Peter Molyneux returns to announced Masters of Albion, a game set in the Fable universe. Except it also isn’t – WGB

The infamous Peter Molyneux made his return to game developement at yesterday’s Gamescom Opening Night to reveal his latest project, Masters of Albion.

The Fable series, which Peter Molyneux helped create, are also set in Albion. So what gives? Well, Albion is actually just another name for Great Britain, meaning Peter Molyneux can set his new game there without any copyright issue.

But that isn’t where it ends. Pete’s new game does tempt fate more by drawing obvious comparisons to the Fable games, from the art-style to the name of the town in the trailer – Oakridge, which sounds close to Fable’s town of Oakfield located in Rookridge. Then there’s the humour, the chicken sounds (Fable is famous for its chickens) and even the descriptor of “my hero”, which feels like an obvious nod to all of Fable’s lead character’s being called the Hero.

But what actually is this new game? It’s a blend of genres. IGN’s preview describes it best: “Masters of Albion aims to be something of a Molyneux Greatest Hits; a project that revisits ideas from many of the prolific designer’s past games and reinterprets them for the modern age. The result seems to be a mashup of Dungeon Keeper, Black & White, and Fable – a city-building god game that’s also a third-person RPG. Yup, Molyneux’s trademark wild ambition is definitely back.”

The trailer though, is janky. Clunky, stock-sounding sound effects, and weirdly janky cursor movements give this new project a very rough feel. Hopefully that’s just because it’s very early in development.