Peter Molyneux and his studio 22cans returns to the land of Albion to give players a new look at the world from the beloved Fable series in the new game Masters of Albion. Masters of Albion received its announcement trailer at Gamescom Opening Night Live, and it seems more in line with Molyneux’s other god games: Black & White or Dungeon Keeper.
The trailer features a small tour of a rather ordinary town in the game, where by day townspeople and players focus on creation, while night time is focused on defense. During the day players are free to play god of a growing town, able to control nearly every facet of life as they choose, at night the town must be defended from monster attacks. During this segment of the trailer, the game reveals that at any time players can switch from playing as god to playing as one of the citizens of their town. Basically at any time players can switch from playing a god game to a third person role-playing game. This is one way to defend a settlement, but players don’t need to possess anyone to defend their towns, having access to spells to deal with hordes of enemies.
However, despite this unique feature, the game is being met with some degree of trepidation on places like Reddit. Most of this might spring from Molyneux’s previous game with 22cans Godus. Godus was kickstarter launched by Molyneux and 22cans, marketed as the spiritual successor to Molyneux’s classic Populous, and designed for PC and mobile alike. The game entered early streaming access on PC in 2013, and was released on mobile in 2014. The game has had mostly negative reviews, with its currency system for modifying landscape, slow moving gameplay, and the game’s relationship with Mobage. As of December 2023, the game is no longer available on Steam or PC, but is still available and being updated on mobile.
While Godus’ fraught history might not be a glowing debut for 22cans, Masters of Albion might be a redemption arc in the making. Whichever happens, only time will tell.