No demo for Fable 2, says Molyneux

By Ellie Gibson Published 14 May, 2008

Not if he has anything to do with it.

Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux has told Eurogamer there will be no playable demo for Fable 2 - at least not if the decision is left to him.

Speaking at Microsoft's Spring Showcase event in San Francisco Molyneux said, "There's no plan for a demo at the moment. Demos are probably the trickiest and hardest things to design, because there are probably 60- or 70- odd features we introduce to the player, and it takes us about ten to 15 hours to introduce all those.

"Trying to squeeze some of those down into a demo is really hard, if not impossible," he observed. "So I would vote not to do a demo."

Fable 2, an Xbox 360 exclusive, is due out this "holiday". According to Molyneux, Lionhead is "at the end of the road now" as far as development goes, and all the game's main features are in place.

"There aren't any new ideas going in," he confirmed. "In fact - and this is something I've had to learn - each idea is like a little baby. You have to nurture it and grow it. But I've learned over the years that if something doesn't fit, you have to get rid of it."

For more on Fable 2, visit the gamepage.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (27) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • immateriaux #1 4 years ago

    Won't get to see how much is left out from Molyneaux's fantasy version of the game that way. Until it's bought anyhow.

  • dryden555 #2 4 years ago

    i am not buying Fable 2. fable 1 was utter crud as a _game_. Looked pretty on the XBOX1 and that was it.

  • YourMessageHere #3 4 years ago

    "In fact - and this is something I've had to learn - each idea is like a little baby. You have to nurture it and grow it. But I've learned over the years that if something doesn't fit, you have to get rid of it."

    In other news, Peter Molyneux is under investigation after police found dozens of dessicated remains of little babies in a shed out the back of Lionhead.

  • Psychotext #4 4 years ago

    dryden555: Reviewers all agree with you... oh wait, no they don't. Let me guess, you got caught in the Molyneux hype?

  • Perjoss #5 4 years ago

    I can't wait for this game, and it has nothing to do with what Peter M has to say, I never listen to him, he takes too long to say anything and when he does finally deliver his sentence it doesn't really make much sense.

  • DSKUK #6 4 years ago

    Anyway, the inclusion of multiplayer has automatically made this game less appealing than it already was after the pretty average effort of the original.

    Really? The inclusion of co-op pushed me even more. I loved the first game, even if half the stuff he promised was not present and it was a little on the short side. The story was great and I loved the part where you got captured and was in the prison and had to escape. The look on your character's face during the torture scenes were priceless

  • ronuds #7 4 years ago

    Why would the inclusion of multiplayer turn someone off to a game? LOL!! Don't fucking play multiplayer then!

  • Lukus #8 4 years ago

    Holiday as in Christmas time? Or Holiday in the Cliff Richard sense?

  • hjarg #9 4 years ago

    Let's see the Molyneux at Lionhead profile:

    Black and White. Nice concept, arduous interface and most of the time, boring as hell. Never finished.
    Fable. Nice concept, most of the times bloody boring and combat wasn't worth a thing. Sure, was nice to own a house and wife in all different cities, but they meant... nothing... absolutely nothing. Same for the rest of the game- nothing special
    Movies. Nice concept. Really wanted to love this one and in some parts- even did. But whoever designed the interface should be shot. Especially as time advanced, studio grew and stars became plenty, it stopped being a game and ended as micromanagement hell.
    B&W2. Nice concept, for the rest- look B&W1.

    All of them have been nice concepts, but worthless games. I'm not holding my breath on Fable 2. And no buy unless there is a demo or a friend buys it and i can test it.

  • super_monty #10 4 years ago

    No demo, maybe it sucks big time, many of the hyped games that were meant to be AAA have turned out very poor.

  • Xerx3s #11 4 years ago

    Tsk, as if Fable needs a demo.

  • Xerx3s #12 4 years ago

    "All of them have been nice concepts, but worthless games."

    Spot the person who didn't play the said games.

  • Rirekon #13 4 years ago

    @ DcP729UK;
    I've seen the combat system a couple of times, it actually works really well. Easy to pick up, fun to master.

  • orakio #14 4 years ago

    one more populous please

  • WinterSnowblind #15 4 years ago

    @super_monty

    While the original didn't live up to a lot of the promises that were made, it was far from a poor game. The problem was just the hype. We were basically expecting a bigger and better version of Morrowind. Instead it simply turned out to be a fun adventure/RPG, if it weren't for all of those original promises, I don't think anyone would have had a problem.

    The difference with the second game is that we know what to expect, if they can simply release a bigger version of the original, them I'm on board. But this time Molyeneux has at least learned. All of the features hyped thus far are already implemented in the game and have been demonstrated, unlike with the original were most of them hadn't left planning, and in some cases sounded like they had been made up on the spot in the interview.

    Really looking forward to this.

  • RazorObsession #16 4 years ago

    i hope molly has expanded the trophy system from fable one. boy would i like to weave the skin from my fallen enemies into some kind of superheros cape, and perhaps a necklace of ears or maybe hollow out a skull and use it as a helmet. that sort of thing.

  • schachmatt #17 4 years ago

    My gripe with Fable was that it's a children's game with run-of-the-mill storytelling.

  • Xerx3s #18 4 years ago

    lol?

  • peterfll #19 4 years ago

    Peter: see Crackdown demo for how to handle leveling-up the player within the constraints of a demo yet retaining loveliness and encouraging purchasing.

  • Darren #20 4 years ago

    I'm mildly excited about Fable 2 despite thinking the original was initially good but ultimately a disappointment. I love the idea of having a dog and it does look good. Hopefully the sequel will live up to the hype this time round. /crosses fingers

  • kangarootoo #21 4 years ago

    "In fact - and this is something I've had to learn - each idea is like a little baby. You have to nurture it and grow it. But I've learned over the years that if something doesn't fit, you have to get rid of it."

    The man is mental. I particularly like "and this is something I've had to learn". You mean you weren't born with all this wisdom already installed Pete? Well how about that.

  • septimus #22 4 years ago

    Molyneux made some great games back in the day; Syndicate, Theme Park etc.

    I liked Fable even though it was a slight let down, the atmosphere was good. Still have hopes for this one, demo or not.

  • Frosty840 #23 4 years ago

    Good for you, Pete.
    Giving players enough information to make an informed choice about their potential purchases is costly, difficult and wrong and it's time to take a stand against such abhorrent practices!

    It is pointless to take the time, or spare the effort to create a short campaign which demonstrates key gameplay elements and player abilities simply. Pointless, I say. And "really hard"! I mean, who wants to play a game where the devs have made an effort? Better to just chuck out anything that doesn't work right; and that includes demos.

    Right?

  • WinterSnowblind #24 4 years ago

    @schachmatt

    Was that a joke, or are you really that ignorant?
    I don't know many kids games that feature this level of violence, swearing and sex - and on that point you can even be homosexual. What kind of kids games have you been playing?

  • schachmatt #25 4 years ago

    I really don't know how my comment could be seen as ignorant.

    Just because right now there are a lot of commotions about some content doesn't make the 12 to 16 year olds stupid idiots, who don't know games/stories from reality.
    Fable had about as much violence/sexuality as the average fairy tale before they were translated to be "politically correct", maybe even less. It also wasn't told in an engaging way, but that's just my experience with it.

    Also, just putting violence/sexuality in a game certainly doesn't make it more mature if it's just about one dimensional character cutouts.
    Edited by 1 at 15/05/08 @ 12:31

  • kangarootoo #26 4 years ago

    "who don't know games/stories from reality"

    What? Who said anyone who enjoyed playing Fable 1 couldn't tell reality from fantasy. I know a fair few people who liked Fable, but none of them thought it was real.

    "Fable had about as much violence/sexuality as the average fairy tale before they were translated to be "politically correct", maybe even less."

    The original fary tales of which you speak weren't actually aimed at children. They only became children's stories after the sanitising you describe. So by the same measure you seem to be saying that Fable ISN'T in fact for kids... but that it would be if they cleaned it up a bit?

  • Pasco #27 4 years ago

    Dear Peter,

    I don't care about your 70 features. I want to play a demo to find out if as opposed to the prequel you now got the basic things right. Things like framerate, responsiveness, loading times, if it is satisfying to hit enemies and things like that. I don't care how much I can customize my character, when just walking around in the game is nerve-wrecking because it feels sluggish, I am interupted by loading times, I look at mediocre animations in low framerates and so on.

    Note to all developers: Make it so, that walking around in your game is not displeasing. Then you can go on and implement everything else. I am also looking at you Bethesda and you Bioware.

    Thanks for reading