thatmariolover
12-15-2003, 09:13 AM
If anybody is an Insider at IGN (my subscription ended last month), I'd really appreciate at least a summary of this article. If anybody can help, please do.
Thanks.
If anybody is an Insider at IGN (my subscription ended last month), I'd really appreciate at least a summary of this article. If anybody can help, please do.
Thanks.
well. cant get you the insider, but i can tell ya most say PC version is best. :P O.o although that is true is most cases. :D
DarkMaster
12-15-2003, 06:25 PM
Features
Ubi Soft has made our lives and, more importantly, your lives easier. Beyond Good & Evil is the same game on all four platforms. The project, which was directed by Michel Ancel, has been in the making for many years, but it seems that the team focused more on nailing their original vision than implementing things like online play or GBA link-up; or maybe, none of these extras would have made much sense for the project.
Whatever the case, if you want to play BG&E you don't have to worry about being gypped out of one option or another.
Winner Ranking:
1. GameCube/PlayStation 2/Xbox/PC (Tie)
Control
If the games industry has learned one thing from the Superman comics, it's that bizarro world does exist. The PC is the bizarro console...or is it the other way around? Point is, where first-person shooters play brilliantly on the PC, adventure games have a habit of running into trouble -- when they don't support controllers, for example.
Yes, you heard right. Somehow, for some reason, the PC version does not support controllers. You have to assign everything to the keyboard and mouse. You can get by, but it's entirely awkward to play this kind of game this way. There's certainly no confusing that the PC version is a port of the consoles in this case.
Following, we list all of the primary functions, but bear in mind the buttons do several different things. Still, this should give you an idea of how things control (and how our mouse/keyboard was setup by default).
The only red-flagged portion of the table applies to GameCube. Why? Because it's a button short. When you get a new objective, map, or anything of the sort you can quickly navigate in a one-touch manner on PS2, Xbox, and PC. But with GameCube you need to press Start then select Objectives & Maps. Think you handle it? Because the stuff accessed in this menu is not something you will live or die on for the seconds saved, it's almost irrelevant.
However, GameCube doesn't have a center-camera luxury, which the PS2 and Xbox activate with the Right Analog Stick button. Again, it's something you'll use rarely, but it is missing nonetheless.
In short, GameCube, PS2, and Xbox are all quite suitable over the PC. But, consider that GameCube is missing some very minor peripheral functionality.
Winner Ranking:
1. PS2/Xbox
2. GCN
3. PC
Difference between 1 and 2: minor
Difference between 2 and 3: major
Sound
The score that Christophe Heral composed for Beyond Good & Evil is powerful and moving, supported by a strong theme that chains the experience together like a backbone. It is a mix of orchestrated and on-cue audio that blends together for a truly ear-pleasing experience. Combined with the effects and voiceovers, it is one of the best-sounding of 2003. That said, you'll want to give the audio experience serious consideration.
For quality, the Xbox and PC are the best. They have clearer samples of both the music and the effects. You can't go wrong either way. Versus GameCube and PlayStation 2, the audio offers less clarity, but it's hardly "bad" in any way. GameCube is the better of the two, as even with an optical output the PS2 can sound slightly more compressed.
Then there is surround sound to think about. It follows the same trend as quality. Xbox supports Dolby Digital across all five major surround channels. It's not the most discrete Dolby Digital out there, but the surround environment is fuller and clearer than the other consoles. The PC, if you've got the hardware to support EAX, sounds pretty clear and similar to Xbox.
As for surround between GameCube and PS2, the GameCube supports Dolby Pro Logic II while the PlayStation 2 does not. The PS2 stereo signal that is available still sounds okay if you filter it through a DPLII-enabled receiver.
Winner Ranking:
1. Xbox/PC (Tie)
2. GameCube
3. PlayStation 2
Difference between 1 and 2: medium
Difference between 2 and 3: minor
Graphics
BG&E runs on the incredible "Jade" engine, which Ubi Soft developed for many years as its primary "next-generation" technology. Combined with the unique art vision, it is certainly one of the prettiest games this year. The lighting engine, which casts a lovely real-time day/night cycle across the land, is robust on all the platforms. Likewise, the worlds are huge with lots of polygon and texture detail. Between all of the consoles and PC, the results vary.
Our PC Rig
Dual 3.0 GHz Pentium 4
1GB RAM
GeForce FX 5900 w/128MB RAM
Here's a look at the lighting in one of the opening cut-scenes. Other than clarity differences, it's undeniable that they all look great. The PS2's effects here aren't quite as brilliant, but backgrounds are still crisp and vivid. Meanwhile, Xbox might look more "smudged" but this is actually thanks to the heavier anti-alising methods, which give the title a nice, soft look. GameCube sits in between PS2 and Xbox, offering a slightly sharper display with some edge-smoothing.
The PC, with the download of a patch, supports anti-aliasing. But when applied the framerate suffers. Frankly, it doesn't help to improve the look of the game that much because it forces you to run the adventure at a lower resolution, which increases the edging problems.
But all of them suffer from framerate issues in one way or another. It's really a matter of degrees; like a thermometer, the framerate plunges when faced with the bitter cold of particle effects and transparencies. In that same vein, the performance of the platforms vary.
Most notably, the PS2 is undeniably the most unpredictable and slowest overall. In small environments it runs pretty well, but particle effects or heavy transparencies can slow it down. It actually attempts to run above 30, but ends up averaging around there and falling below it often, especially in the larger environments where it is actually a bit of an annoyance. Texture-wise, too, as you can see in the above shot it doesn't have the depth of the others. The filtering isn't as flattering, either.
Xbox meanwhile, is pretty stable and averages around 30 frames per second, but it too reaches towards 60, sometimes maintaining a stable framerate at these higher peaks, too. It has the best framerate of the consoles on the whole. Its particle effects and lighting are also nicely implemented. As an advantage to both GameCube and PS2, the Xbox version's heavier anti-aliasing frees you the flickery, harsher look you'd find otherwise.
GameCube actually looks excellent, though. It has more strongly contrasted colors, which draws the bright colors out even more. It also pushes towards 60 frames per second more often than PS2 and Xbox. The problem is that it simply cannot hold it, which makes the framerate choppier than the Xbox. Texture-wise it's about on par with Xbox, though.
There are two major environment contrasts in BG&E. The watery landscapes that buffer cities and hills offers up a far different look, especially when lighting plays with the reflected sky colors, deepening, lengthening, or shortening the shadows of the wavy waterscape.
The simple fact is, the Jade engine's water effects are some of the best this generation -- that goes for consoles and PC. On all four platforms you get excellent results. But the framerate plays with the effectiveness of those reflections. On Xbox everything is very smooth and seldom catches your eye with a hitch. On GameCube, it's got a slight stutter that you can see. PS2, meanwhile, just can't hold the framerate in these outdoor environments, which is really too bad.
The PC, if you've got powerful hardware, holds up okay, but it has its share of framerate trouble every so often, so it's not perfect even if you have the latest graphics card.
Overall, however, the PC does look the best thanks to the ability to run at a resolution of about 1024x768 without too much slowdown. The texture quality is better and the aliasing is natively lessened at such a resolution. But, it's hardly a powerful PC engine; it's easy to tell it was ported from the consoles, which explains its performance cap.
For the consoles, the Xbox is the best bet. It has [480] progressive scan support, the most consistent framerate, and solid filtering for textures and edges. GameCube, like with Prince of Persia, has a more vivid, bright look. It also hits higher framerates more often, but it is far too inconsistent to make it valuable. It's a runner-up to Xbox, and not too far behind. It has no progressive support. The PlayStation 2 has a really sharp, crisp display, but the lighter load on texture quality and much worse framerate makes it the most visually inferior. Over GameCube, however, it does support progressive scan, a rare treat for PS2 owners.
BG&E was created letterboxed, black bars capping top and bottom, and it seems true widescreen was impossible, as none of the four support it. Speculatively, implementing it would have heavily taxed the framerate, due to the increased screen-rendering area. If you have an HDTV that does special 16:9 stretch modes, you can play it that way and it doesn't look too distorted.
Winner Ranking:
1. PC
2. Xbox
3. GameCube
4. PlayStation 2
Difference between 1 and 2: medium
Difference between 2 and 3: minor
Difference between 3 and 4: medium
Presentation
Ubi Soft didn't utilize Game Boy Advance functionality on GameCube, use Xbox Live for downloads or online awareness, or the PS2 or PC for any extra functionality either. Like the gameplay, the little "extras" are all the same.
As you'll see, we didn't gauge too many load times, because they are usually five seconds or less on all of the platforms. GameCube and Xbox can take slightly longer. If you're counting, PC is the fastest, Xbox just after that, then GCN and PS2 are pretty similar.
So, for load times the PC should win presentation. But. And there is a but. There's one thing we can say about presentation that is pretty clear: the PC wasn't really factored into the equation. For what is largely a console-oriented adventure, it's painfully clear that the PC was an afterthought, as it lacks controller support, has no in-game options for video/audio (you have to do it before booting it up), and doesn't look as good as it could have.
So, while the PC might excel in things like load times, it certainly wasn't presented to gamers as it should have been. It won't kill the gameplay, but for this particular category we have to dock it.
Winner Ranking:
1. Xbox
2. GameCube/PlayStation 2 (Tie)
3. PC
Difference between 1 and 2: minor
Difference between 2 and 3: minor
Final Verdict
Michel Ancel's gorgeous adventure is not to be missed. If you're going to check it out, do so on Xbox first. It controls perfectly, supports progressive scan, sounds great with Dolby Digital support, and has the most consistent framerate of the consoles. PC would have otherwise been the best choice, but without controller support it's rather awkward for this type of gameplay. For that reason, we really don't recommend the PC version at all unless they release a patch that fixes the issue.
After Xbox, GameCube is a really solid choice. It controls fine (even with a missing button), looks fantastic, supports Dolby Pro Logic II, and it's only big downfall (in addition to the jumpy framerate) is the lack of progressive scan support, which Ubi Soft really shouldn't have had a problem implementing. PlayStation 2 is still a good choice over PC, and if you don't have the other console/platform you'd like to own it own, it's still nothing to complain over -- it's still a very pretty game that performs well on all the consoles.
Overall Winner: Xbox
Winner Ranking:
1. Xbox
2. GameCube
3. PlayStation 2
4. PC
- Best version for single player: GameCube/PlayStation 2/Xbox (tie; controller advantages over PC)
- Best version for videophiles: PC (textures, framerate; medium advantage)
- Best version for audiophiles: Xbox/PC (tie)
- Best value/price: GameCube/PlayStion 2/Xbox/PC (tie)
BigJustinW
12-15-2003, 06:41 PM
PC sucks... gets the worst version of everything :p
anyway, here is the final verdict:
"Michel Ancel's gorgeous adventure is not to be missed. If you're going to check it out, do so on Xbox first. It controls perfectly, supports progressive scan, sounds great with Dolby Digital support, and has the most consistent framerate of the consoles. PC would have otherwise been the best choice, but without controller support it's rather awkward for this type of gameplay. For that reason, we really don't recommend the PC version at all unless they release a patch that fixes the issue.
After Xbox, GameCube is a really solid choice. It controls fine (even with a missing button), looks fantastic, supports Dolby Pro Logic II, and it's only big downfall (in addition to the jumpy framerate) is the lack of progressive scan support, which Ubi Soft really shouldn't have had a problem implementing. PlayStation 2 is still a good choice over PC, and if you don't have the other console/platform you'd like to own it own, it's still nothing to complain over -- it's still a very pretty game that performs well on all the consoles.
Overall Winner: Xbox
Overall Winner: Xbox
Winner Ranking:
1. Xbox
2. GameCube
3. PlayStation 2
4. PC"
Null's word against IGN's :lol:
Perfect Stu
12-15-2003, 08:49 PM
never trust ign with a computer game. couldnt get controller to work. laff.
my ps2 controller works perfectly
when it comes to control, the controller isn't the only factor...it's also how the game responds to the controller, which is a completely different issue.
not making an opinion on the game or anything like that, because I haven't played it...just pointing out something
what they're talking about tho is the controls are weird cuz they had to use the keyboard. which is true, on a game like this you wouldnt really want the keyboard.
i cant help but feel they didnt try many controllers tho, because i know others who have had other controllers work. however, it is a bug on thier part, and the wonderful thing about pc games again, is that WILL be fixed.
but from what i've played it runs beautifuly and very responsive.
Jason1
12-16-2003, 07:48 PM
I bought the PC version a few weeks ago(due to the price difference only), and let me tell you, this game is wicked. I really dont see why they complaing about the keyboard-mouse controls, It works perfectly fine for me with some well-though out button functions, and easy to access buttons. Im quite far into the game, 9 hours, and the story is quite good. It wont blow you away, but defintaly one of the better efforts can think of. As for performance, it will slow down occasionally. Im running a P4 2.66ghz with a Radeon 9500pro. The water looks amazing, and surprisingly thats not where it has performance issues. For me they have been most noticable in the pedestrian district, when you get several people on screen at once.
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