Beyond Good & Evil - pc control / camera OK?

[Blonks]

Hi,

I want to get this before the Jan sales end as its cheap on PC and
PS2, but not Xbox yet.

I guess the PC version is my best bet for graphics, but how are the
controls and camera? Just worried that it was designed for a console
controller and so may not have ported too well.

thanks

Ian

[Nitz Walsh]

Post by Blonks
Hi,
I want to get this before the Jan sales end as its cheap on PC and
PS2, but not Xbox yet.
I guess the PC version is my best bet for graphics, but how are the
controls and camera? Just worried that it was designed for a console
controller and so may not have ported too well.

Eh...it's so-so.

The mouse/keyboard control isn't nearly as bad as Prince of Persia in that
it's not a constant battle with the camera, but there are times when it goes
into "cinematic camera mode" and you do indeed end up losing viewport
control for a second which is somewhat jarring - those aren't that
commonplace though where you'll be pulling your hair out. The needle moves
more towards "annoying" as opposed to "frustrating" IMO with regards to how
this game controls on the PC. Mouse control does help when taking pictures
of fast moving animals, but hovercraft racing is somewhat of a bitch. Why
they didn't at least include the _option_ of playing it with a PC gamepad is
beyond me.

Over the PS2 version, it's tough to say. The graphics are definitely
inferior (and it's a highlight of BG&E), and the framerate suffers. If you
had an Xbox and that version was out, I would generally suggest to get the
Xbox version. With the PS2, it's a little closer. Either way, you'll
likely be able to finish it readily on both the consoles and the PC, the
mouse/keyboard issues aren't really that much of a hinderance when you spend
most of your time exploring. I'd still be playing it with my Dualshock on
the PC though if the option was there.

There's a demo out - why not just download it and see for yourself?

[Nonymous]

Post by Nitz Walsh
but there are times when it goes
into "cinematic camera mode" and you do indeed end up losing viewport
control for a second which is somewhat jarring

It does that (takes away camera control from you) on the console, too,
doesn't it?

Post by Nitz Walsh
but hovercraft racing is somewhat of a bitch. Why
they didn't at least include the _option_ of playing it with a PC gamepad is
beyond me.

The key to the hovercraft racing and looters caves is to steer in first
person view instead of the usual third person view. The hovercraft handles
totally differently (and reasonably) when in first person mode. I would
compare it to driving a jeep in bf1942, but faster. I was getting quite
annoyed with the hovercraft in the slaugherhouse level where you have to
steer carefully around minds and whatnot. ...Third person was too hard to
control but 1st person gave you too much tunnelvision. I was screaming 'i
want a gamepad'! It's not *that* bad, though,... the game is way too cool to
pass up, imho.

Post by Nitz Walsh
There's a demo out - why not just download it and see for yourself?

The demo should come with a disclaimer: "The real game does not have a
cutscene every 30 seconds".