Okay, bit spoilers up ahead so be warned. As many others have stated, BG&E was a widely released game that just didn't sell for some reason. most theories for the reason don't apply to a lot of cases so it's a little unknown. It has fairly solid game play but it doesn't quite know what it wants to be. Most of the game is Action-Adventure, with a half-nod to stealth, but it doesn't go far enough into the stealth side to really be worth much. Sure, you have to spend some time sneaking into buildings to get some photos, but these are mostly linear with multiple forced combat situations which downplay the stealth side. The world has a slight open-world to it, but it's heavily limited and the almost complete lack of side missions limit any real reason for exploring. There are a few races (either 'official' or against 'looters', and there is the side mission to photograph all the animals you can find, but that's it. Other then that, it's a pretty linear world going from mission to mission. No major problem but it could have been much more.. Now, what minor BUT (the above was more comments then against). The story... you are a photographer (claiming partly to be a reporter but you just take photos). your world is under attack from an alien enemy while another alien force protects the planet, but there protection seems little odd (or so we are told.. in fact, they appear to turn up at the END of an attack, so it doesn't look like they do much). We then find out about the Rebels. They know the two alien sides are working together and want you to take some photos to convince the population. Oh the planet ruler who is pretty much on your side anyway. Well.. They appear to know too much about what is really going on ahead of time and with the game title, you get the feeling you are going to find out something big.. like maybe it isn't as clear cut as good vs evil.. but that doesn't happen. Oh and you are really an ancient super being of some kind.. revealed right at the end.
I'll say I don't have this copy, but the original PC release. That said, lets go over this.. It is meant to be part of the 'Call of Cthulhu' series based heavily on the works of H.P. Lovecraft.. long-time fan of his work, I can pretty much say that.. if you removed a couple of names, then there is nothing Lovecraft about this. the Call of Cthulhu Series was always a mess which was based on someone having heard a copy of lines and that was it, but this is really BAD. So, first thing, Ignore anything that says it's got any relation to Lovecraft.. and it's a pet peeve I know but can people that want to cash in on his work remember, Cthulhu was the Prophet of the Great Old Ones. HE wasn't one of them. And if you are going to quote his work, get the quote both right and in context, else it's just meaningless. Voice Acting is pretty bad, Drawn graphics are good. CGI graphics are... not BAD but the animations and movements are very bad. A lot of the Script doesn't make much sense and can be pretty much contradicting itself. I must give it points for gameplay in that there isn't anything SERIOUSLY wrong with it, but it's a case that pretty much the only things you can interact with or look at, at things you need. And often they are small and bland so they are hard to see.. just wave your mouse over the screen and you'll probably find more stuff, not great for adventure games. Some have said this game has a promising start but then goes down hill.. I'm not sure in what way.. The intro can kinda be figured out as to its relationship with the game, but it's not a great fit. You start on a sub, Monster appears, Action right of the batt which does show that this game isn't one about depth or detail. mostly slowly walking around with no regard to 3 dimensional space. By the end of the game, well.. I was thinking 'Didn't Harlan Ellison write a better version of this?' and well, if Ellison wrote a version, he did right a better version of anything.
I picked up this game as a 'freebie' here and while I don't think I would have paid the full price for it, I probably would be worth it. If you like to rush through your games with the only real enjoyment being that you completed it as fast as you can, you will not only fail to fully enjoy most games, but will most likely hate this game. Story wise, it is told fully through visual with only a few grunts or the odd word 'Hey' being uttered. If you look up most information on this game, it'll totally spoil what is a fun adventure. Washed up on a strange island after a storm, you wonder around to find bonus unlockables as well as to figure out what to do. It's not very hard to figure out and this game is a fun all-age one that can be enjoyed by the young and old. Gameplay is also fairly simple with a fair amount of prompting to help guide you along without too much "why won't it let me do this" feel. The main issue I had was with it's saving system, which just uses the old checkpoint system. So you need to watch for a little saving symbol to know it's saved up to that point, which can be annoying if you get interrupted during play. Graphics are beautifully done with a great cartoony feel and together with the animation movement, you get clear emotion and story told through the game without the need for dialogue, even in somewhat inhuman and static creatures. despite the rating, this game is very cinematic with no real combat or violence, which there are moments of fear and panic but nothing that really goes against the semi-gentle feel giving by the look, sounds and music of this game. I would have no problem recommending this game to people that aren't just in games for pure action, or grand story quests.
