3. Fable
Developed by: Big Blue Box
Published by: Microsoft
Release Date: January 14, 2004

	What's Ahead: While the development team has made great strides with Fable, there's still plenty left to do. Perhaps the biggest feature that's still being worked on is the character morphing. As of right now, the game will recognize when a character receives a scar in battle, but the development team has yet to decide how far to go with that particular feature. In addition, some of the combat elements have yet to be balanced, and many of the side quests have yet to be incorporated.

Not surprisingly, Fable continues to be one of the bright spots in the Xbox lineup, and it seems like Big Blue Box is well on its way to incorporating many of the ambitious features that were initially announced for the game. Your character in Fable essentially starts out as a ball of clay that can be sculpted depending on the actions that you take. If you want to become a hero, then you have to perform heroic deeds, but the key is that you also have to perform these deeds in front as many people as possible so your reputation will grow. Of course, you don't have to be a hero. Some missions allow you to perform dastardly deeds, such as robbing a farmer, which will lead you down the path of villainy.

Other parts of Fable have really come together since E3 2002, especially the combat system. The game's combat revolves largely around context-sensitive attacks that take into account your position in relation to an enemy. In addition, you'll have access to a variety of a magic called will. The will abilities are essentially equivalent to the force powers seen in the Star Wars games, and one such magic power lets you knock enemies back. As your character grows in strength, so will his or her skills, even to the point where they can kill enemies.

These gameplay mechanics, along with the incredibly detailed visuals, made Fable one of the most impressive games at E3 2003.