Fable – The Journey: Our Concerns Over Kinect
Remember when Fable 3 was released last year? Saying that it was an unimpressive title release is a bit of an understatement, especially the PC version. Fable 2 was very well received but Fable 3, however, did not contain many of the features that made the preceding game so great, such as the wide variety and range of customization which left a nasty taste in the mouth of those eager for the next installment. At E3 2011, a demo of the next Fable installment was presented by Lionhead and again, fans were left unimpressed.
Fable – The Journey is brought to you by the mad scientist that is Peter Molyneux. It will deviate a little from previous titles by running as a first person shooter on the Unreal Engine 3. The sting in the tale is that this title was developed exclusively for Kinect. Players will cast spells against enemies by using different hand gestures through the Kinect controller. There is a spell crafting mode that will enable you, as the player, to cast spells for either attack or defense. You will also be able to fashion your own tools, such as hammers, spears, shields, swords, and fishing rods even. Fans of the series are understandably upset at what they see as a downgrading of a serious RPG to the level of a casual game such as Wii Sports. Many players feel very self conscious around waving their arms around to wield magic, I for one am of the controller in one hand, pizza in the other variety of gamer. Kinect is not for me because it requires me to stand…
Fable – The Journey is still very like the previous titles in that you gain life force to create new spells and to level up. However, it is comparably limited. Fans have even already dubbed it as a “rail shooter” as the video released at E3 showed that the player had to control a horse-drawn cart though these fears were laid to rest by Molyneux, who insists that the game is still open world.
It seems that Lionhead are walking a fine line between innovation and technology for technology’s sake. Xbox 360 Kinect is a remarkable invention. It has allowed some disabled people to speak for the first time and has opened the door to many exciting gaming innovations, but the question is, should Lionhead be meddling with an already established and well loved franchise such as Fable? Kinect’s connotations with the Wii is in danger of alienating the hard-core gaming fanbase. A fanbase that has already suffered from poor releases. I guess this really is make or break for the Fable franchise.
The fourth installment is brought to you by Lionhead Studios and published by Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360 gameplay. It should be out by 2012.
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