Peter Molyneux: Fable II Was "Rubbish"

Peter Molyneux, the creator of Fable, is famous for enthusiastically overhyping his games to the point that they cannot possibly live up to players' expectations. This is the man who made the simple addition of a dog in Fable II sound like an industry-changing revolution.

So imagine their surprise, when GamesRadar meet Molyneux for a Fable III demo during E3 last week, and the first thing he says to them is: "Fable II's story was rubbish." He wasn't done. Before the end of their half-hour together, Molyneux had used that same word to trash the maps, menus, visuals, weapons and co-op in his last game as well.

[dangert12]

rubish? it may have not lived up to your hype peter but this game is not rubish its actually a personal favourite and i would tell anyone who is interested in a 360 to pick it up

@dizzleK
not out the industry i just think he has had enough of microsoft personally, he still creates good games and your right he should talk down on them, :S you didt like iver fable =/ o well guess its not for every 1

@Jamegohanssj5
he admitted he was interested in move it would be nice to see what he could do with the ps3s power etc or even with move then guy is a real talent, but i doubt his going anywhere

[Jamegohanssj5]

He's leaving to start making games for Sony soon.

TGSI

[Conloles]

Wow took him a while

[sid4gamerfreak]

@Jamegohanssj5: Keep dreaming...

I think its brave for a dev to step and say his earlier game was rubbish. Hopefully he can improve and take action on those words and make him next game better

[NecrumSlavery]

Where's B.C. Peter? I've been waiting for that game almost 7 years.

[tinybigman]

it was a waste of $60 for me and i will not be buying part 3. both part 1&2 were huge letdowns.

[WildArmed]

IMO, Fable 2 was great experience, but the climax was 'rubbish'

I enjoyed playing it alot, but it's most due to the fact I loved Fable: Lost Chapters sooo much.
I wouldn't have really given it much thought to pick up Fable 2 if i hadn't played Fable: LC (one of the best WRPG ever!)

But Fable 2 fell short of my expectations, esp. with the un-inspired story line.

[Anon1974]

I loved the game. The story actually didn't matter that much to me as the game to me was more about the side quests. I found those more interesting than the main story, but that didn't in any way dampen how much fun I had with this game.

Can't wait for Fable 3.

[emk2004]

the end was horrible and the story was not as good as the first games. but still i also had problems with the gamepay i liked the first games hack and slash better, and the no mana system i thought was stupid all you had to do was hod x down for like 4 seconds with lighting and you would just pwn everything.

[Jaces]

For once Peter I agree with you. Better not repeat your mistake with Fable III

[TheTwelve]

Course, he didn't say it was rubbish upon release.

12

[TheTwelve]

double-post

[tplarkin7]

The actual quote is "Fable II's story was rubbish". But, there's no professionalism in games journalism, so this is typical.

[knight626]

do u see the pattern? mostly all xbox developers say that their game will push the xbox to its limits but when they make a sequel that bash their own game saying the first or second game was rubbish or crap and they say their next game will be better

[Garnett]

I was just going to say this, its not all xbox devs its only peter.

He is known for over hyping his games, and if he says Fable 2 was shit, then we say "Oh fable 2 was good"

[games4fun]

rubbish was the fact of how little depth the game really had. It was a bare bones rpg with a tacked on love system. Not to mention each person in the game was 1 dimensional. Everyone looked the same. No personal story or anything to uncover of a random person. You only learned anything about the heroes for the main quest.

Fable 3 should have personal vendetta's. The guy powers up the longer it takes to find you or more people join in his posse as he recruits people to kill you.

How about 20 randomly placed people who you can have an interactive love story with them and get to know them. Sure not every gamer will find them and it may even be great for people who created a marriage only to find a character with depth and are forced to make a decision in terms of loyalty.

How about having far reaching consequences for your actions. Being barred from a whole town forever. Or having to change your appearance or something like that. The art style can be light hearted but the game consequences don't need to be.

There are hundreds of things they could do to make fable a worthwhile game. Just simple things, hell Bioware's Oblivian has more depth than Fable in terms of instanced stories you can do. So what is a first party's excuse.

Looking back on it now, i feel as if Fable 2 is a kiddy watered down half the content version of Oblivian.

Peter Molyneux Step your game up. Having a cool artstyle isn't cutting it anymore. Especialy if you keep hyping stuff the way you do.

how about adding the extra discs.
What is with first party microsoft games skimping on the disc count. it may be "last" gen but at least we know the content is there. Fable 3 should be a four disc game.

[Olly]

It's Bethesda Softworks who made Oblivion, not BioWare :P.

[games4fun]

thanks for correcting me i usually don't get studios mixed up.

bubble.

[games4fun]

.

[AAACE5]

Now I don't feel so bad for not liking Fable 2! There were so many things I didn't like about that game. One thing were the voice actors. You can't put anyone with a european accent in a role and have it be good. Just like american voices... some people just aren't worth listening to!

Long story short... I won't be buying Fable 3 either!

[AliTheBrit19]

Same here Danger, was a real personal favourite of mine, love the feel of the game, kind of to me sums up what a video game is.

[dizzleK]

peter, shut up. you saying your own work is shit now really doesn't inspire me to run out and buy fable 3.

with all due respect this asshat should really just be drummed out of the industry. now fable 2 is garbage but before it came out this prick couldn't stop hyping it. i actually agree though, fable 2 was just as disappointing as the first. fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me. fable doesn't get a 3rd chance, i'm not being suckered again.

[SOAD]

Do you even have a 360?

If you do then you probably wouldn't call Fable 2 garbage.

Fable 2 has its flaws but it falls short of being a bad game. It's a decent game with a few problems and was hyped to be a masterpiece, which it wasn't.

A garbage game is the Iron Man movie game or Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust.

[Deathracer]

Yea Fable II was an awesome game, I'm playing it right now and still enjoying it. Plus getting ready for Fable III ;)

[Millionaire]

Peter Molyneux: Fable II Was "Rubbish"

Welcome to reality brah

[Gamester101]

I think it'd just be best if he kept quiet..

[Moonboots]

Yeah, did somebody drug up Peter? He's going off like a drunken prom date..

I believe he said the same thing about Fable 1 and said Fable 2 corrected much of the things he didn't like. Now he is saying the same for Fable 2? I actually liked Fable 2 but the way he talks makes me feel like a sucker for buying his game. Way to go Pete! Here is a spot of tea and a place to lay down and sober up.

EDIT: Or this is a miss quote??

[skip2mylou]

sorry i went into his house before every e3 and drugged him up and put marry in his room with all the windows and doors closed :/ u know how we ninjas do

[GuruStarr78]

a few days ago.....finished the main story.....it was fun...but nowhere near worth 60 dollars as a new release......looking forward to fable 3, but I'll probably wait till it hits the bargain bin like 2.....

[00]

was how simple it was no challenge at all.

[Al Bundy]

Agreed.

[quadalupeupe]

He makes no sense, he back talks and promises crap

MOLYNEUXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxx xxxx

[Tony-A]

"....huh??"

[JonnyBigBoss]

It definitely wasn't rubbish, it just wasn't as good as the first.

[Ivan Drago IV]

Anyone else getting tired of hearing devs saying stuff like "our game was rubbish" funny how they never say this when they actually release the game. Peter Molyneux has said it and CliffyB said it about Gears 2. Why couldnt they just make the game good to begin with? Why do they call it rubbish AFTER the fact?

If they think their games are rubbish why should i buy their sequels?

[Olly]

It's called hindsight, many developers are going to scrutinise their games and pick up on the things they got wrong. On release it's a great relief, an achievement, but looking back at what you wanted and the game you made usually yields disappointment.

[tiamat5]

I think that Peter and the people at Microsoft have lost it completely. The strain of competing with Sony and Nintendo has finally gotte to them. The first conference with the circus proved that Microsoft is bonkers and now Peter is calkng his own games crap and saying strange things. Must be something in their water

[DA_SHREDDER]

Agreed Mr. Moylneux. I thought Fable 2 was utter shit. The magic system destroyed the entire game, and the story was asinine. However, Fable 1 was a masterpiece, and I will cherish that game for a very very long time.

[games4fun]

if there was no magic in the game. Or your character can't use it, think of how resourceful you have to be.

Instead you just slowed down time and slashed/shot everyone.

Or even making him only to do simple magic like level 1 spells or something would have added a challenge.

[Raider69]

The Fable games are to easy to casual,theres no challenge on the fights and after the first 5 to 6 hours i just got bored!Please make a difficult setting or ramp up difficulty on this new one!

[mobijoker]

Pet Mole is blabbering to sell his game-so typical.Btw fable 2 was rubbish coz it was not on pc.

[TheHardware]

what a great way to promote your next game...."our last game was rubbish" lol

[Redempteur]

fable 2 was full of bugs ... quest buggy i might say

[-MD-]

The way your character moves in Fable 2 is horrible. You basically feel like you're floating.

The game itself was decent but I remember hardcore framrate problems when you spam casted spells. Also a bunch of bugs nobody ever fixed.

I never played the first one so I can't compare. I'll give 3 a shot and see if they actually learned something.

[ChronoJoe]

Yep, pretty much garbage. Fable 1 was relatively innovative, but since then nothings changed, from what I've seen of Fable 3... unless there is absurd levels of depth... it looks like more of the same.

So Peter will be saying Fable 3 will be rubbish in two years, if that's the case though. It's not like they get worse over time, they're trash on release.

Not that I think that mind you. They're okay. Not the best, but pretty fun. :)

[Kassanova07]

This guy should retire, he's burned out.

[kenshin329]

compared to the first one it isn't as good but it was still fun.

[ONYX737]

Even if the game did not live up to his initial expectations why just take a huge dump on the time that both the dev team and players of the game put into it! way to hype your 3rd entry into you trilogy. "the second one was a big hot pile of S#IT so the 3rd is gonna be good by default" I hate the abundant over-hype, trash talk and double speak of this gen.

[HighTreason]

lol, no sh!t, I've been saying that since the day it was announced.

[darthkai]

Peter Molyneux bashing his OLD game in order to hype his NEW game. Boy, I sure didn't see THAT one coming...

[ONYX737]

I didn't know he did this before. I feel kinda mad cause I just bought this game a few weeks ago at a CEX used cause a friend said it was good. I'm only about half an hour maybe a little more. Now Im kinda disheartened

[midgard227]

well apparently i wasnt the only one who thought the game sucked, even the creator thinks so.

the original was alot better for its time.

what i didnt like bout fable 2 is lets see, i go kill a mans wife and he just gets an angry smiley above his head, i stab a guy and he also gets a angry smiley with -4 points.......wtf kinda consequence is that?

he needs to play oblivion, if u punch someone they shud fight, not only fight if they are a guard.

and that stupid dog got on my nerve, sure finding stuff is fine, but why is EVERYTHING BURIED.

the co-op was bad, the character customizatiin sucked, combat was way to simple, the blood/gore was reduced drasstically and replaced with 1 minute long farts.

man i hope the next one is good.....

[Godmars290]

All I'm hearing that when Fable 4 comes out, he'll be calling 3 crap.

How does someone get so full of themselves after failing to deliver "Their Vision!" as many times as he has?

[xCaptainAmazing]

He does have a bad habit of over-hyping his games, but it's because he's an incredibly passionate game designer. You get the sense that he truly loves seeing his ideas come to life. As far as calling your previous game (or just story?) rubbish, I think that's a pretty good way to absolutely kill team morale. The developers put a lot of effort into these titles.

I do see his point of view, though. When you're able to improve the clarity of your vision, everything that came before it just seems inferior.

As for my opinion on Fable 2, I thought it was incredibly fun, but unfortunately too easy, too short, and had a completely lacklustre ending. The game is meant to be played by casuals and hardcore alike, so I could live with it being an easier game if it were to successfully provide a lengthy, compelling narrative with a fitting conclusion. So basically, if he and Lionhead are able to recapture the magic of Fable 1, with a longer playtime, I'm sold. Fable is incredibly unique, and that's why a lot of people like it.

[sarshelyam]

That "Limited Edition"! Let's hope the same vernacular doesn't befall Fable III's Limited Edition. I don't think I can bare another striptease!

[mattman111]

Fable 2 blowed and its true, charge up spells wtf happened to mana charge up is gay if we have charge up skills remove mana.

Also midgard227 made some very good points

[PS360PCROCKS]

I agree, I didn't enjoy it very much. I tried really hard but it was boring.

[byeGollum]

then he tells you how great hes next one will be ...

[Rashonality]

but with all seriousness
what kind of a douche bash his own creation
+
we all know what you can do....
don't try to blame the technology for your lack of talent

[MrChow666]

I agree, I wanted to like it but it sucks

[zorglub]

wow, molyneux just got past the "denial" stage. Yeah, Fable 2 was rubbish, like nearly every 360 "half exclusive" actually...

[Xfanboy]

That just means fable 3 won't be rubbish!!!

[divideby0]

PM just should shut his pie hole.
He is the one who over promisings, gets gamers hopes up and under delivers
if he were more like Ted Price 25% of the Fable over hype would go away

[Olly]

Poor Peter, the guy's a perfectionist. He seems to fixate on little mechanics and overexamine them to a ridiculous degree :\. I haven't been able to play Fable II since I don't own an Xbox, but I can see from reviews, people's reactions, etc. that this was clearly slightly upgraded Fable rather than 'revolutionary' as Peter put it. Of course, that makes it a good game, but I think he looks at the little details rather than the overall themes of the game too much, and so while some things worked well, it just wasn't 'revolutionary' overall and simply had upgraded mechanics. The poor guy is just stuck in a rut with Fable, wish he'd make something else and come back to it later after accumulating a lot of ideas.

I'll play Fable III anyway, since it's coming out for PC, and I'm looking forward to a 'proper' co-op :).

[Guitardr85]

Didn't he make the exact same comment about Fable 1 before Fable 2 came out? This guy needs to stop getting on the hype train and learn how to make games!

[Darkfiber]

I liked Fable 2 but there were certainly some things that weren't that great.

Also, ditch the retarded looking halo. It made me not want to be good. I don't think a simple aesthetic choice should be the only basis for making moral decisions. If that's how your game works, you're doing something wrong.

[AliTheBrit19]

Too much Humility is also a bad thing peter.

The game was fantastic, I couldn't get enough of it, and can't wait for Fable III, The Menu/Map system is brilliant.

[NumeroUno]

Maybe if Molyneux didn't overhype his games so much, maybe the community wouldn't think they're unfinished pieces of "rubbish" either.

[ATi_Elite]

Seeing how Fable 3 is coming to the PC it now has the storage room, physics, and graphics power to be exactly how Peter Molyneux wants it to be.