Ubisoft resurrects Beyond Good and Evil 2 and goes to space

After teasing fans that Beyond Good and Evil 2 wouldn’t be at this year’s E3, Ubisoft surprised gamers this evening with an in-depth trailer for that very game.

After 15 years since the release of the first title, Beyond Good and Evil 2 is finally ready for launch – although fans of the original will find a heck of a lot’s changed in the intervening years.

With three years of development time spent on the game’s tech alone, BG&E2 puts players in the shoes of a band of space pirate rebels who are fighting against evil corporations who want to claim the stars of System 3 as their own. Set before the birth of the first game’s protagonist Jade, BG&E2 has seemingly ditched the original’s single-player focus and photography mechanic in favour of exploration and online co-op play.

Here, the world of System 3 is a huge, seamless online environment which players can traverse at the speed of light, either alone or with friends.

"We know the expectations for Beyond Good and Evil 2 are enormous," creative director Michel Ancel wrote on the Ubisoft blog. "We’re creating a sci-fi space opera, a game where players fight for freedom alongside unforgettable characters and explore a stunning and vast solar system, all while capturing the spirit of Beyond Good and Evil."

While the initial reveal trailer didn’t show any gameplay, its CG cutscenes paint an excellent picture of what we can expect. There’s still no release date just yet, but Ubisoft Montpellier is asking players to sign up for its Space Monkey Program right now to help provide feedback on teh game, share ideas and help shape its development. From the sounds of things, the game still feels like a way off from release, but after watching the trailer below, all is forgiven: