Overall score on pook's 100-point system (TM): 88, or just 9. A tad short, but of fantastic quality all around.
-the breakdown-
Graphics (27/30, judged by era)- BG&E has been compared many times to Nintendo's first-party titles. Graphics are a good start. The world is cleverly designed, with a sub-realism worthy of the Zelda series. While the world holds together as a well-designed whole, it is stylized and colorful, eschewing true realism in favor of character. Technically, the game runs fantastically, with nary a frame hiccup, fantastic water and special effects, and very cleverly animated characters and enemies. A visual treat.
Sound- FX/Voice (10/10) A decent amount of voice acting is generally well done, though some annoying bits remain, including the repeated phrases your controlled secondary characters shout out constantly, and a personal computer avatar that sounds like a gay Spaniard or something. The sound takes a step up in quality in the city, where you hear various sounds come and go with proximity in a really convincing manner. Walk up to and past a wall-mounted television and hear it gain in volume then reduce, other environmental sounds functioning similarly, simultaneously. Add in a usually not included foreign language audio track, equally well voiced, and you have a nice sound package.
Sound- Music (5/10) While the music is tastefully done, sometimes tending towards more modern forms tweaked with a science-fiction theme, there simply is not enough of it, with large portions of the game silent on the music front.
Gameplay- Length/Replay (14/15) The Achilles-heel of the game is its length. However, this is mitigated by the fact that the game quickly dropped in price to $20 and has remained there. At that price, the game is almost just right, and is surely a satisfying length. There is little replay value, but the experience is worth the single play-through.
Gameplay- Story: (5/5) With some vague jabs at post Sept. 11th USA (this is a French-produced game, remember), the game manages a decent story about government cover-ups. What is more impressive is the presentation of the story, and the integration of it. With your character's role as an investigative reporter, and resistance movements, you feel very drawn into the story-uncovering it is in fact a primary motivator. Seeing the changes in the city as the game progresses is a real treat.
Gameplay- Game Design (27/30)- Taking many pages from the Zelda world, BG&E blends these and other elements into a very cohesive game that manages to take dungeon-exploration, collecting, stealth, photo-taking, city interacting, watersports and more and combines them into a tasty whole new experience. Though almost every idea has been done elsewhere, and perhaps better, credit has to be given for putting this many disparate elements together and coming out with something compelling, that avoids feeling disjointed. The momentum in the game is constant, and the game ends long before you would start to get tired of the formula. The only thing keeping this from being a 30 is the fact that the game simply is a combination of ideas all basically found elsewhere.
Final Thoughts: A must-play, and great example of fine craftsmanship and good solid game design.
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