Fable II is "the best, most complete game I've ever worked on," says mastermind Peter Molyneux, just as the RPG sequel is said to have now gone gold at Lionhead's Guildford HQ.
Speaking in an interview with CVG's paper cousin, Xbox World 360, Molyneux says he hasn't made "the same mistakes I made in the past," with the second Fable.
"Black & White, The Movies, Dungeon Keeper, pretty much every game I've ever done has had interesting features thrown in to the pot without worrying what the flavour was like," he said.
"I'd rate it a 9 out of 10," Molyneux added, when asked if he'd fulfilled his original vision with Fable II.
"It's the best, most complete game I've ever worked on. The look is perfect, the interface is fantastic. It's a role-playing game, but where are all the f***ing icons? Aren't you supposed to be cluttering the screen up with mini-maps and the like? Not us.
"RPGs are one of the most complex game types there are," added Molyneux. "But for me, the idea of being who I want to be and my character being different to yours, well, I think is one of the coolest genres of game."
Fable II is out on October 24. Look for the full interview in Xbox World 360 issue 70, on newsstands this Wednesday September 3 (and in subscriber's hands now).
Well now, he's not going to say " I give my game 1/10 now is he!!! Stating the obvious aside, i do think this game will be a cracker and i have very high hopes for it - it needs to be a lot better and far less linear than Fable 1. IF he has pulled this off - great, time will tell. But if the game still has a linearity problem then you can knock 2 points off that score straight away!!
btw - completely unrelated but i played the Star Wars force unleashed demo at the weekend - Totally heartbroken at another failed attempt to make a decent SW game. (crying)
For me, the first fable was a really solid, enjoyable game, it just suffered from too much hype and too many ideas, and never got to capitalise on any of them. But taken on its own merit, I'd still rate it a solid 8/10 experience.
Have to say, kudos to Molyneux for not giving himself a 10/10, but if you read the text, hes not actually rating the game so much as rating how well he feels he fulfilled his vision...
im really looking forward to this sequel, i was mainly impressed by the first game but disappointed that the game didnt fulfil all that was promised. But now the xbox 360 has increased processing power and mr M has had the freedom and time needed to complete his vision. The special edition has been pre ordered!
btw - completely unrelated but i played the Star Wars force unleashed demo at the weekend - Totally heartbroken at another failed attempt to make a decent SW game. (crying)
Which platform did you play it on? I came away quite enjoying the 360 version, but the PS3 demo seems really sluggish and has horrible framerate issues. Having a few mates round and taking turns at the Force Unleashed demo was a good laugh tho, experimenting with the Force powers and stuff.
He couldn't rate it 10/10 because he knows better than anyone how imperfect it's going to be, how much was missed or how much the hardware limited what they could do. So no matter how good something is, there's always room for improvement.
btw - completely unrelated but i played the Star Wars force unleashed demo at the weekend - Totally heartbroken at another failed attempt to make a decent SW game. (crying)
Which platform did you play it on? I came away quite enjoying the 360 version, but the PS3 demo seems really sluggish and has horrible framerate issues. Having a few mates round and taking turns at the Force Unleashed demo was a good laugh tho, experimenting with the Force powers and stuff.
Xbox 360 demo on marketplace - Glad you enjoyed it - i just felt gutted - it's not the game i was hoping for
For me Peter's most complete game was Populous II, followed by Powermonger. Why EA has chosen not to update these AAA+ francises for the 360 or PS3 is an insane business decision when they release myriads of shovelware. Both of these would be perfect for the Wii interface...
btw - completely unrelated but i played the Star Wars force unleashed demo at the weekend - Totally heartbroken at another failed attempt to make a decent SW game. (crying)
Which platform did you play it on? I came away quite enjoying the 360 version, but the PS3 demo seems really sluggish and has horrible framerate issues. Having a few mates round and taking turns at the Force Unleashed demo was a good laugh tho, experimenting with the Force powers and stuff.
Xbox 360 demo on marketplace - Glad you enjoyed it - i just felt gutted - it's not the game i was hoping for
I played the 360 version and felt it was rubbish also. Largely vacant of enemies and generally a bit pants. It's basically a poor Too Human with no enemies and the Half Life 2 gravity gun thrown in as the force. If you are a complete Star Wars completist then I suppose it will have value, otherwise it feels a lot like an incomplete tech demo.
btw - completely unrelated but i played the Star Wars force unleashed demo at the weekend - Totally heartbroken at another failed attempt to make a decent SW game. (crying)
Which platform did you play it on? I came away quite enjoying the 360 version, but the PS3 demo seems really sluggish and has horrible framerate issues. Having a few mates round and taking turns at the Force Unleashed demo was a good laugh tho, experimenting with the Force powers and stuff.
Xbox 360 demo on marketplace - Glad you enjoyed it - i just felt gutted - it's not the game i was hoping for
I agree, very disappointed! Jedi Knight 2 was a much better game 6 years ago!
The graphics on SW:FU seem a bit poor also. The corridors and hangers just seemed drab with crappy textures and little detail. If you lightsabre attack a droid it just falls apart from the middle regardless of where you hit it.
I’m glad I played the demo, because this has gone from a definite must buy to not bothering.
For me Peter's most complete game was Populous II, followed by Powermonger. Why EA has chosen not to update these AAA+ francises for the 360 or PS3 is an insane business decision when they release myriads of shovelware. Both of these would be perfect for the Wii interface...
Can't wait to see you again Bilbo in 2010...
It's probably all tied up like Syndicate with EA/Bullfrog etc.
Syndicate needs to be updated at some point - I'm sure I'd read that Molyneux would love to do another one, but can't because of the rights.
Personally I really enjoyed Fable 1. The only really negative was that is was too short. I can't wait for Fable 2. I just hope I can find the time to fit it into my busy gaming calendar, what all the other AAA titles being released in the next few months. I have still got a backlog of games to complete. I am currently working my way through Blue Dragon (on the 3rd disk now) and have enjoyed every minute of it so far. Then I will tackle Lost Odyssey.
My all time fav Bullfrog game would have be Dungeon Keeper 2. I lost countless hours on that game. I just loved the dark humor and the silly accents. I hope we will get to see a DK3 one day.
At least all his interviews about the game are not about what he had to cut. So far it looks like all the stuff he has talked about has made it into the final game. So he could be right about his rating.
Fable I, was a brilliant game but it had so much cut from it that it made it a mediocre RPG that did nothing new.
Enjoyed Fable, and am looking forward to Fable 2 quite a lot.
Still not yet sure about Force Unleashed: the Xbox demo was a bit bland to be honest, and the Force powers themselves weren't exactly enthralling. There are only so many ways you can ping a stormtrooper off a ledge, it seems... I await a review with great interest.
Love the original Fable. Only issue was that it felt like you were been guided along a path and that some idea's weren't fully relaized. Even so, it was one of the better games last gen so I'm looking forward to see what they can achieve with the sequel now they don't have any time contraints of financial issues.
well, for my sake i hope it's at least 9/10 too. i'm one of the few who really enjoyed the first Fable. granted, it was a bit overhyped, but i think that's simply because it didn't live up to the promises Molyneux made and not because it was a bad game in it's own right. given how much i liked the first one, and the time between both games, i'm sure i'll really enjoy Fable 2
Well now, he's not going to say " I give my game 1/10 now is he!!! Stating the obvious aside, i do think this game will be a cracker and i have very high hopes for it - it needs to be a lot better and far less linear than Fable 1. IF he has pulled this off - great, time will tell. But if the game still has a linearity problem then you can knock 2 points off that score straight away!!
btw - completely unrelated but i played the Star Wars force unleashed demo at the weekend - Totally heartbroken at another failed attempt to make a decent SW game. (crying)
From the demo it seemed just like a one trick pony that got boring after 5 mins the demo was long enough for me I wont be getting the full version.
As for Fable I hope it is a lot less linear than the first myself, although as I keep saying Fallout is the RPG at the top of my list anyway.
To the guy that said Syndicate; Totally agree, Syndicate was f**king amazing!!! If we're on a Bullfrog nostalgia trip; why not Flood, I loved that game on the Amiga.
I also agree about Syndicate. That game was dope. No less. It was one of the most remembered games for Amiga by me. Seriously, Bullfrog did so much good games. Magic Carpet is an another example. I miss those times.
Me too man. The main game can take a running jump, but the creative tools it gave you were utterly fantastic. Some of the movies viewable on the website are brilliant too.
In the latest issue of Edge (the one with Heavy Rain on the cover), there is a massive (8-page) feature on Fable 2, detailing things like the expanded morality system (which seems ace and a lot less linear and obvious than in the original), characters, etc. There's a lot of very pretty screenshots as well that put me in mind of Charles Dickens with all the snow, cobbled streets and crooked chimney pots. Like a lot of the posters, I loved Fable. I didn't play it until earlier this year actually and I think that a lot of the criticism it received upon release was a backlash to the original hype. Ok, it was a bit linear, rather short (even with the added Lost Chapters content), and the story lacked depth, and a lot of the original features weren't present, but if you take it as it is and judge it on what is in the game instead of what isn't, it's very enjoyable. And while we are on the subject... I would absolutely cream in my pants if Molyneux announced a new Syndicate, Populous, Dungeon Keeper or Magic Carpet. Hell, even a new Theme Hospital would be great. While the guy has a bad habit of letting his mouth run away from him, every game he has come out with has been an absolute classic and he totally deserved his OBE.
A new Dungeon Keeper would be so cool. I still remember how happy my little critters were and the song that played when they got the jackpot in the casino. And the dreaded phrase "it is pay-day", and you have to stop all of your monsters running away to go and get their money, lol. Good times.
I would absolutely cream in my pants if Molyneux announced a new Syndicate, Populous, Dungeon Keeper or Magic Carpet. Hell, even a new Theme Hospital would be great.
Absolutely! I vaguely know one of the Fable 2 developers and have bugged him on the same topic a few times. Unfortunately all the licences to those games transferred to EA when they bought out Bullfrog, so it's almost 100% not going to happen...
I would absolutely cream in my pants if Molyneux announced a new Syndicate, Populous, Dungeon Keeper or Magic Carpet. Hell, even a new Theme Hospital would be great.
Absolutely! I vaguely know one of the Fable 2 developers and have bugged him on the same topic a few times. Unfortunately all the licences to those games transferred to EA when they bought out Bullfrog, so it's almost 100% not going to happen...
Such a shame too - some of those titles are so heavily linked to Molyneux that it would be so wrong if EA tried to revive any of them.
I'm sure I read that Molyneux was interested in going back to Syndicate if the license could be obtained in some way - can't find the story now....did I just dream that bit?, anyone else remember this interview? - it was pretty recent, if I recall correctly; he spoke about Fable 2 and Dimitri (the secret project).
He couldn't rate it 10/10 because he knows better than anyone how imperfect it's going to be, how much was missed or how much the hardware limited what they could do. So no matter how good something is, there's always room for improvement.
Or rather that he's a prefectionist who could spend anouth 6 months getting trees and grass to look a tiny bit more realistic, or recording the perfect fart sound.
To stay on the nostalgia trip; played most of his games to death really, flood, syndicate, everything populous but the best in my opinion is still Dungeon Keeper II.
It has an ending suggesting number III would play not just in dungeons but also into the outside world.
Surely he could release a "spiritual successor" to the classics in the same vein as Project Origin, Bioshock, Crysis, etc? To quote Shakespeare, "a rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet."
Surely he could release a "spiritual successor" to the classics in the same vein as Project Origin, Bioshock, Crysis, etc? To quote Shakespeare, "a rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet."
True, but you have to wonder whether a guy like Molyneux would be interested in going back over old ground....he's one of the few devs that genuinely seems fascinated by his job, so I suspect it's the new IP's and new things that he enjoys.
To be honest, I'm extremely intrigued by the 'Dimitri Project', or whatever it's called....I know that he likes to talk a good game, but I couldn't help but get a little fascinated by some of the things he's hinted about it.
If he thinks it's the best he's ever done why not give it 10/10? Why only 9? And what does he want to improve on to make it a perfect score!
Because no game is a 10/10... It can always be improved and that search for gaming perfection will never be found but should always be pursued.
Like GTA4...What mug gave that 10/10? It was great while it lasted but my god it becomes boring once it's over....GTA:SA didn't have that problem and that didn't get 10/10 did it?
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