In depth preview
Peter Molyneux is well known—some might say infamous—for his ability to generate hype. Whether his products live up to the high expectations he sets is certainly up for debate. When Lionhead’s Fable shipped, it did so without a variety of features Molyneux had frequently promised during the game’s development process. Fable was still a sold adventure title, but the epic sense of scale that had been one of its selling points was considerably dulled.
Molyneux himself is one of the first to admit his propensity for overselling his games has gotten himself into trouble. During a 45-minute-long session for journalists before GDC, Molyneux was frank about his expectations for Fable 2 and his ability to deliver.
Right out of the gate, he told us that he hasn’t enjoyed sequels. He finds them to be challenging, difficult and restrictive. All too often, a sequel means more of the stuff that was in the original title—a respectable goal, but not one that he’s happy with. Early on, when the topic of Fable 2 came up, Lionhead performed exhaustive research on what people liked and disliked about Fable. What he got was a confusing mess of answers. Ultimately, Molyneux realized that this wasn’t why he wanted to develop a game. He told us he got into the game industry to try to do different things. He wanted to try something that was going to be hard, but at least he was going to try.
At this point, Molyneux said there were going to be three big reveals before Fable 2’s release. That day, he was going to give us the first one. It’s both simple, and complex. The idea came to him when he read a Web site’s list of favorite moments in gaming. What dawned on him, as he read about what people loved about Final Fantasy and Ico, was that Fable was missing that emotional reaction. Players didn’t care if they couldn’t grow an oak tree from an acorn (a missing feature Molyneux crowed about early on when Fable was still called Project Ego). Story wasn’t that terribly important, either--those are everywhere, according to Molyneux. What he wanted to do was create a feeling of something when you play the game. So that’s his first big reveal for Fable 2.
What did Molyneux want players to feel? Love. If he could get players to experience love, then that would be a worthy game. How exactly do you do that? Molyneux cited three examples, two easy, and one hard. The first way, is through player relationships. When starting a new game, players in Fable 2 will be able to select male or female adventurers. As you grow up, you can get into relationships (same sex, included, should you so desire), and ultimately choose to have a child. If your character is female, you can even go on adventures while pregnant. Eventually, you’ll have a baby. That baby will grow up. When you come home from exploring the world, your door will burst open and your child will run out and greet you. If you’re evil, you’ll hear all about your kid’s naughty exploits, like beating up kids at school. Should you play as a good character, your child may tell you about stopping someone from being bullied. Also, Molyneux wants players to be able to feel like heroes. When you save someone, that person will thank you.
Those are the easy ways to make a player feel love, according to Molyneux. When he came up with the hard idea, he said people hated it. That idea? A dog.
At that point in the demo, Molyneux picked up the Xbox 360 controller and his character called his dog. The dog came bounding out of the brush toward the hero, in a remarkably lifelike manner. He let the dog sit idle for a few seconds, to let its effect truly settle in. The dog in the Fable 2 demo looked like a dog. It wrinkled its nose when it sniffed, the sun shone off its coat in a startlingly realistic way and it moved just like an actual animal. It was almost creepy, in a way.
Molyneux said there were a few rules about the dog. One, the dog shouldn’t aggravate the player. As he ran around a field, the dog stayed close by, but didn’t get in the way. The second rule was that the dog absolutely loves you. It worries about you, wants to make you happy, loves what you love and hates what you hate. Sure, it sounds corny, but hearing those words while seeing this thing in motion made a lot of sense. He said his team came up with several control mechanisms for the dog before scrapping them all. Ultimately, players don’t control the dog. It’s a dog, not a robot, as Molyneux pointed out.
To illustrate the point, he walked over to a garden, where he’d earlier buried the dog’s squeaky toy. The dog sniffed around for a bit before finding where it was and digging it up. When the dog ran over with the toy, Molyneux showed how players will be able to train the dog by using the Fable Expression System, which is back for the sequel. By saying no or scaring the dog, it reinforced the notion that the toy was bad news. That wasn’t probably the nicest demonstration of that point, but it did make sense. You can also play fetch with your dog, which seemed like an obvious choice. Molyneux said that kind of stuff was what role-playing games are about—it’s not always heroic action, but just doing cool little things. Things like playing fetch with a dog.
Fetch was all well and good, but Molyneux wanted to show us how the dog could be a vital part of your adventures. He neared a wooded path, and the dog ran ahead a short distance, scouting the area. Molyneux said one of the problems he had with Fable was the on-screem minimap. It’s gone this time around. While some have reported that the dog would be replacing the map, that’s not quite how it was put. The dog can be used as a guide, but it’s not the complete solution to eliminating the minimap. He did say your furry companion would be part of that solution, however.
At the end of the path, three enemies could be seen in the distance. Two were armed with swords, and one had a gun. Oh yes, there are guns in Fable 2. How can your dog help you in combat when you don’t actually control it? Simple. The dog will see what you’re doing, and will adjust its tactics accordingly. Since it wants to protect the player, it will find the best way to reach that goal. Should the player draw her sword, the dog will then run ahead and attack the enemy with the gun, since that attacker poses the greatest threat to a distant melee fighter. If your character instead draws her rifle, the dog will go after the two swordsmen who begin charging the character after the first shot is fired. For a dog, it’s pretty darned smart.
After the fight was over, the dog limped back with an injured paw. Molyneux made sure to emphasize that the dog is exactly that—it’s a dog. It doesn’t have laser beams in its eyes, and it’s not indestructible, but it will slow down enemies, giving you a chance to kill them off yourself. Players can choose to abandon the wounded pet, but since it loves the player unconditionally, it will do everything in its power to locate its master again. He said you might find yourself in a distant pub, only to hear a scratching at the door. When it’s opened, the bloody dog comes in, prompting patrons to wonder aloud who would treat an animal this way. That who, Molyneux said, could be you.
If players start caring for the dog, then he has you, Molyneux said. If you care about something in the game, he can then do things in the story that he couldn’t do before. If you have a dog that you love, it’s easy to define bad guys. Before, he said, making evil characters was tough. He had to create backstories and histories for these evildoers. Now, all he has to do is have someone kick your dog. That’s a bag guy, right there. He wants players to have an emotional ride with their dog. He said you’ll celebrate together. It’ll help you out of sticky situations.
After showing the dog off, Molyneux showed a brief flyover of Bowerstone, which is a city that was featured in the first Fable. Fable 2 is set 500 years after the events of Fable. It’s an age of highwaymen—the time of heroes is over. Well, that’s until you come into the picture. What’s an incentive to go adventuring? It’s wealth, Molyneux said. (At this point, Molyneux was careful to point out that everything he was talking was content that was actually incorporated into internal builds—this wasn’t cloud talk.) To make players feel truly wealthy, accumulated gold would be stockpiled in a room, which could then be sifted through characters’ fingers. It sounded a bit like something Scrooge McDuck would really enjoy. While touching money is well and good, players will also be able to buy things. We’re not just talking about cloaks and swords, either. Molyneux said every building or area that you can explore in the game is for sale. You can buy market stalls and get the earnings. You can buy entire streets. You can buy castles, temples and even dungeons. The properties you purchase include accompanying quests, too, which adds another incentive to go on a large-scale spending spree. Fable 2 will feature a fully functioning economy, which players can manipulate for prosperity or ruin.
With that, the demo ended, and Molyneux asked us simply, “Do you think it’s enough?” Frankly, it was already a lot of content to sort through—and he still has two more big reveals to announce. The demo’s main focus was to introduce the dog and highlight its personality and functionality. It definitely succeeded there. While it remains to be seen whether Molyneux will ultimately deliver on Fable 2’s promises, he seems especially aware of how cynical and skeptical people are of his comments. If he comes close to giving people the emotional gratification he’s aiming for, he will have succeeded on many levels.
