What Could Have Been: Beyond Good & Evil 2 On Hold

What if a great game was made and no one bought it?  Well, that happens all the time in this generation.  Now, what if a great trailer was released and then no one ended up developing it?

You know the story.  Ubisoft’s Beyond Good And Evil was one of the most underrated titles ever released last generation. Seamlessly blending photography, platforming, racing, fighting and stealth genres, it was truly a genreless title.  The problem is that despite its wide appeal and high concept, no one really bought it. Lackluster sales meant BG&E became somewhat of a cult classic title, and such a fate rarely warrants a sequel.  As happens to just about any cult classic with a large fanbase, though, rumors of a sequel quietly making its way through pre-production began to surface.

Those rumors became true when Ubisoft’s own Yves Guillemot confirmed the game’s development at Ubisoft’s Ubidays 08 conference, alongside a teaser trailer.  The info mill on the title went silent from there, though; with nothing but the above video leaking out at one point last year, little was shown on the game.  One thing’s for sure; it’s not coming any time soon.  Gamezine.co.uk reports that Ubisoft’s North American president Laurent Detoc has nixed all rumors on the subject despite acknowledging the trailer’s release.  Interestingly, he refers to the game’s announcement as a “leak”, as if to say it was never meant to be shown off.

“Whether or not it [Beyond Good & Evil 2] comes out remains to be seen anyway, but we didn’t want to abandon that IP because it has a cache and authenticity about it. There’s something very pure about that game and it’s too bad that we were not able to build it as an IP at the time…”

“Well, I didn’t say there’s definitely going to be another game. I said something had leaked, which means we’ve been working on some Beyond Good and Evil stuff, but whether there’s going to be another game or not, that’s something for the future.”

“For the future”?  That’s the best you can do?  It’s a shame, to be honest. BG&E was one of the most enjoyable little titles I’ve ever played, with an amazing storyline, a superb setting, well developed characters and generation-bending graphics. Perhaps best of all, while typically genre-buster games tend to only excel in only one or two areas, with secondary elements bordering on the “acceptable” level, BG&E was just about solid all over. Taking a look at the above trailer and thinking of all that could have been, it’s almost a shame to see the sequel fall in line with the original; critically acclaimed yet ultimately forgotten.

Beyond Good and Evil 2 is On Hold (Gamezine.co.uk)