The action role-playing game Jade Empire by Bioware was released for the PC in 2007 and received very good ratings at the time. Thanks to its unusual ideas and great story, it even lands before Dragon Age: Inquisition in our personal bioware ranking.
There was never a successor – despite the rumor mill. Now a bioware artist shows what Jade Empire 2 would have looked like. Surprisingly, however, the project would have little with the China setting of the first part had to do.
Jade Empire 2 as a sci-fi game
As some pictures by Bioware Art Director Matt Rhodes show, the game developed under the name Project Revolver would have put you in a sci-fi setting. The studio recently announced more information about this in the book “Bioware: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development”. You can see what that would have looked like on Instagram and Artstation see.
Future of the world: Along with these drawings, Rhodes himself also explained a few details. You would have explored a sandbox world using your parkour skills. In order to create the world, they also hired the help of the Big Sandwich Games studio founded by ex-rock star developers.
Non-linear design: Your movement through the world should not be restricted and characters and quests could have been found at a different point in time with each run. Non-linearity was the motto here.
The fights: If you go by the artwork, there would still have been a focus on hand-to-hand combat in the game. Because many of the characters carry swords with them, for example. At the same time, you would have had access to firearms.
End of development: The project itself was in development from around 2005 to 2008 and was due to be released for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Eventually, however, the work was stopped. Even the predecessor did not sell particularly well – despite a lot of praise and fresh ideas – that was probably a decisive factor.
What is Bioware currently doing?
The studio is currently working on successors to Mass Effect and Dragon Age. While there is currently only a teaser trailer for the former, more information has already come to light on Dragon Age 4. However, there are no gameplay scenes yet. We have put together for you what we already know about the game:
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There is currently no release date for the two projects. However, another release from Bioware is due in the not too distant future: The Remastered Edition of the Mass Effect trilogy. Allegedly, it could be ready in March 2021.