Beyond Good and Evil 2 Showcases In-Engine Demo

Published: June 25, 2017 11:19 AM /

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Beyond Good & Evil 2 - In-Engine Demo

Beyond Good and Evil 2 Creative Director Michel Ancel was at the forefront of a video showcasing an in-engine demo of the game where he talks about a variety of topics including the size of ships, gameplay mechanics, and more.

The video opens stating that it's a mix of a technology demonstration as well as an opportunity to hint at some of the gameplay and the world at large. Mr. Ancel takes care to note that the game is still in development; as one would expect, things can and will change between now and the title's eventual release.

We get a good look at a 400-meter long "mothership" which has a smaller 20-meter long ship inside intended for planetary travel within it. You'll start the game with 1-2 crew members who can exit the smaller ship, and Mr. Ancel brought up the concept of a Russian nesting doll. We get to see a monkey fly around with a jetpack for a bit while he talked about the game.

You'll start with almost nothing in the game and have to earn money through main and side quests to purchase vehicles and upgrades. One of the things noted about quests is that, much like the first game in the series, you can take pictures which will lead to opportunities to earn money. Use of your camera was an important plot point in the first game - the protagonist Jade was, for all intents and purposes, a freelance investigative journalist for a good portion of the game's plot.

The scale of things is immediately apparent - your character is dwarfed by the mothership and the massive scenery shown in the game. Mr. Ancel glided down onto the top of an elephant statue in order to particularly highlight the size of the statue which is over 700 meters high. He then zooms out to a view of the planet and zooms out once again to a view of the galaxy; this gives the impression that a sense of scale is an important part of the game.

Following the talk of "scale", a few moments were spent showing off the game's light and rendering system. You can see how the light changes at different times of day at the ground level as well as in space.

After that, we got to see the smaller (relatively speaking) ship fly around in the world - and out of it. The ship rocketed to speeds around 20,000 kph and left the atmosphere on its own, raising the question of what exactly the purpose of the mothership might be if not for interstellar travel. Even so, the tiny ship from the first game was plenty able to leave the atmosphere on its own, so the larger ship will likely serve as a base of operations of sorts that can move where it's needed. Travel across the map and the transition into space appeared to be seamless with no loading screens.

Towards the end, Mr. Ancel noted that the "planet and story are connected". We saw that another nearby planet shielded the planet the video took place on from meteorites and asteroids; the more exposed portion had a large, visible crater on it. The video concluded with a bit of the smaller 20-meter ship flying around before coming to a stop in front of the elephant statue.

No platforms and no release date for Beyond Good And Evil 2 have been officially announced as of yet, but Mr. Ancel is quoted as saying that it's designed to run on "many platforms". For the moment, when we'll get to play the game and what we'll get to play it on is a bit of a mystery.

What did you think of what you saw of Beyond Good and Evil 2 in this video? Has this raised your hopes and expectations for the game? What do you think the game's narrative will be about? Let us know in the comments below!

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A photograph of TechRaptor Senior Writer Robert N. Adams.
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One of my earliest memories is playing Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I've had a controller in my hand since I was 4 and I… More about Robert N

More Info About This Game
Learn more about Beyond Good And Evil 2
Publisher
Ubisoft
Platforms
PC
Release Date
December 31, 1969 (Calendar)
Genre
RPG, Adventure, Action