E3 06: Fable 2 First Look

LOS ANGELES--Mere minutes after debuting at Microsoft's pre-Electronic Entertainment Expo press conference, the Fable 2 teaser trailer has been released to the general public. The trailer starts with a tracking shot of a glowing wisp as it flies over a nearly photo-realistic forest. The camera follows as the wisp weaves between trees, passing some crumbled, ancient architecture, eventually finding a hooded woman standing in front of a huge tree who is holding one of those paper flower fortune-telling things from grade school in front of her, though instead of having the names of classmates you have a crush on, it is covered with some cryptic-looking symbols.

As she begins talking directly to the camera about how your story is waiting and how the world is changing, the background literally begins changing, first to an open field, then the ground goes from grass and dirt to brick, with stylized, medieval buildings eventually appearing around her. The camera then focuses in on the paper flower, and the symbols on the inside begin to glow as the camera zooms in. Dramatic orchestrated music begins to swell as the Lionhead Studios logo appears, followed by Peter Molyneux's name, and finally the logo for Fable 2.

The trailer then cuts back to the portentous, hooded lady, who continues playing with the paper flower while talking about the different paths you might take--mind, body, nobility, corruption. With the mention of each path, an ethereal torso appears above the paper flower, pantomiming the nature of each path, though when corruption is mentioned, everything becomes dark with foreboding red tones. A pair of heroes--a woman with a trumpet-barreled pistol and a man holding a lance and wearing a three-cornered hat--is then shown standing over a freshly slain beast with huge, jagged teeth, which ultimately concludes the trailer.

Based on the trailer, the characters seem to have a slightly different aesthetic, taking on a mildly colonial tone, with characters featuring less exaggerated dimensions than the original Fable. Of course, this is simply a teaser trailer, and it would be foolhardy to assume that this is representative of actual gameplay. Even if it is prerendered, the trailer definitely captures the excitement of Fable, and it's got us ready for more.