Fable III Hands-On
By
Jane Douglas, Section Editor
The Road to Rule is paved with important choices, streamlined gameplay, and refined visuals.
Whatever soul-searching design rethinks Fable III has in store, another Fable means another Hero's journey. Once again, you are a youth of heroic descent called on to fulfil your potential and save the historical-fantasy land of Albion. This time, though, you're no tragic pauper orphan but a dashing royal orphan, sibling to the ruthless King Logan. This makes your first choice one between being a dapper prince and frilly princess, their character models the first promising sign of the visual refinement that's taken place between Fables II and III. The decision is your first of many in the early hours of a game keen on binary choices--some crucial, some instructive, and some symbolic.
Your second choice, having been awoken by your John Cleese-voiced butler, Jasper, is between an ornate outfit and a practical one. Then, after a stroll with your border collie through the palace gardens--greeted on all sides by guards and well-wishers--the breadcrumb trail brings you to your winsome royal consort. Your third choice has you decide whether to hug or kiss. Is anything more ominous than an idyllic prologue? King Logan is in a bad mood. Out in the city, a factory worker has been executed. Everyone in the castle is upset with the king; his lowly subjects are no happier. The disgruntled kitchen staff members need to be reassured or told off, as you see fit. One of the many civilians waiting to plead his case with Logan must be supported or mocked. Sir Walter, once the loyal friend of your father and now your combat trainer, knows which way the wind is blowing. When everything inevitably goes south, and you're branded a traitor by your paranoid brother, it's Sir Walter that flees the palace with you, along with Jasper and the dog.
In the palace and beyond, in the bat-infested caves that enabled our escape, and in snowy Mistpeak, our hero's first destination, the realm of Albion has been beautified--or visually refined, at least. Though the characters and the environments are still stylised rather than photo-realistic, the artistic style leans more toward realism than the faintly cartoony, caricatured look of the previous game--although Fable's gently quirky humour is still firmly in place. The character designs are more appealing for it, as mentioned; Peter Molyneux would say the princess looks like less of a "Russian shot-putter."
The world, says Sir Walter, has been too long without a Hero, and it will take a Hero to lead a revolution against Logan. The Hero's journey is suddenly clear: unite the disparate peoples of Albion against the king. That journey is not just clear, but it's also neatly symbolised in the Road to Rule: a long, misty path blocked by gateways and leading back to the castle. The road, visited in visions and presided over by Theresa, the blind seer, serves as a progress indicator and talent tree in one. The gates--metaphors for levels--are unlocked by gaining powerful allies. Along the path, between gates, are treasure chests containing upgrades including ranged, melee, and magical power boosts. There are also new spells and new noncombat ability bundles, such as the landlord pack and marriage pack. These are unlocked with Guild seals--points earned in battle and by successfully interacting with the populace on your travels. The Road to Rule is one means by which Fable III strips out immersion-sapping stats and talent trees. Another is the barely-there heads-up display, which is little more than your tally of Guild seals popping up from time to time. And another is the Sanctuary, a gameworld metaphor in the same manner as the Road, but this time standing in for your inventory menus and world map.
By
Jane Douglas, Section Editor
Jane rejoices in the title of Section Editor, GameSpot UK. Fears: spiders, oblivion.
227 comments
i read that you play as your character from fable II in this game, so do you have to have fable II to play fable III?
This game looks awesome. Fable 2 was great, but my only complaints were its length and that it was too short. Everything else about it was good though. The transforming weapons and the new graphics look awesome. If they deepened the RPG side a little, made it a little longer and a little more challenging than its predecessor, Fable 3 may be one of the best RPG's out there.
I also hope that this comes out on PC as well and at the same time... I hate my 2Gs PC treated like a second to some $200 console... @ the devs - if you're cancelling PC to stop piracy... someone should remind you guys of Halo Reach and all the other Halo pre-releases out there... as well as COD too ... and the list goes on and on!
I hope you can still choose to play co-op locally since I want to get hitched with my real wife's heroine and we only play together locally for the obvious reason being that online would require 2 of everything. What ever the case This game is looking amazing and I've got my collector's edition preordered and can't wait to see all of the new stuff they've added and changed. So far good work on the new chapter in the Fable story.
All i want is a longer main quest line and a bigger challenge! Fable 2 was way too easy and WAY too short. there were a lot of fun side quests, but all-in-all, the game was way too small. It would also be good to have a large open world to explore. no trails constantly reminding you that you have to be somewhere.
I couldn't play Fable2, because it didn't come out for PC. I hope they will not cancel Fable 3 also for PC.
@seto_setari Yes, it is confirmed u can get married and make babies with your friend....... XD
I absolutely can not wait for this game, and Fallout New Vegas. And COD Black ops for that matter.lol
Thats what i bean waiting for,but there is one problem that anyone knows for PC users,whould be fair to relese Fable 2 first,hurry up boys you have time to do it before Fable 3 is out!!!!
I hope it isn't so easy to level up, or just bring back some of the spells from Fable 1, Fable 2 spells weren't as good. SO looking foward to this game
I will never understand why people thought so badly of fable 2, i just completed it and got every acheiv, and had tremendous fun. My only aggro with it was the bad story, its short, the cruciable lacks all character the arena did, ARMOUR, no world map to free roam happily, no manual anywhere jump (Like WoW for instance) and the dreadful lack of spells. Seriously guys thumbs up if you want Beserk back, i know i do.
So you can marry each other in co-op play. So I would like to know if there is same sex marriage?
I hope the second half of the game where you get to rule Albion will be good. I liked Fable 1 & 2, although I was a bit dissapointed with the second one. I am really intrigued about how they handle this gameplay wise.
Fable 2 was so damned that it wasn't released on PC. Thank goodness its successor will be released on PC.
@ Seanronnie22 I dunno about you, but having played Fable 2 coop, not being tethered to the other player IS a huge improvement.
@hahnasty Molyneux always says his upcoming game is groundbreaking. I think this time round he was boasting that this one doesn't have a health bar! :O
I hope that they show the co-op players actual character rather than having to chose from a pre-set one, and also have more varied enemies to fight because fable 2 got a bit repetitive
I am excited for this game. Even with the somewhat outrageous allegations Peter M. is making about this game, it should be fun.
Last game I was livid because I was on a quest to go rescue a kid and he would disappear every time I left the cave. Had to restart my character, FFFF
I haven't hooked my 360 up for a while. I'm not biased against it, I just have a complicated setup and not enough space for two consoles in my entertainment center. It's a pain in the keister to switch them. For this, however, I will get off my lazy tuckus and brave the 'Haunted Cable Jungle." Then, maybe, to IKEA for a better entertainment center.
I'm really enjoying everything I'm seeing so far. I like the fact that they're finally going their own way without carrying so much as to wether this is more rpg or more action or whatever. Seems like they have a good story to tell and I'm very curious to see how it's going to be. From what we're seeing, we can expect better graphics, a lot more detail on environment, deeper characters and more complex interaction. Can't wait to see how the economy system works... and what it feels like to rule the world of Albion.
fable two was an amazing game, but I had two major problems with it. 1# the 2nd player couldn't do jack diddly squat. 2# they removed the bow from the game(which was included in fable 1 and fable TLC. I have high expentations for this game .
oh this is a day one pick up for me, or I might pre-order it soon so I know I will get it.
Hey I enjoyed Fable 1,2 and I wil enjoy the 3rd, and to me this game is a action RPG and it is always good to make some changes here and their. peace y'all.
Im excited to play this game but I hope they take the magic abilities back to its Fable 1 roots, they completly massacred it in Fable 2.
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Game Info
- Release Date: Oct 26, 2010 (US)
- ESRB: MTitles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older.
- Release Date: May 17, 2011 (US)
- ESRB: MTitles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older.
Fable III
- Publisher(s): Microsoft Game Studios
- Developer(s): Lionhead Studios
- Genre: Role-Playing
- Release:
- ESRB: M
Fable III Navigation
