Beyond Good & Evil 2 hands-off impressions: wow

I didn’t know that I would be seeing Beyond Good & Evil 2 gameplay during E3 2018. I couldn’t help but get more and more excited as I marched into a small room with Ubisoft devs. There was a brief chat before two members of the Ubisoft game took the game for a spin. After seeing it in action and learning more about the game, I can firmly say that the game looks as though it will exceed anyone’s lofty expectations.

The first thing that you should know is that Beyond Good & Evil 2’s engine is custom. The Voyager Engine allows you to go from city streets to the planet’s atmosphere in a matter of minutes. And, during the demo, they did just that.

We want a world without limits.- Guillaume Brunier

I wasn’t sure at first what main character you would be controlling. During the demo session, it was made known that there is a variety of customizations available to you when you start the game. You can choose to be a hybrid or human, detailing facial tattoos and other abilities.

In terms of combat, players will have melee attacks and you can upgrade and purchase augmentations for more challenging foes. Your character will start with four main abilities: Shield, sword, jetpack, and gun. Augmentations allow you to manipulate your combat abilities, paralyzing or trapping enemies in a slow down dome leaving them vulnerable. But, enemies too can also have augmentations. You can gain enemy intel or story information by scanning the environment with your spyglass. This mechanic will also detail augmentations enemies may have, creating a deep experience.

In Beyond Good & Evil 2, there are a variety of classes. Hybrids, however, are the slaves of the planet. They are engineered and cloned for this sole purpose. Those who have shed the shackles of these roles have found freedom outside the city walls of Ganesha by becoming pirates.

There is a lot of freedom of choice in Beyond Good & Evil 2. Who will you choose to be?

Beyond Good & Evil 2 allows you to choose what type of character you will be. You can live out your devilish ways and become a bad pirate, or recruit clones that are saved by allowing them to join your space crew. Only the Hybrids outside of System 3 are considered to be free. And, it is your job as a pirate to create your own freedom however you choose to do so.

As I mentioned earlier, you can seemingly go anywhere and do anything. At the beginning of the demo, we started off with combat in a Chimera Corp lab. Then, we took to the city streets on a hover-bike. I can’t express enough how seamless the transition was from the lab to the city, and then into space. You can also exit your vehicle at any time as you are protected by a body shield.

One other thing that was noted in the demo was that all ship parts have traits. You can repair, purchase and trade them. You can also buy augmentations in the shops that are located around the city of Ganesha.

At the very end of the demo, the team zoomed out in real time, showing off the solar system where we were in the demo. I was taken back by the sheer scope of the game and just how far we’d come in a short period of gameplay. The character customizations, combat, space exploration, and possibilities have more than piqued my interest in Beyond Good & Evil 2.

I can’t wait to freakin’ play this game.