The Beyond Good and Evil 2 team has given fans another peek behind the curtain with the Space Monkey Report #5 Livestream. During the stream, the developers revealed one possible path players can take to space piracy, showed off contributions from the HITRECORD collaboration, and teased the return of a beloved character from the first game.
Beyond Good And Evil 2 won't appear at E3 next week; instead, the developers at Ubisoft Montpellier are concentrating on core development milestones, while also preparing to move to a new studio. Further updates on the game this year will focus mainly on Beyond Good and Evil 2's world and characters.
Speaking of which, the centerpiece of the stream was a detailed look into the origins of a human-monkey hybrid – one of many possible player types – and their path from being cloned into corporate slavery, to liberation as a space pirate. Regardless of whether you choose to create your character as a monkey, a human, or a different kind of human-animal hybrid, everyone in Beyond Good and Evil 2 starts life as a clone created using Diwalite nanobots.
In the case of monkey hybrids, however, their future is particularly bleak. Grown for their strength and agility, and conditioned to obey their corporate masters, the slaves are shipped out to mine Naraka, the volatile dark side of the colonized planet Soma, where constant bombardment by meteorites has turned the region into an extremely dangerous landscape.
Monkey hybrids will be pushed out into the chaos to harvest Diwalite from the meteors, using a special mining glove to collect it before stabilizing it in a backpack. They'll soon learn just how disposable they are to the corporation, however, when the volatile Diwalite turns them into horrific, crumbling statues, or a massive impact kills hundreds of hybrids at once.
Left for dead by the slavers, the player is rescued by pirates, who take them to a pirate lair hidden in an asteroid belt. It's here that they'll be introduced to PRIMERA – the skull-faced AI oracle that guides all space pirates – and initiated into this new outlaw society by hearing the story of PRIMERA's first crew, and their quest for the Moksha Gate leading out of System 3. From there, you'll be given your first ship, a jetpack, some weapons, and the freedom to dress and act the way you want as you begin forging a new path through System 3.
The livestream also heralded the return of the eponymous Mammago Garage Rhino hybrids from the original Beyond Good and Evil, and showcased some of the 3D modeling and animation used to bring them to life.
The team also took some time to highlight feedback from the Space Monkeys, including their thoughts on how they'll approach Naraka, and what they'd like to do in Ganesha City. The ongoing collaboration with HITRECORD was featured as well, with the team showing off community-contributed art pieces, songs, and radio stingers, and announcing that the collaboration will be extended. (For more details, keep an eye on bgegame.com and hitrecord.com/bgegame.)
To join the Space Monkey Program and get a chance to contribute to the development of Beyond Good and Evil 2, visit bgegame.com. And for more, check out our previous Beyond Good And Evil 2 coverage.
