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Peter Molyneux says RPG games are rubbish
Author: Joe MartinPublished: 8th August 2007
Peter Molyneux reckons that the one-button combat system for Fable 2 is perfect for casual and hardcore gamers alike.
Of course, that’s not a bad thing – the man obviously has a boundless passion and enthusiasm for his games and the fact that resources occasionally hold him back is inevitable. Still, he may have gone a bit too far recently.
In a recent interview, Molyneux attacked the entire RPG genre when talking about the controversial new one-button combat in Fable 2, his latest game.
Combat in Fable 2 will involve only a single button – no directions, no mouse, no nothing. The button is context-sensitive and responds only to the timing of the button presses. A well timed press will smash an opponent into a wall and another press will follow up with a sword slash, a second later and the same sequence may cause the character to stumble and fall over.
“It's amazing for a role playing game, because most role playing games are shit! Oblivion was a great game, but the combat was rubbish; we all talked about it being rubbish. So imagine you had a great role-playing game and really, really good combat system.”
Hm. We’d like to see you say that to the face of either Bethesda or Bioware, eh Peter?
What’s your favourite RPG game of all time? What’s your favourite game genre? Answers in the forums, please.
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Comments (49)Stats: 0.075 seconds
I laugh at puny Fable. Fable, the "Morrowind killer". Has he called this one the "Oblivion killer" yet?
But, ah, aren't blanket statements wonderful things?
I will admit that there are a lot of RPGs out there that have... decidedly non-intuitive combat systems, but there are some out there that have truly inspired ways of managing something that is so complex in reality that distilling it down into keyboard and mouse or controller manipulation is a feat in and of itself.
100% agree
I think Molyneux should give up now and go make Dungeon Keeper 3.
I personally didn't think Oblivion was that great. It was ok, but not really fantastic. Then again, I'm biased as all I needed to do was run backwards whilst shooting arrows. Archer Cheesecake!
Fable 1 had good combat. Why they are changing it is beyond me.
I'm a huge fan of both Oblivion and Fable, but Molyneux's the one with something to prove not the other way round (cheeky chap does like to embellish a lot :)).
@Fwalm - I've seen the video. The gameplay looked great and the combat was exciting. And then you realise that somebody is doing that by just tapping the same button over and over without really thinking or knowing the outcome for sure. Seemed kind of pointless to me.
And yes, Dark Messiah had awesome combat. It relied a lot on set-pieces and physics traps, but it was awesome combat nonetheless.
That was the best rpg ever
No, it was better than Morrowind's, but it still wasn't great, if you want to see a good first person melee combat system, look at Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, that blows Oblivion out of the water.
Yep, that's why he's saying it's for hardcore and casual gamers, a casual gamer can just button mash, whereas a hardcore gamer will learn when pressing the attack button at a certain time will cause a certain action. I think this combat system could be incredibly awesome and lead to some cool looking fights, or it could just end up a bit meh, I'm hoping it's going to be awesome and it looks like it will be.
QFT - we'll end up with great looking fights which don't involve the player at all. Press the X button now. Press the X button now. Press the X button now. Press the...
I think if they are going to tackle it in this manner, they'd be better suited to doing it like Fahrenheit - use all four buttons and try to match the on-screen prompts. But slow it down. Each missed button would give the opponent a chance to get a hit in, each sequence completed would mean the player gets a hit off. Would be frentic enough for the hardcore (and involving) whilst casual gamers would find it fun (Dance, Dance revolution style). In fact, it's just the current style but expanded for all four buttons.
thx for the hint.. ordered it
Obviously, he hasn't played the fallout series if he thinks RPGs are dead, obviously he hasn't seen the games installed on my computer (70% rpgs)
...isometric view ftwin
Any opportunity to pimp Fahrenheit....
Seriously though, you're right, what's hardcore about simply timing stuff well? I didn't realise it was THAT simple. How could anyone possibly develop anything remotely resembling a personal fighting style when all you can do is time stuff well... or not time stuff well. Do you even have any choice over what happens?
He critisises RPG combat, not RPG games.
Which in all fairness, is mostly correct.
That's the video. And like I said, it looks good, but you are *still* only pressing one button. I can't see any directions used to do anything other than move closer to an enemy. So directions IMO aren't part of the combat but are part of the movement. Pressing X and left won't, from what I've seen, do anything different to pressing X and right.
While timing being important does sound like a rather good idea, just having a single combat button takes away all the tactics and skill - the game is no longer good for us hard-core gamers who like having to worry about a solid dozen different combat keys doing a dozen different things. While it might be better for casual gamers, I'd much rather have something more hard-core.
Edit: I don't think there is any one "best way". Look at games in general. In almost any genre there are some that focus on extreme realism and some that are incredibly "arcadey" and many that mix the two. Different people want different games and most of us enjoy a bit of both types.
I know, and all of them are like 5+ years old. And the ones I've played were not fantastically good either.
I loved oblivions combat system, and Dark Messiah was so much better I agree. This guy doesn't know what hes talking about.
But then again, it could turn out ****, but it can't be worse than Fable 1's combat system, that was basically one button combat.
What an amazing game.....
But as ever, I'll reserve judgement until if seen some in-depth reviews.
[Oh, and am I the only one who didn't like DM of MM? Linear.]
galaga redux! woot! 1980s games combat style ftw
Dude, roller coasters are on rails too, do you think those aren't fun?
How was it linear? You could skip stuff, no do this, do optional that, multiple (but nearly identical) endings. Its no oblivion, but it definitely wasn't forcing and blatantly linear.
Er... 'Dude'... I didn't get that far through it so it may have improved, but what I did see what linear. Slight variations were possible, but it was still linear. It was certainly more a FPS and not an RPG.
I know plenty of people liked it. I didn't.
You really should play the whole thing, even if you need to cheat a bit. Its great fun hacking up people with a katana at the end.
I agree, it had RPG elements, but it was a FPS at heart. Oblivion is a RPG that does the FPS thing as well. Combining the two would create an incredible game though.
(though my previous comment was better)
Rubbish, good, good, good, rubbish, don't know, great
Funny that the newest game out of that lot is B&W2 and that was pants compared to B&W1 - a real step backwards
So he wants to make the sequel 'better' by dumbing it down even more? :|
Yeah? You've had hands-on time with the game then? ;)
It's hardly dumbing it down is it, Fable essentially had a one button combat button. Same with Oblivion really, yes you have block too but the majority of the time I just dodged my opponents unless I wanted to have a fight that looked cool. Morrowind and Oblivion's combat basically entailed running up to someone, and furiously clicking the LMB until one of you died, if you made yourself an overpowered enchanted item then all it required was a single click on the majority of enemies. Yes, the option to do more than that was there, but it was hardly ever used. I think Molly (his name is far too complicated for my tiny brain to spell) saw that this kind of thing was happening, and probably thought, what's the point in adding in a complicated combat system if all everyone is going to do eventually is resort to using the basic attack over and over because it's easier? I'm going to make a combat system where the basic attack is the only one available, but the basic attack would be situational, making the battles a lot more interesting.
Theme Park is rubbish?
Either way, i didn't like the game, and even when i tried theme park world a few years later, i still hated it
I tried rollercoaster tycoon as well, but didn't like that either - so i don't think i like the whole theme park genre