09 most of the time, sometimes jumping up into the 61's. It looked so fluid and solid, and so...current gen." The game was running at 720p, but Ubisoft game producer Eric Damian-Varnet assured everyone the game supports full 1080p resolution.

The game's impressive look wasn't just a matter of upgraded resolutions. "This wasn't just a quick port... Ubisoft told us that about 90 percent of the textures had to be redone for this HD version," Destructoid continued. "The characters were also redone—Jade looks better than ever. They credit the original for being ahead of its time in visuals, but it's easy to tell that they've done a lot of work to make this port shine."

Beyond Good and Evil HD The original game had some issues with pop-up, and that has been eliminated. The soundtrack is also no longer compressed, making the music sound even better. As someone who used to have the original soundtrack in regular rotation as writing music, that's very good news. This is a game that deserves more than just a fresh coat of paint, and it's wonderful to hear so many aspects of this new release were given the care they deserved.

Joystiq points out that other additions and tweaks have been made for modern audiences. "Also included in the update are the requisite achievements and leaderboards which provide a notable gameplay encouragement." The different elements in the game now tie together and have added incentives. "Much of the charm of the original game was found by exploring the surprisingly rich world of Hillys—taking pictures of the wildlife, collecting all the data Mdisks, or even gathering all the pearls in the game. All actions that earn players Achievements. There was even some difficulty balancing in some of the game, including the hovercraft races."

We don't have a release date or price for the game, but it's one of four games coming in a promotion that starts on February 16 with Hard Corps: Uprising. If you've already played the game, there seems to be enough of a facelift to make a second—or fourth—playthrough worthwhile. The game should also prove attractive for first-time players with modern tastes. If you've ever wondered why the game is held in such regard, you're about to find out. The game is also planned for the PlayStation Network, although even less release information is known about that version.