And no, I'm not talking about the awful attempt at multiplayer in Fable 2.
What I'm talking about is making me feel.
Two notes before I continue. First, spoiler alert if you haven't played either of these games. Second, I love the Fable series. I want to make that clear. Some of my favorite games.
I am also a Peter Molyneux apologist. I think he's a brilliant game designer who tries to push the boundaries of what games are. Most people forget that the man basically made the idea of morality in games a common theme, rather than something that would be cool to do, someday, in the future, in a Star Trek holodeck. He did it. He added choice. He gave the player the ability to change the story. There are a ton of games that do that now, but he was the one who really pushed it and made it part of everyday gameplay.
I think he's still trying to push the boundaries, and I think he gets a lot of flack for it. Which is sad. Yes, he promises a lot that usually doesn't get delivered, but at least he's trying. He used to get people excited about games and the possibilities he offered. Now he just stays quiet about them, cause if he says something that doesn't end up in the final product, everyone jumps up and down yelling how they've been Molyneuxed again. (Yes, I really saw someone say that.)
But, like him or not, the man is inspiring. I think it's really sad that he doesn't let himself open up about what he wants to do with his games. It was always exciting to hear him talk about the possibilities, even if they stayed possibilities. It made me want to make games that turned the possibilities into realities. Someday, I will, and it's because of Peter Molyneux.
Anyway, this is already getting long, and I haven't even gotten to my point. Which is that, even though I liked Fable 2, and am enjoying Fable 3, although I haven't gotten too far into it, I think it failed in the goal of getting me to feel.
On the other hand, while playing Halo: Reach, I did feel.
It probably wasn't where you think. When my team was killed, one by one, it was kinda meh. I didn't really feel a loss or anything. There was one point, though, where you're being evacuated out of a city, and you're riding in the gunner seat as you fly out. You have control, but it's basically a long cutscene showing military and civilians alike being mowed down by the Covenant. I felt. I felt helpless. I felt angry. I really wanted to make a difference. I wanted to find a way to get the chopper to go down and set me down so I could take out to covenant. Time after time I sent a spray of bullets into covenant forces, knowing I was going to fast to do any real good, but hoping I could cut them down a little bit. I felt this, knowing that it was just AI, and they wouldn't exist anymore once they passed out of my vision, UNSC, civilian, or Covenant. This was all a computer construct. There was nothing real to it, except that I felt. That was real.
That is why Halo: Reach is, by far, my game of the year.
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