A city builder is only as good as its ethical shortcomings. Within 30 minutes of watching Peter Molyneux (Populous, Fable, Dungeon Keeper) play his upcoming god game Masters of Albion, the designer has slipped rat meat into a pie, bemoaned housing inspectors, and "kind of" built a sweatshop for his followers. "It's not intrinsically bad to house someone in the same place as they work", he argues. A pause. "It's a little bit bad."
Masters of Albion sees players step into godhood, your cursor replaced by an all-powerful hand that can drag-and-drop worshippers, raise buildings, possess any living thing, and smite ne'er-do-wells. A remarkable amount of systems turn this game's cogs, from market simulation to anything being viable trebuchet ammunition, but with great depth comes greater potential for irresponsible shortcuts. More rat pie, anyone?
