If there ever was a game designer that should not talk about his games prior to their release date, it's Peter Molyneux. When discussing his projects, Molyneux has a childlike sense of excitement where he will enthusiastically share details on his grand ambitions for the title. This is actually quite refreshing in itself, because who doesn't enjoy hearing someone passionately discuss their creative projects? The problem with this occurs when the game in question is actually released. The game itself could be good, even great if it were simply judged for what it is, but disappointment is going to happen when a title fails to deliver on lofty promises no matter how good it may otherwise. The most memorable example of Molyneux creating hype that the game couldn't live up to was 2004's Xbox exclusive action RPG Fable.

With a sprawling, graphically intense world part of a near fifteen-hour campaign, Fable: The Journey breaks any conceptions of what a Kinect title can be. It’s not demo material or a novelty release, but an uncompromising Adventure game DLC game that weaves an engrossing story while utilizing the full potential of motion control. It doesn’t always work flawlessly, but the sheer ambition alone makes it a must-own for Fable and Kinect fans alike.

Project Ego sounded like nothing I had played before. Being able to pick and choose which quests to take wasn't exactly groundbreaking, but the idea of the game taking place across the character's lifetime was intriguing. There was talk about how the character would be designed and uniquely tailored to the player's gameplay and they would be able to have children that would have a significant impact in the world. The character would receive unique scars from battle, they could plant a sapling and watch it grow in a massive tree throughout the course of the game and the NPCs would have unique reactions to the player based on their deeds to create the sense of a living world the player was truly a part of.

Colorful characters are encountered along the way that assist in your travels. These characters range from mildly amusing to surprisingly developed. One of the most emotional relationships in the game is with your horse Seren. As she’s with you every step of the way, willing to march into danger at your command, a surprising bond is quickly formed. Camps are periodically reached where, among other things, Seren can be feed, healed and cleaned. Touches like these really go along way to ensure she’s not rendered a lifeless form of transportation.

As is common with Kinect, enjoyment of the title will largely be based on how accurate your set-up is. I played the game with a 42" TV in moderate lighting conditions and adequate space around me. Some will experience the game in better conditions, but I prefer to review Kinect releases with what I feel is a realistic representation of most gamer’s arrangements. To calibrate, there’s a special tool that has you cast spells at stationary enemies. It seems easy enough, but after using the new settings, attacks were going all over the place. It took about four calibrations to get it as accurate as possible. Once calibration is correct, there is a learning curve to get spells accurately cast. To really nail it, your arm must be fully retracted before extending, with the palm facing up at all times. It sounds simple, but remembering to keep correct form during the heat of battle can be tricky.

The combat mechanics played a big part in creating an enjoyable game, but a lot of the fun came from just exploring the world and seeing what sort of trouble one could get into. The goal of the hero was to gain fame, which was measured by their renown which was acquired by completing quests and the reaction of the NPCs was determined by the character's alignment, which was also influenced by their actions. Good characters would seem to develop a bright aura around them and a halo, while evil characters would grow horns and attract pestilence. The NPC behaviors weren't quite as unique as early claims from Project Ego days would have you believe, but they did react based on those factors, though just about everyone gave the same reaction based on the hero's current renown and alignment.

We've all seen action movies where the hero shows up just in time to prevent nuclear bombs being dropped on the United States. Well, the Fallout series is set in a world where that hero never showed up. What makes the Fallout games particularly good source material for a movie adaptation isn't so much the story, but the setting. When the dust clears, America is a blasted wasteland occupied by small pockets of life including bandits, monsters, slavers, weird cults, military factions like the Enclave and the Brotherhood of Steel, and a whole lot of regular people just trying to scratch a living. For the right filmmaker, this world could be the perfect backdrop for an original story set in the Fallout unive

This idea continues with microtransactions, something that Molyneux has been dead-set on improving. Trust me, I don’t like how microtransactions are being used today , but Molyneux has been working on ways to use them without letting them lean toward the realm of exploitation. He’s condemned the use of microtransactions in the mobile version of Dungeon Keeper , claiming they are not consumer-friendly, but he wants to find a way to make them palatable to an audience. That’s become something of another recurring trait of Molyneux: taking something universally disliked and trying to refine it so that it isn’t hated nearly as much.