Crackdown 3

Okay, so Crackdown 3 isn’t the greatest open world game out there. But it offers a decently sized city with plenty to blow up and lots of different things to do. The Skills for Kills system encourages taking down foes with a variety of weapons and abilities, and hunting down different crime bosses while laying waste to their businesses can be mindless fun. It’s Crackdown-rific, and that may work for certain people.

Flaming Fowl Studios’ Fable Fortune will be leaving Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview on February 22nd, finally going free to play with its 1.0 update. The collectible card battle launched last year for PC and Xbox One as an Early Access title but has seen numerous tweaks and content additions. Now it’s finally ready for everyone to play.

There will still be patches and content to come though. Update 1.0 brings new content with more information on the same coming with the official launch. There will also be a Road-to-Release event for those who hopped in during Early Access to play until the official launch.

If you log in between 2 PM GMT, February 19th and 2 PM GMT, February 20th, you’ll get the Fancy Crazy Cat Lady card. February 20th’s login reward includes the Fancy Restless Spirit card while February 21st offers the Fancy Bloody Auguar card and Fancy Card Pack. If you’re curious about paying for the game, it’s available via Early Access for $14.99. Stay tuned for more information when the game officially releases.

Next Halo

The big question ever since the release of Halo 5 has been obvious – when is the next Halo coming (and no, Halo Wars 2 doesn’t count)? As per 343 Industries founder and head Bonnie Ross in June 2017, the development team is currently working on the “next big Halo”. Apparently it was “good” but not quite ready for announcement. Could E3 2018 be the right time? One can certainly hope.

"Classic Fable mechanics like Quests and Morality were also a natural fit, as they really played into the dynamic of choices and consequences that drives any good CCG or RPG."

What was it like working on the Fable brand after Lionhead Studios shut down? What is the current situation with regards to licensing the brand from Microsoft?

We were all devastated by the closure of Lionhead, but in the aftermath we’ve tried to ensure that we treat the Fable brand with the care and respect that it deserves. We’re big fans of Fable and we know that there are a lot of enthusiastic Fable fans out there, so we want to do right by them by making Fable Fortune a rich and authentic adventure in Albion. Microsoft have been kind enough to let us use the license to continue developing Fable Fortune but they still hold the keys to the Fable franchise as a whole, so I couldn’t say what else is happening with the Fable brand.

What motivated the idea of a collectible card game, especially since Fable has been so deeply rooted in RPG mechanics till now?

Fable Fortune was originally pitched out during the development of Fable II by Mike West, the Creative Director of Flaming Fowl Studios. Mike’s original idea ended up morphing into what became the Fable II Pub Games on Xbox Live Arcade. He later pitched the idea of a standalone collectible card game out again, but this time as a companion game for Fable Legends. This picked up traction pretty quickly and myself and the rest of the team at Mediatonic were brought in to help design and develop it.

Mike saw a collectible card game as a great opportunity for players to engage with the Fable universe in a very different way. Having said that, if you were to map out CCGs and RPGs on a Venn diagram I think you’d find that they have a lot of crossover. Agonizing over important decisions, powering up your character and creating the perfect loadout are all important elements of both genres. Classic Fable mechanics like Quests and Morality were also a natural fit, as they really played into the dynamic of choices and consequences that drives any good CCG or RPG.

Which heroes and villains can players look forward to playing as? Will there be any surprises, like characters from Fable Legends?

We dug pretty deep into the annals of Albion when we were designing our cards, so I’m happy to say that Fortune features characters from all across the Fable franchise. From major players like Jack of Blades, Reaver, Logan, and the Guildmaster to lesser known characters like Kalin and the Spire Commandant. Not to mention that we’re packed to the rafters with hobbes, chickens, balverine, hollow men, gnomes and other assorted creatures. We even have some fan favourite characters from Legends which pack a pretty serious punch like the Inga, Leech and Shroud.

The Heroes that you can actually play as are all original creations that are still deeply rooted in the lore of the Fable universe. For example, Temple, our Gravedigger Hero, actually gets her power to summon hollow men from the animated skull of her great great great grandfather Norman, which she carries around with her. Norman himself was a powerful necromancer rumored to have penned the Normanomicon – the Book of the Extremely Dead from Fable II.

"We’re committed to making Fable Fortune the best card game that it can be. We have a pretty extensive list of features and content that we want to add to the game in the future."

Tell us how the alignment system works and how either path can influence a player’s hero and deck.

During each battle you will embark on a series of Quests of your choosing. These Quests are mini-objectives which will influence your deck-building choices or in-game strategy. With every Quest that you complete, you are given the opportunity to make a Good or Evil narrative decision. Doing so will alter your character’s appearance and demeanor in a classically Fable ‘horns or halos’ fashion. For example, the Good version of Temple has mastered herself and silencing the nefarious Norman by bandaging his mouth shut. If she goes Evil, she succumbs to Norman’s influence and becomes a vessel for his dark necromantic powers.

What this means mechanically is that your Hero’s unique Hero Power will change depending on your choice, allowing you to tailor your play-style to be more aggressive or defensive mid-battle. We also have a bunch of Morality cards in the game, which are special cards that transform and gain unique abilities based on whether you are Good or Evil. Both of these mechanics add an extra layer of depth to each battle as you seek to complete your Quests and pick the optimal Morality the situation that you’re in.

Games like Hearthstone have been criticized for relying too heavily on RNG when it comes to cards. How does Fable Fortune circumvent this to provide more skill-based games?

This is something that we really took to heart during the design process. We made efforts to remove as much unnecessary randomness from the game as possible so that players felt like they were winning games by making the best decisions rather than just by rolling the right number on an invisible dice.

The Guard mechanic is a good example of this. In Fable Fortune, you can spend some resources each turn to place one of your units in Guard. This forces your opponent to destroy that unit before they can attack your Hero or other units. Having access to Guard each turn means that you’re able to rely on your wits to defend yourself, rather than just hoping that a defensive card is already in your hand or waiting on top of your deck.

How have you dealt with PvP mode, specifically with regard to issues like matchmaking, connection quality and so on? What updates can players look forward to in the future?

A solid PvP experience was a big priority for us. We put a lot of effort into developing our matchmaking systems, which we are now being refining as we head through Early Access to ensure that we strike a good balance between match quality and matchmaking time. Similarly, match stability and connection speed is something that we have a keen eye on to ensure a smooth experience for our players.

We’re committed to making Fable Fortune the best card game that it can be. We have a pretty extensive list of features and content that we want to add to the game in the future. You can check out our dev roadmap to see what we’re currently working on and what’ll be added further down the line.

"The team all spend time reading the various forums, reviews, and support tickets to make sure we hear everything that players are saying about the game. It’s addictive!"

What can you tell us about the co-op mode and its contents? Are you planning other unique modes and experiences for players (like perhaps a solo campaign)?

In co-op mode, you and a friend (or a helpful stranger!) team up and take it in turns to fight against a villainous boss from the darker corners of Albion, like the Lady of Rosewood or Nostro from Fable I. You share a single board of units, so if you play a Feral Squirrel on your turn then I can use it to maul the boss’ face when my turn comes around. It’s a great way to introduce new players to the game as you can teach them the ropes using our in-built suggestion systems while you work together towards a common goal.

The response to co-op so far has been fantastic and our players are always asking for new bosses to take on. Something else that has come up often is that players want a single player story mode so they can learn more about our Heroes and their role in the Fable universe. This is something that we’re really excited about as well, so we’ve shifted it up our list of priorities based on the feedback that we’ve received. Watch this space!

Can you tell us about some of the special events and PvP leagues that players can partake in? What are the challenges of hosting these while the game is in early access?

Each month heralds the start of a brand new PvP season. You can compete against other players in PvP battles to climb through a series of PvP leagues. Ascending through the leagues earns you card packs or high rarity cards which you can use to expand your collection.

We also have a regular rotation of events that you can participate in to win cards. These events all have mutators which mess with the rules of the game. For example, giving all characters with mustaches bonus stats, or making cats explode and deal damage to your opponent when they are destroyed. These events are a great way to let off some steam between hardcore PvP or co-op sessions. When you’re in Early Access, it can be a challenge to run multiple events while ensuring both good match quality and speedy matchmaking times. This is where those matchmaking controls that I mentioned earlier come into effect, which so far have eased these problems significantly.

With all the complexities that a CCG presents, how will early access help the development team to iron out bugs? What kind of timetable have you set for those who enter early access with the game?

The team all spend time reading the various forums, reviews, and support tickets to make sure we hear everything that players are saying about the game. It’s addictive! Being in Early Access is hugely important to us because it gives us a chance to gather important feedback from our most dedicated players. This lets us realign our priorities to make sure that we’re putting the most effort into what the community is asking us for. We’re looking at remaining in Early Access/Game Preview for 3-6 months while we gather feedback and make improvements before we transition into a free-to-play Open Beta.

Though we’re still a ways off from a full launch, are you currently planning additional cards and heroes in the future?

Absolutely. New content is the lifeblood of any good card game, so we already have 100 new cards and two brand new Heroes lined up to join our existing roster of six. Pretty soon in the live game we’re going to start adding roughly one new card every week that will be up for grabs as prizes from upcoming PvP seasons and co-op challenges. They’ll also be available from card packs if you don’t manage to pick them up just by playing. We think this constant flow of new content will be vital in ensuring that the meta-game is always evolving and you always have new cards that you want to add to your collection.

"It’s always hard to predict the console market. The Xbox One X is certainly a serious piece of hardware."

The game will be receiving Xbox One X support. Is native 4K and 60 frames per second on the cards?

That’s definitely what we’ll be shooting for. This work is pretty early in the planning stages, but we’ve done some initial testing and will be digging deeper once the dust settles on our Early Access/Game Preview launch to see what we can do there.

Xbox One X features a high end GPU. What kind of benefits does it give to developers compared to the Xbox One?

Ultimately, the added oomph of the GPU included with the Xbox One X will be pivotal in providing a smooth 4K experience. The greatly increased number of pixels in an Ultra HD display means that a lot more lighting and effects calculations need to be performed before presenting the final image to the player. The fact that the new GPU is nearly 4 times as fast makes this a possibility.

The Xbox One X features plenty of RAM too. 9 out 12GB is available to developers…which is undoubtedly more than the average found in gaming PCs. How has this helped you?

Unlike in a desktop PC the Xbox One and Xbox One X enjoy a shared memory architecture. This means the memory can be divided between the CPU and GPU as the developers need. When bringing the title to Ultra HD resolutions we’ll need the increased memory on the GPU in order to make room for higher resolution textures for crystal clear images.

Given that the Xbox One X is powerful in its specs, do you see a longer life cycle for it?

It’s always hard to predict the console market. The Xbox One X is certainly a serious piece of hardware. If I had to guess, I would say that this will be the last ‘update’ that we’ll see to the current generation of consoles as efforts shift towards planning for the next generation, but I could be wrong!

The Xbox One X promises to be a hugely exciting machine, at the very least on the basis of its hardware, which is sophisticated and advanced beyond any other console on the market. When the Xbox One X finally launches later this year, it will be the most powerful console ever made.

One of the many ways in which the console is a step up over other consoles, and even some mid range PC builds, is the memory pool- the Xbox One X has a total of 12GB of GDDR5 RAM, of which 9GB is available to developers. What are the advantages to this?

Speaking to GamingBolt, Tom Wimbush, Lead Designer of Fable Fortune, noted that there are multiple advantages to how the memory is laid out on an Xbox One X. “Unlike in a desktop PC the Xbox One and Xbox One X enjoy a shared memory architecture,” he said. “This means the memory can be divided between the CPU and GPU as the developers need. When bringing the title to Ultra HD resolutions [on Xbox One X] we’ll need the increased memory on the GPU in order to make room for higher resolution textures for crystal clear images.”

We also asked him if he foresees a longer life for the Xbox One X- it seems to be powerful enough, after all, that it is future proofed well enough. According to Wimbush, the Xbox One X should likely be the last update to the Xbox One – anything beyond this will officially be ‘next generation.’

“It’s always hard to predict the console market. The Xbox One X is certainly a serious piece of hardware. If I had to guess, I would say that this will be the last ‘update’ that we’ll see to the current generation of consoles as efforts shift towards planning for the next generation, but I could be wrong!”

All of which sounds sensible enough- though it also does raise the question, will there be a next generation for Xbox? Microsoft has indicated an interest in keeping the iterative consoles model going for the foreseeable future. It will be interesting to see how things unfold/

Of the many games that will be taking advantage of Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox One X is Fable Fortune from Mediatonic and Flaming Fowl Studios. The Early Access/Game Preview collectible card game launched recently and has been fairly well received for its mechanics and gameplay on PC and Xbox One. Xbox One X users will have a lot more to look forward to, thankfully.

Speaking to lead design Tom Wimbush, we asked about the nature of Xbox One X support and whether native 4k/60 FPS was on the table. Wimbush responded that, “That’s definitely what we’ll be shooting for. This work is pretty early in the planning stages, but we’ve done some initial testing and will be digging deeper once the dust settles on our Early Access/Game Preview launch to see what we can do there.”

You wouldn’t think that not to be the case, especially since Fable Fortune isn’t the most graphically demanding game on the market. However, the Xbox One X is beneficial from a development standpoint especially with regards to the high end GPU (with 6TFLOPS) compared to the Xbox One.

“Ultimately, the added oomph of the GPU included with the Xbox One X will be pivotal in providing a smooth 4K experience. The greatly increased number of pixels in an Ultra HD display means that a lot more lighting and effects calculations need to be performed before presenting the final image to the player. The fact that the new GPU is nearly 4 times as fast makes this a possibility,” said Wimbush.

You can check out our Early Access impressions of Fable Fortune for PC here. The Xbox One X, meanwhile, will release on November 7th worldwide.

Now we have Fable Fortune, a collectible card game from Mediatonic and Flaming Fowl Studios developed with Microsoft’s blessing. If you’re a stickler for the world of Albion, then this is the closest you’ll get to revisiting it.

"Those who’ve played Hearthstone or even Gwent will know the drill."

The utter charm of the game’s art-style sticks out and looks incredibly sleek even in the game’s Early Access state. For people like me who never really got into the Fable universe, many of the more elaborate references may go over their heads. At this stage, there isn’t too much of a story to cling on to but I can appreciate the personalities on offer.

As noted, Fable Fortune is a collectible card game. Those who’ve played Hearthstone or even Gwent will know the drill. Earn card packs, customize decks or choose from six pre-made deck types that are represented by heroes. There’s the Gravedigger, Knight, Alchemist and Shapeshifter among others, each possessing their own cards. Heroes have the distinction of possessing special abilities and can also earn unique cards. From there, you enter a battle, choosing four cards to start with.

Three Gold is doled out at the beginning of the match which is used to dispense your cards onto the field of battle (better cards require more Gold, which is earned as the battle progresses). Each card has an Attack and Health rating along with unique functions. Some are straightforward like Stunning Slash which deals 1 damage to an enemy unit and applies the Stun effect. Others like the Debt Collector deals damage to a unit and upon surviving, provides a single piece of Gold to you. Coupled with the sheer range of cards for each hero type (with over 250 cards in total) and varying play-styles, there’s quite the diversity at launch.

"What is about Fable Fortune that sets it apart from the pack? As it turns out, quite a lot."

You can also customize decks, choosing a hero type and selecting the cards you want. This allows Neutral cards to come into play as well and Fable Fortune will let you save up to eight decks in this fashion. Of course, for any hardcore CCG player, this is all standard fare. What is it about Fable Fortune that sets it apart from the pack? As it turns out, quite a lot. Along with training, you can either indulge in PvP or enter a co-op challenge.

The co-op challenge is meant for PvE players and cobbles two players together as they battle a single AI “boss” of sorts. Organize tactics with your partner is the key to winning. If you’re not in the mood to actually talk to your partner, it’s possible to tap cards on their deck as suggestions to play. This is a pretty unique approach but if you don’t want to listen or become incapable of communicating, then you’ll both ultimately lose.

Other unique features include the ability to choose quests before starting a match. There are three to select from at the start and they’re pretty simple to execute. Spend gold on units, use your hero’s ability a set number of times and so on. By the time the quest is resolved, you can choose a Good or Evil path which either confers extra damage to an ability depending on a target’s health or grants life drain if a target is killed respectively.

"Fable Fortune may not reinvent the wheel when it comes to collectible card games but it offers a unique universe with compelling mechanics…"

Prove your allegiance to either side three times and it will be possible to morph some cards for more noble (or diabolical) purposes. This provides even more variety to the experience and is a neat little twist to the established CCG formula. While choosing a specific path doesn’t exactly have as far-reaching moral effects as in the Fable games, it’s still a unique property that gives Fable Fortune some added flavour.

As an Early Access game, Fable Fortune still has a lot of content planned like a proper Tutorial System, more arenas and bosses, more cards, daily bounties and so on. What’s currently here is pretty well polished though more in-depth tutorials would have certainly been appreciated. Also, while the co-op challenge is a unique and fun mode that rewards coordination and teamwork, I did wish for a 1 v 1 mode against the AI just to operate on my own. Even a questing mode with its own story would have been a major plus. I am looking forward to the Special Events though which offer unique rules to further mix up gameplay.

Fable Fortune may not reinvent the wheel when it comes to collectible card games but it offers a unique universe with compelling mechanics, strategic card battling and a rewarding system that benefits all hero types. Whether this will convince those who aren’t normally into CCGs to actually give them a shot remains to be seen. For those who are interested, Fable Fortune is very polished with fairly good performance. I’m looking forward to how it shapes up over the coming months especially when it makes the transition to open beta.

This game was previewed on PC.

The Kickstarter for Fable Fortune, the Fable based card game that had apparently been in the works at Lionhead in the last days before the studio’s closure, and which had then been moved on to Kickstarter with Microsoft’s blessing has now been cancelled- but contrary to what such a grim headline may have you believe, this is not bad news.

Instead, the game has managed to secure funding for itself, and is now going to launch on Steam. The game had looked unlikely to meet its £250,000 funding goal, and was prematurely pulled from Kickstarter, but in an update, development studio Flaming Fowl said that they have successfully secured additional development funding. This, in addition to some personal investment, means the developers can continue to work on the game.

The game will be launching on Steam in closed beta, though given that it is no longer on Kickstarter, we won’t be getting public updates on its progress, and we don’t know when.

Fable Legends may be cancelled, and its development studio Lionhead disbanded, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road for any of them. You see, for the last eighteen months, some Lionhead developers had been secretly toiling away, developing a new, free to play Fable themed card game called Fable Fowl– another casualty of Lionhead’s closure.

However, the people working on that game – Lionhead veterans Craig Oman, Mike West and Marcus Lynn – have formed a new outfit, Flaming Fowl Studios, and they are now working to finish the game they set out to create in the first place. What is more, Microsoft have given them permission to use the Fable license, too. The only problem is that the game has not got a publisher, which has prompted these guys to turn to Kickstarter.

You can check out footage from the card game below, courtesy of IGN. The Kickstarter campaign for the game goes live tomorrow- so if you like what you see, be sure to head on over and fund it the best you can and want to.