Peter Molyneux Opens Up on Fable 2

The Lionhead boss has been uncharacteristically quiet about his new game, but the cracks are starting to show.

Peter Molyneux is often criticized for overselling his games, promising features that don't fit within the tight constraints of game development. For his first Xbox 360 game, Fable 2, the Lionhead boss is going the other way, leaving us with few hard facts. This week he started to open up.

Speaking at the Game Developers Conference, Molyneux spoke about the scope of the game, which is going to be much broader this time, according to a report of his presentation at Kotaku.

For starters the world is about a hundred times bigger than in Fable. And there is more combat and more impressive magic spells. But that's only the beginning.

Molyneux says he has three new elements for Fable 2, though we only get to hear about one of them now - your dog.

Each player will have a dog that will act as your guide (there's no on-screen display), your friend, and quite often your weapon too. You won't have any direct control over your pet, but he will learn from you.

Molyneux also hinted that Lionhead would be offering more dogs as downloadable content. "This isn't meant to be any sort of announcement, but we now have downloadable content. It's pretty obvious what we are going to do," he said.

One idea from Fable that is being taken much further is your relationship with other people. In Fable 2 you'll be able to have a wife and she can even get pregnant if you choose not to use protection. Or you can play as a women and have a child of your own.

These additions are just part of Molyneux's attempt to take RPGs further, to give them more emotion, and to involve players more. Will Fable 2 change the way you look at games? Molyneux's is going to do his best to do that.

"If we don't think that Fable is going to be a landmark game, what is the bloody point? We've got to strive to make a great game, we don't want to strive to make a good game."

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo