Peter Molyneux has a bit of an issue with overhyping things. Make no mistake, the man has plenty of classic games like Populous, Syndicate, and Fable to his name, but towards the end of his tenure with Microsoft/Lionhead Studios, he gained a reputation for wildly overpromising with things like the never-delivered Kinect life sim Project Milo. After leaving Microsoft, Molyneux started the new studio 22cans, which has worked on a variety of high-concept mobile games like Curiosity: What’s Inside the Cube? and Godus, which either disappointed or were simply never finished.
Well, Molyneux isn’t letting a few wrong steps keep him down. In a recent interview with Gamereactor Molyneux discussed his latest project, and after acknowledging fans would be “very annoyed and angry” if he did his typical overhyping, he kind of proceeded to do just that. It seems 22cans’ next project will be more of a full-fledged PC/console project, rather than a mobile experiment, with Molyneux comparing it to Fable, Dungeon Keeper, and Black & White. He also claims he’s devised a “mechanic that has never been seen in a game before.”
“I do think we have stumbled […] on a mechanic that has never been seen in a game before. I feel like we are exploiting that mechanic in a world and an environment, which may be familiar to people. And because it is in a familiar environment, it’ll be a lot fresher. And a lot of this is very mystical, because I’m trying to avoid telling you what it’s like. It’s going to be a lot more like a Fable, Black & White, Dungeon Keeper type of experience. We’ve almost […] made the decision to make it a PC/console title, rather than it being mobile. I’m not saying that we’re never going to do it on mobile, but we’re definitely leading on PC and console, mainly because we need the power.”
Well, that’s a fine statement, but it also raises some questions. Fable, Black & White, and Dungeon Keeper were very different games, so saying it’s like them doesn’t really tell us much, other than the new project is ambitious. As for that new mechanic never seen in a game before, well, the jury’s out – sometimes mechanics have never been seen in a game before for a good reason. But it seems like Molyneux is pretty invested in this one – to the point he’s actually helping program the game (the first time he’s done that since Black & White back in 2001).
Interestingly, Molyneux also had some comments on the recently-shown trailer for the new Fable (which he’s not involved in). Molyneux seems to be relatively excited about the game, but would have liked to see more gameplay (I think a lot of people are in that boat). He also went out of his way to point out the humor in the original Fable games was more about the wacky things the game let you do, rather than the writing, perhaps calling out the overtly-jokey tone of Microsoft’s new trailer.
What do you think? Will Molyneux ever make something worthwhile again? Or will the cycle of hype and disappointment continue?
