Fable III Previews

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Written by Brother None on August 29th, 2010

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Fable has always been hard to pin down when it comes to genre definitions - but the third in the series monkeys around with them like never before.

The starting point is definitely RPG, obviously - but role play conventions have been noticeably toned down.

And with Fable IIIs re-imagined online co-op, we're even starting to see some MMO characteristics and yet players are never removed from the single campaign. It's all one big pot of gaming ambition.

Some of the new aspects of Fable III that will make your experience more interesting and enjoyable are very creative. The idea of running around Albion collecting (legendary weapons) has changed. The weapons will now become stronger and the appearance will change over time. For example as your character becomes more evil or good the weapons appearance will change. If you are very evil it will glow red and drip with blood (I always play evil). There has been some tweaks to combat to make it tighter and more appealing. There also has been addition of a new animation that will sprout during combat. I am not sure how exactly this form is attained, but during extreme combat scenarios your character can sprout wings (angel like if you are good, black if you are evil) called your (true form.) I feel like Lionhead decided to really take the time to add some polish to this game and make more of an effort to have the player dive deeper into Albion.

The game begins with you, the prince or princess of Albion being woken up by your butler Jasper. In bed with you is your trusty canine companion. Upon choosing what to wear, you are then sent to meet up with your love interest, either named Elliot if you're a princess, or Elise if you're a prince. Taking your beloved by the hand you lead him/her to the kitchen where your first moral choice is presented to you. The kitchen staff have heard rumours of the King executing some of the staff. It is up to you whether you give them a motivational speech, promising that things will be alright or berating them for putting their nose into business that does not concern them.

This particular choice does seem clear cut, but whilst speaking to a Lionhead developer, we were assured that the choices wouldn't be as obvious as they were in Fable II, it will be more difficult to see in which way your decision will contribute towards Fable's .ood and evil' system.

Adding another intriguing layer of levelling to the path, each section of The Journey to Rule contains a selection of locked treasure chests, which the player can open by cashing in their game-world currency. Chests along the left side of the path are filled with gameplay features related to the world, exploration, and narrative, while those on the right side offer up a host of combat elements - any and all of which can be integrated into the experience to, quite literally, help the player choose their own adventure.

"We had this impossible task when coming to design Fable III," Molyneux explained. "Some people loved the combat in Fable II, other people hated it. Some people loved the simulation and the trivia of wandering around the world and exploring it, other people hated it. We were conflicted by this, and that's when we realised, it's your hero, your weapons, your world, why don't we make it your game? Why don't we allow you to choose what Fable III is?"

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