Fable III a trainwreck according to Peter Molyneux

[Dark Drakan]

In recent interview with Develop, Peter Molyneux famed for his ability to overhype his upcoming creations has called Fable III his eternal imperfection. He also spoke again about the need to stop talking up his games before they are finished (something we all said).

Do you feel disappointed that you’ve not made a Fable game that quite lived up to the original premise?

Yes, obviously. The trouble with me is I do this stupid thing – and I always do it – where I start talking in an excited way about what I’m working on before I’m finished. And what people are actually seeing is me as a designer being excited about what I am doing. You’re not seeing someone who’s a brilliant PR person selling ice cubes to the arctic. When I was at Microsoft, there were these PR policemen in the room trying to pour buckets of cold water over me when I got too excited.

In my mind, as a designer, whenever I’m making a game I have this perfect jewel in mind. Fable for me was this beautiful, incredible, amusing, funny, artistic, wonderful gem of a game that anyone could play, that tugged on the heartstrings and that was instantly engaging.

The gem that was in my mind has never come to be, it’s always flawed in some way. I thought Fable 1 – when you consider that it was the first game I ever did of that type – wasn’t bad. It was hugely flawed in some senses, there were technical issues like the animation didn’t work, but it wasn’t bad. I think Fable II was a step in the right direction, I think Fable III was a trainwreck. It was built to be much bigger than what it was constrained to be and eventually ended up as. If I had my time again, I’d take the advances we made from Fable 1 to Fable II, I’d make the same advances from Fable II to Fable III and spend another entire year working on Fable III. But would it be that perfect gem that’s in my mind? No.

I just shouldn’t get so excited in front of the press. There’s an empirical decay between what the idea is in your mind and what you end up with, no matter what creative field you’re working in. I talk to a lot of creative people and they’re often disappointed in their own work.

Saying that, of course, Godus exceeds that gem.

Can read the full interview here where he talks his vision for mobile games, his Dungeon Keeper woes and the latest on Godus
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[Tsuyu]

Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.

Godus is, I am sorry to say, a piece of crap. It is a "clink n' wait" Facebook game with some very, very disturbing AI: they are all made to represent real people in the social aspect of the game so they will have faux chat conversations between each other. One of the AI persona is a little girl with daddy issues, and one of the adult male AIs seems to be pedophile trying to groom her.

I kid you not.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Never played it & don't know all that much about it to be honest. :lol:

At least he's admitted past mistakes but I think going for the mobile/tablet market was a mistake. He should be working with better tech & concentrating on PC & next gen not stifling his vision further on more limited tech platforms.

 

[Steve]

Saw this review of Godus a few months back, immediately scrapped it from my Steam Wishlist.

Fable III is still a lot of fun for me and Sharon when played co-op.

 

[Zarkes]

Fable 1 Awesome, Fable 2 great improvements, Fable 3 was lammmme.

 

[Twilight]

"Trainwreck" is abit harsh if you ask me. Obviously it was very flawed and I think very rushed. I think hearing this though is a bit of a kick in the face to the fans who did stand by the game and try defend it when some recognition was deserved.

 

[Angel]

I don't care what people say about PM - I love the Fable games and for all their issues at times, they were fun for me and I could see where he was trying to get to and always hoped that by the final installment, it would be achieved. Then he left :'(

 

[Noctus]

I think hearing this though is a bit of a kick in the face to the fans who did stand by the game and try defend it when some recognition was deserved.

A kick in the face they deserve for defending a company charging full price for an obviously unfinished, rushed game. I have no doubt that Fable III could have worked - truly. But they stripped out the RPG elements without replacing them with anything else with a story that manages both to be contrived and to not make sense at the same time.

Finding the game fun is one thing, I won't question people for that. Hell, I'm glad you guys got some enjoyment out of it, but I won't defend Lionhead on this one.

 

[bluetain]

Fable 3 is a good game .. ok , It lacked some of the Fable charm , but it made up for it in better gameplay and some pretty sweet graphics .. No pub games kind of sucked for me , as I love going to an Inn , get everyone hammered , play some Blackjack , get hammered myself , then puke up outside the pub ... God I love Fridays !!! I think where it fell down a little was on general atmosphere I mean Bowerstone wasnt as fun this time , but in general this game got dissed a little bit too much like mr Molyneaux himself ... He did give us Albion people !!!

 

[Noctus]

but it made up for it in better gameplay and some pretty sweet graphics ..

I actually found the combat far, far more infuriating than in Fable 2 due to it being further stripped down in terms of weapon choice and strategy. Not to mention the graphics, which I found to be far inferior to Fable 2 as well, which to me defied belief considering it was meant to be Fable 2's successor.

 

[bluetain]

I cant say I agree with you Noctus , but hey , Its all about opinion and personal experience with the game ... for me it worked perfectly , even Angry Joe said that the graphics of Fable 3 were beautiful , but I guess its what you like etc ... Personally I enjoyed the gameplay and thought that they got it right ... Its a game that will always divide opinion , but for me , It was a good game and I enjoyed it for what it is ... I also missed the baird in fable 3 , always cracked me up listening to his dittys in Fable 2 , Sheer class !!!

 

[Noctus]

It was over-saturated and too cartoony. Fable 2 balanced it out with some really good lighting effects and lots of places to explore and Fable 3 had none of that.

 

[bluetain]

I didnt find it cartoony , I really like the graphics !!! Less interesting places to explore compared with Fable 2 , Yes ...

 

[Noctus]

Less interesting places to explore and less to do. It all just seemed pointless - side quests were redundant due to the fact the money you earned from them was useless since there was almost nothing to buy. It left the game barren with absolutely nothing to do.

 

[DarkONI]

First of all, Fable III is not that bad for a game. Meanwhile it suffers of many issues, what it offers I believe is true to the Fable experience of interaction, albeit re-interpeted to fit with the game's plot. What the game tried to offer was a store that was more reliable on its characters than Fable 2.

Secondly, there's no "perfect game" especially when you envision one as a designer. What happens during development is always a give and take relationship, and visions are bound to change-- not only because of your choices as a designer, but also what the people in the team are capable or believe would be more suitable.

Finally, Peter Molyneux always suffers from excitement issues when talking about the games he's working on. That's the prime issue this man has, and something the fans legitimately may hate him for. Albeit, I think the title is a little too dramatic. He didn't call it a train wreck, he simply explained that his desires for the game were never fulfilled.

Did you get angry at the end of Fable 3? When you couldn't save everyone, or have Albion the way you wanted it to be because of the game? Of course, if you didn't cheat or abused the game mechanics then you probably had to give something to help Albion.

That's the whole point of the game. Where at the end, no matter what happens-- the responsibility of your choices is placed heavily on you as the player. There is unlimited power to your choices and everyone's lives in Albion's depend on them, and you see the results afterwards.

Saying that, of course, Godus exceeds that gem.

Godus perhaps exceeds Fable in some ways. However, my heart is filled with joy every time I play through Fable 2 again and again, and meanwhile Fable 3 gave me the ****tiest time out of all titles it is a game I can return to. What the team at Lionhead is working on now-- Legends is a truly unique interpretation of what Fable can offer as a franchise.

There's no other action RPG title out there that actually allows me to interact that much with NPCs. Perhaps in silly ways mostly, but Fable allows for what you could never do with someone in Skyrim for example.

So, there's no need to bury Fable under the ground and say it's over with. Fable has some solid concepts that no other game has offered yet, and as long Lionhead can build around those concepts there's always the possibility to have even better and newer Fable games.

Less interesting places to explore and less to do. It all just seemed pointless - side quests were redundant due to the fact the money you earned from them was useless since there was almost nothing to buy. It left the game barren with absolutely nothing to do.

Yes, that's actually a prime issue with the game. The lack of content, and weapon morphs severely diminished the number of weapons available, and the magic spells were also quite limited, even though they could be combined. There also could have been more clothes, hairstyles and tattoos. However, with the money the whole point was to be useful at the game's end.

Not to mention the graphics, which I found to be far inferior to Fable 2 as well, which to me defied belief considering it was meant to be Fable 2's successor.

Isn't it the same engine with some touches, and a better resolution?

 

[Dark Drakan]

He didn't call it a train wreck, he simply explained that his desires for the game were never fulfilled.

From the interview...

It was hugely flawed in some senses, there were technical issues like the animation didn’t work, but it wasn’t bad. I think Fable II was a step in the right direction, I think Fable III was a trainwreck. It was built to be much bigger than what it was constrained to be and eventually ended up as.

 

[DarkONI]

From the interview...

Turns out he did. Oh well. I'll show myself out.

 

[Quistrix]

I look at Fable III the same way I look at Final Fantasy XII. Both not what people expected, both over-hyped so people were of course let down. Massively. Set them aside from all that, they're half-decent. I enjoyed both. Fable III was a let down, but it's not bad in the same way Alien: Colonial Marines is. Now there's a bad game.

The Journey was more of a trainwreck than Fable III if you ask me.

But then it was an on rails game. :shifty: