While Microsoft Game Studios’ sci-fi shooters — namely Gears of War 3 and Halo: Reach — might’ve received more attention from media outlets as of late, role-playing game fans are still excited for the upcoming release of Fable III, the latest role-playing epic from legendary designer Peter Molyneux.
Available November 1, this Xbox 360 exclusive from UK’s Lionhead Studios once again returns gamers to Albion — but five decades since the end of Fable II — as the kingdom has matured into the industrial age, “borrowing a bit from the Napoleonic and Victorian periods,” says a Lionhead rep. Your older brother Logan is King, but you soon discover he’s a bit of a tyrant, so you decide to leave the comfort and protection of the castle to start a rebellion against him. If you gain enough followers you could overthrow him and become ruler of Albion — but would you rule any differently? As with past games in this series, your decisions and actions have consequences. More on this in a moment.
From our recent hands-on time with the game at industry convention E3, it’s clear Fable III is more action-oriented than previous games, as the pace has been picked up, there’s more gun combat and the magic system has been overhauled. With the latter, it’s now easier to switch between spells during fights thanks to a “gauntlet” system that lets you use (or combine) spells, up to five levels, to create unique and powerful attacks — if you’ve levelled up enough to use them, that is. We witnessed some impressive fireball effects in one battle against three bandits.
As with the last game, Fable III is played from a third-person perspective and your protagonist’s appearance will change depending on how you play. For example, if you choose to swing around a giant hammer you’ll see your hero morph into a beefy fighter, as demonstrated by a Lionhead developer. If your character is evil and you rely heavily on sword play, your bladed weapon might spawn spikes and drip red blood. As discussed back at the X10 event in San Francisco earlier this year, you can also trade weapons with other players online, if desired.
Adventure, role-playing and melee combat combine to make Fable III spellbinding.
The new 3D map is greatly improved over Fable II‘s lousy map system. You can even zoom in to see people walking about, view the quests they have for you and even accept them right from the map itself. Or read up on the towns and travel quickly between spots by selecting where you want to fast-track to.
As you travel throughout Albion, taking on main quests and optional ones, you’ll slowly amass a following to help you overthrow the king. It might only be a few at a time in some cases — such as chatting with some unhappy residents in a tavern or after successfully completing missions for a particular individual — but later on it could be entire cities that join your fight, says Lionhead. While Fable III is a more action-oriented RPG, dialogue is said to still play a critical role throughout the game, and one that is meant to evoke emotion.
While we didn’t see this part at E3, the second half of the game is how you perform as Albion’s leader. Do you rule with an iron fist or a gentler hand? Both ways, or somewhere in the middle, will directly affect Albion and its people.
We also didn’t see Fable III‘s co-op play at E3, but it’s supposed to be much better than the over-promised but under-delivered co-op mode in Fable II. You’ll be able to bring a friend’s hero and their dog into your game (or vice-versa). Fight together, if desired, or become business partners or lovers (and have kids, if they’re of the opposite sex), says Lionhead.
From what we’ve seen of this ambitious adventure, Fable III looks like it’ll deliver the goods for both fans of the franchise and newcomers alike. Stay tuned to Game Theory for more information on its development over the coming months.
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Scott Steinberg is the CEO of video game consulting firm TechSavvy Global, and founder of GameExec magazine and Game Industry TV. Hailed as a top technology and video game expert by dozens of publications from USA Today to Forbes and NPR, he’s covered the field for 400+ outlets from Playboy to Rolling Stone. A frequent on-air analyst for networks like ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN, he’s also the author of Video Game Marketing and PR.