TheRetroArcade
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Posts: 1,997
Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
No cube this time, though.
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First, the good news: Peter Molyneux has learnt (one of) his lesson(s). Masters of Albion will not try to flog you NFTs, no one said the words "play to earn" in the entirety of its hands-off demo, and I didn't see a single unfathomable cube in the 40ish minutes I watched Molyneux walk me and a gaggle of other press through its systems.
What I did see was a lot of old and not much new. Molyneux and 22cans have cast aside those 2010s-era boondoggles, and in their place returned to the formulae of the '90s and early 2000s that first made Molyneux a household name. For a particular sort of household, anyway.
Masters of Albion—which hits Steam early access on April 22—is a bit Fable, a bit Black and White, a bit Dungeon Keeper. It ping-pongs you between systems at speed: now you're designing your town, now you're defending it from enemies, now you're inhabiting a single hero villager directly and roaming the world map. It's Now That's What I Call Molyneux 2006, but here's the rub: I'm not convinced any of Masters of Albion's distinct parts are as good as the original games that inspired them.
Masters of Albion marks the return of one of old Lionhead's most iconic characters: the anonymous sky hand. You are, for all intents and purposes, god, and you make your will manifest by clicking and dragging things and people all about the world with your great meaty mitts (just like in the Bible. Look it up).
This is where Molyneux starts off the demo. Masters of Albion gives you a sizable map, but our starting ministry is small: the village of Oakridge, whose economy consists of its local wheatfield and not much else.
It's the citybuilding phase. Your goal in this third of the game is to generate money, fulfill orders from your villagers, and expand your influence. The first two go hand-in-hand: Molyneux grabs one of the orders scattered about the map—a woman named Sylvia Plinth wants nine food—and slaps it onto the local factory.
This drops us into what felt like the most novel part of the whole thing, a design minigame where your goal is to assemble something that best satisfies whoever made the order. Plinth wants nine units of "basic" food and her only instruction is "all meat, no starch." We could, Molyneux says, deliberately "give her the most disgusting food ever," but he's feeling mostly charitable.
Keep up to date wit...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
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Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
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Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
First, the good news: Peter Molyneux has learnt (one of) his lesson(s). Masters of Albion will not try to flog you NFTs, no one said the words "play to earn" in the entirety of its hands-off demo, and I didn't see a single unfathomable cube in the 40ish minutes I watched Molyneux walk me and a gaggle of other press through its systems.
What I did see was a lot of old and not much new. Molyneux and 22cans have cast aside those 2010s-era boondoggles, and in their place returned to the formulae of the '90s and early 2000s that first made Molyneux a household name. For a particular sort of household, anyway.
Masters of Albion—which hits Steam early access on April 22—is a bit Fable, a bit Black and White, a bit Dungeon Keeper. It ping-pongs you between systems at speed: now you're designing your town, now you're defending it from enemies, now you're inhabiting a single hero villager directly and roaming the world map. It's Now That's What I Call Molyneux 2006, but here's the rub: I'm not convinced any of Masters of Albion's distinct parts are as good as the original games that inspired them.
Masters of Albion marks the return of one of old Lionhead's most iconic characters: the anonymous sky hand. You are, for all intents and purposes, god, and you make your will manifest by clicking and dragging things and people all about the world with your great meaty mitts (just like in the Bible. Look it up).
This is where Molyneux starts off the demo. Masters of Albion gives you a sizable map, but our starting ministry is small: the village of Oakridge, whose economy consists of its local wheatfield and not much else.
It's the citybuilding phase. Your goal in this third of the game is to generate money, fulfill orders from your villagers, and expand your influence. The first two go hand-in-hand: Molyneux grabs one of the orders scattered about the map—a woman named Sylvia Plinth wants nine food—and slaps it onto the local factory.
This drops us into what felt like the most novel part of the whole thing, a design minigame where your goal is to assemble something that best satisfies whoever made the order. Plinth wants nine units of "basic" food and her only instruction is "all meat, no starch." We could, Molyneux says, deliberately "give her the most disgusting food ever," but he's feeling mostly charitable.
Keep up to date wit...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?