Coincidence is a funny thing. There we all are griping that us Euro-folk can’t buy the fabulous adventure-platformer-everythinger cult classic Beyond Good & Evil over Steam, while the US-folk are, no doubt, busy replaying the thing with unfettered joy in their spoilt, spoilt hearts. And then the sequel gets announced. Lummee.
Well, sort of. BGE and Rayman creator Michel Ancel’s been chatting to France’s JeuxVideo magazine, and revealed the exciting news that he’s been working on a follow-up for some time now. The bad news? Ubisoft hasn’t actually green-lit it yet.
Here’s his quotes, parsed through my faltering Francais (with a spot of online cheating):
“I’m working on Beyond Good & Evil 2. We have been in pre-production for a year, and we’re carrying out research as a small team. But for the moment, this is at outline stage, Ubisoft hasn’t given its agreement yet.
We want to be in the continuity of the first: a large variety of play types, lots of emotions in the gameplay and from the supporting characters. This time we are dealing with the future of the planet, the rapport with the animals…”
What’s particularly odd about this psuedo-reveal is that Ancel is employed by Ubisoft. He’s one of their most valued staffers I’m sure, but I can’t imagine they’d be terribly happy about him jaffing on about unannounced projects. So, donning my conspiracy theory hat (which is, admittedly, pretty much my only hat), I wonder if this is a testing the waters kind of thing. BGE was a cult hit, not a smash hit, so it’s something of a risky investment for a publisher. Slipping out a quiet word and waiting to see whether the internets go nuts or not is a fairly easy way of establishing whether BGE2’s worth going ahead with.
Well then, internets: whether or not I’m a wrong-headed, paranoid buffoon, are you going to go nuts about BGE2?
(The correct answer is yes).
Thanks to the various folks who mailed us about this story.
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Clearly we should just assemble a paramilitary force and get this game made. I’m pretty sure the RPS collective could take France.
Just been replaying the first on GC, as my PC broke down last week, i’d forgotten how good it is! Also, my nickname in school was Hilly so that was an added bonus when I started playing, to have a planet named after you (almost) :).
And yes, I’d love a sequel to Anachronox-one of the most underrated PC games ever. Everyone remembers Ion Storm for either Daikatana or Deus Ex, and yet no mention is made of this gem. Hell, it even made Final Fantasy-style turn based combat acceptable! Plus, any game that includes a whole planet as a selectable party member is a stroke of genius in my book.
But both games share a common thread- great sense of humour, and actually making you care about the characters you meet /control. Not many do that these days, at least not to that extent.
Finally, where the hell is The Longest Journey 3? I heard something about episodic content a while ago, but since then…nothing…
Reply to Taxman
This is Ubisoft we’re talking about, as long as the developers are not exclusive the game will be ported. Though the port may be carp the modders and fan patches should clean it up like with Resident Evil 4.
Anachronox was a great story, in a great world, with great humour and excelent use of the engine, but the actual “game” was not very good in my eyes.
It’s because you didn’t believe hard enough John.
We believe in you Jade! (and you Michael Ancel!)
I feel a bit of Journey is required here.
“DOOOOON’T STOP, BEELIEEVINNN’!”
WANT. NOW.
If it is greenlit, I will buy two copies. You heard.
Where do I pre-order?
Although BG&E was a brilliant game, I remember the stealth parts being very hard and I was constantly having to re-do them.
I must re-play it soon. I remember a really exciting and cinematic chase scene over rooftops.
One of the main reasons I enjoyed it was because I knew little about it other than the PC Gamer review. All of a sudden what first appeared to be a simple adventure game turned into something epic, with a large dash of Zelda goodness on top.
PS3/360 only? Well, a PS3 could be on the cards in the middle-term for me anyway, as if I’m gonna get have to get a blu-ray player I might as well get it where I might want some of the games too.
BG&E2 could be what makes the decision for me.
truly wonderful news, am i right in thinking that it was originally structured as a trilogy but Ubi canned the last two parts when BG&E didn’t sell too well?
@lungfish: I believe that to be the case.
That cliffhanger ending would be a total shitter if they’d planned it as a one-off game. :D
yep, strangely enough i’ve been replaying BG&E this last week, and it’s still amazing, more surprisingly the graphics have stood up rather well, the stylised look and the quality of the animation have dated far less than other games of it’s era. Then there are all the incidental details in the world, like the cherry blossoms and dust motes drifting through the air, it just feels like, well not real, but like a world as opposed to a string of rooms.
And the way the necessary limitations work within the game, the curbing of progress found in all games of this type tying in with the story as opposed to simply feeling contrived.
More Mammago!
So great. This is my favourite game of all time, narrowly beating Psychonauts, Baldur’s Gate 2 and Bioshock. I would probably have killed someone if it meant this game was being made.
BG&E: was so good, that bit where Jade’s being chased across the roofs and it all slows down and… oh, wonderful gaming moment. Definitely: more please.
the whole game was a string of nicely constructed moments, at least in my nostalgia-ridden eye of hindsight
*GOES NUTS*
Oh wow, I’ve been dreaming of the sequal for years!! Jade come back to us :)
Oh Jesus. I go on vacation for a couple weeks and BG&E hits Steam AND has fresh sequel talk? YES PLEASE! I picked up the PS2 version as my old PC couldn’t handle the game, one of the few action/adventure games I’ve done multiple playthroughs on. Soundtrack, characters, and setting are all top notch and I’d love to see them all come back for more, but for now I’ll settle for the Steam download and give it yet another go.
As to poor sales, well, it did come out at almost the same time as Prince of Persia’s revival(also by Ubi), and we all know which one got the marketing money :(
“Go nuts” is insufficient.
“CRAZY go nuts” might just begin to tap at the edges.
(Also, they’d better use the same music style as the original, because it was glorious)
I got BGE a couple days ago. I just finished it and really enjoyed it. I normally don’t like stealth sections, preferring to rush in guns blazing, but it’s really well done here. I think I’ll put it in my top ten favorite games.
The story is good and kept me interested, but I was kind of expecting something related to, you know, being beyond good & evil. The good and evil sides are pretty much set right from the beginning. Would have been nice to poke with ideas of “what is good” or something. Dialog isn’t good but avoids cringes and the excellent voice acting makes up for it. Music doesn’t always fit the feeling of the action, but it’s otherwise excellent.
I could rip into the camera and controls, but honestly bad controls didn’t stop me from enjoying Grim Fandango and Psychonauts (amongst other games).
I’ll definitely take a look at BGE2, if/when it comes out.
We at the WiiDSpodcast and BGE2Revolution agree – and this is why we are doing everything we can in order to get this game publicised and inform everyone of how great that original game was.
This Petition will go a long way to help us get this game our of Michel Ancels brain and into our hands.
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?bgaep&1
Thanks for you Support! Spread the word.
Viva la REVOLUTION!!!
:D
I don’t care if it becomes PC exclusive, I want BG&E 2! The original was so awesome, it was actually the only game so far that a store clerk has gone out of his way to tell me how good it was, and boy was he right! We need to rally up and let Ubi know that we want the sequel!
We certainly do! Lets not let our voices go unheard! Please sign the petition, it has grown expotentially in the last few days – and you have to power to make a difference. Sign. Thanks.
I must admit, I’m excited. I trust Ancel, and I believe he’s telling the truth. But yeah, it’s possible, but for me… IT’S WORKING!!! :D
\o/
Ditto for Anachronox2, but that’s something of a lost cause methinks.
This is our chance to get the sequel, we must support Mr. Ancel!
Sign the petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/bgaep/
and join the BG&E fan community: http://s6.invisionfree.com/BGE2_Revolution
We can do it!