Beyond Good and Evil 2

Beyond Good & Evil 2 (working title)
Developer(s)	Ubisoft Montpellier
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Designer(s)	Michel Ancel
Composer(s)	Christophe Héral
Series	Beyond Good & Evil
Engine	LyN
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player

Beyond Good & Evil 2 (working title), or BG&E2, is the sequel to the 2003 video game Beyond Good & Evil. It is being designed by Michel Ancel, the creator of the original game, and developed by him and his team at Ubisoft Montpellier. BG&E2 is being published by Ubisoft. Intended as the first part of a trilogy, the original Beyond Good & Evil won critical acclaim but failed to gain commercial success. The status of BG&E2 was unknown for several years until it was unveiled at Ubidays 2008 in the Louvre in Paris, France, on May 28, 2008.

Development

The original Beyond Good & Evil game was meant to be the first of a trilogy of games. Michel Ancel has stated that he wrote the story of the Beyond Good & Evil-universe to be longer than what is included in the first game, but because of the poor sales of the original game, Ubisoft was reluctant to invest in a sequel.

Michel Ancel first gave a hint about Beyond Good & Evil 2 in an interview with Nintendo Power, where he confirmed that he was working on a new project that means a lot to him. He also talked about Jade (the protagonist from the original game) and said that he really hopes that she will continue to keep her values and her personality.

Many rumors about a possible sequel have appeared since the release of the first game, which all seemed to be false until May 2008, when Ubisoft announced Beyond Good & Evil 2.

Announcement

A screenshot from the teaser trailer, showing Pey'j in the foreground.

A screenshot from the leaked trailer showing a woman being pursued through an urban setting in a third-person perspective.

Michel Ancel first talked about Beyond Good & Evil 2 being in production in an interview with the French magazine Jeux Vidéo Magazine, where he stated that the game has been in pre-production for a year, but was yet to be approved by Ubisoft. Less than two weeks later, a teaser trailer of the game, recorded entirely inside the game's engine, was shown at Ubidays. However, the game was presented only as the next project of Michel Ancel and Ubisoft Montpellier; no specific details, release date or title was announced. The trailer, showing off the highly advanced graphics of the game engine, depicts a broken-down hover-car on the shoulder of a desert road. Beside the vehicle sits Pey'j, one of the supporting characters from the original game. A woman resembling Jade, the protagonist, sits on the trunk in the background. Not much is revealed about the game itself. The Jeux Vidéo Magazine article also stated that Beyond Good & Evil 2 is under development for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but this is not confirmed.

On December 18, 2008, at the VGL event in Paris, Ancel stated that Beyond Good & Evil 2 has been under development for a year and a half and that the development team have received total freedom from Ubisoft, giving them the opportunity to make the game how they want.

On May 8, 2009, a video was released onto the Internet showing a character resembling Jade running through a city, dodging its police force.

Cast

It is unknown if the cast of the original Beyond Good & Evil is coming back to work on Beyond Good & Evil 2. However, it is confirmed that Christophe Héral, the man who composed the music for the original game, will be back to write the musical score. In the interview with Jeux Vidéo Magazine, Ancel stated that a cast of 10 to 12 people have been working on the pre-production.

Target audience

According to the Ubisoft CEO, Yves Guillemot, Beyond Good & Evil 2 will be made more appealing to casual gamers than the original game (fuck casual gamers), which had more core gamers, trying to make sure the sequel does not suffer the same commercial failure the original did.

Plot and setting

In the interview with Jeux Vidéo Magazine, Michel Ancel stated:

"[Beyond Good & Evil 2 will] be in continuity with the first game, with a big variety of levels, lots of emotion in the gameplay, and characters we care about. This time we are dealing with planet's future, and the relationship with animals..."

On April 3 Eurogamer.net published a translated interview with Ancel saying:

"There were a lot of inspirations: the Miyazaki universe, my own inspirations, politics and the media; the theme of September 11 - the CNN show with army messages and the fear climate. And it was a mix from other universes."

Ancel also said the game will be a direct sequel to the first game:

"But it is better to discover that when you play, ha ha! But it is clear we want to continue the story - we won't create characters, story. The story continues and we'll react on important events of the first."

External links

• Official trailer (Uplay.com)