Somewhere, Peter Molyneux must be shouting in frustration.

Molyneux, one of the most imaginative and ambitious game designers of our time, has consistently seen his works fall short of their potential. No question, he sets the bar high: Molyneux is fascinated with the roles of good and evil and how they can shape virtual worlds. That's a good topic, especially with more games allowing players the freedom to be less than heroic and still succeed.

And Molyneux's ideas are fascinating. Black & White was to have been a huge leap forward in artificial intelligence, with the player's actions directly influencing an AI avatar which would in turn live in the world around it. And now Fable was to have been a dynamic wide-open fantasy world where the player's actions whether good or evil directly affected the character's look as well as the reactions of non-player characters. Even better, rival NPC heroes would compete for quests and the adoration (or fear) of the world at large.

Unfortunately, limitations like time and AI advances and the all-important dollar have forced Molyneux's final products to fall somewhat short of his ideas. Black & White was hindered by a steep learning curve (for both player and AI) that often required too much patience from gamers looking for instant gratification. Plus, the spell system, which required elaborate mouse gestures sometimes beyond what mouse drivers could interpret, was needlessly complex. And now with Fable, similar problems have reduced an awesome idea to a fun but not at all revolutionary RPG.