So there you have it, some of my thoughts on what I’d like to see in the upcoming Fable title. It’s been a game that was a strong part of my childhood on the original Xbox, so waiting in anticipation for more details has got me incredibly excited. Although somewhat impati

Fable: The Journey represents Microsoft ‘s latest – and likely final – attempt to prove that Kinect , in its current incarnation, is a viable control interface for more than just dance simulators and mini-game collections. Developed by Lionhead Studios , with the now departed Peter Molyneux serving as Creative Consultant, The Journey puts players on a guided, first-person tour of Albion which, thanks to the power of Unreal Engine, has never looked better. But does the game play as good as it looks? Read on for our full review of Fable: The Journ

There is also the matter of Seren herself. There are some great horses in video games: Epona in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and (especially, so far as I’m concerned) Argo from Shadow of the Colossus . Seren won’t be joining that list, despite Lionhead’s intentions to the contr

On the hardware and software side of things, rumors have been suggesting that Microsoft might finally unveil Project Opara. According to early details, Opara would be Microsoft’s answer to something like Hulu Plus or iTunes, offering subscription-based television shows for Xbox Live, Windows PCs, and Windows Phones. Since this particular conference will be in direct competition with Steve Jobs’ keynote at WWDC , it would make sense that something a little Apple-esque might be shown

Thing is, Fable 4 could feasibly deliver on “the acorn promise.” While the idea of every acorn you knock off every tree growing into a new tree is maybe a bit much, farming simulators have exploded in recent years thanks to games like Stardew Valley and many RPGs now have some kind of “homestead” or base building mechanic. The idea of player housing and farming in Fable 4 isn’t so far fetc

Set 50 years after the events of Fable III (read our review ), Fable: The Journey tells the story of Gabriel , a young Dweller who becomes separated from his caravan and is ultimately called upon to save Albion from The Corruption, an evil entity that is bent on destroying the land with flowing rivers of ropey, bloody goo. Gabriel is aided in his quest by Theresa, the enigmatic, blind seer from the numbered Fable games, and his horse, Seren. It’s a classic Hero’s Journey setup that should lead to rousing Adventure Games Updates – but before we get to any of that, a mess

Needless to say, spell casting becomes increasingly complex as more attack options are enabled. Fireballs must be primed by either shaking your right hand before attacking, or speaking the word “Fireball” out loud. Attacking with Shards, meanwhile, requires that the player holds his or her right hand over and behind their right shoulder, as if throwing a spear, or by saying “Magical Shard.” Generally, motions are recognized more quickly than speech. Each of these actions, on their own, are simple to perform reliably. The trouble is that in the heat of combat, players will need to perform multiple actions, often simultaneously, and Kinect gets confused by the commot

And really, Peter Molyneux, for all his broken promises and enormous aspirations, is an innovator. He’s proven his enchantment with taking well-tread ideas and making them into something unexpected. Populous remains one of the most important games of all time, and that couldn’t have happened without some desire to step beyond the established setting. Fable to a lesser extent and certainly with the Milo demo, Peter Molyneux hasn’t made anything flat-out terrible in decades. But his tendency to get excited about his new ideas so much has led to a negative perception of who he is: many in the gaming community consider him a dreamer, not a doer. Quite frankly, I think that’s unfair to say. Some companies are perfectly content with what they’re doing in gaming, but Molyneux has proven time and again that he’s never satisfied with his creations. He’s always reaching further, even if his eagerness to progress has made him despise the past and ignore the present in awkwardly narrow-sighted ways.

The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim is a game that bleeds with interactive lore, with players picking up books about Argonian erotica or backstories on different cities. The Witcher, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Cyberpunk 2077, all have in-game notes to find that add even more information of the world to your lore memory bank. But with Fable, if memory serves me correctly, the lore was tucked away on an external official website rather than available in-g

Peter Molyneux’s role in the gaming industry has been one of the longest in the industry’s history, with his first game, The Entrepreneur , being released in 1984. The Entrepreneur , despite Molyneux’s enthusiasm toward it, was a mass commercial failure, said to have sold only two copies (one of which rumored to be from his own mother). After the game’s brutal release, Molyneux left the industry for the next three years, until he teamed up with Les Edgar to begin the game development company Bullfrog Productions. Though the company released a scrolling shooter named Fusion a year before, 1989 marked the release of Populous , Molyneux’s claim to fame and what is arguably the very first “god game.” Populous was a commercial success, becoming the best-selling game from the company and becoming the progenitor for future strategy games of its kind. Further Bullfrog games like Dungeon Keeper followed in Populous’ wake until Molyneux created Lionhead Studios to produce other god games like Black and White . Molyneux steadily continued experimenting with new ways to play with Fable on Xbox and use of Microsoft’s Kinect peripheral (with the tech demo Milo ). Currently with 22 Cans Studios, Molyneux is developing a “spiritual successor” to his game Populous called Godus , which met funding goals on Kickstarter in 2012.