Fable III Previews

Lionhead’s presence at this week’s GamesCom event has given us a handful of new Fable III previews, starting with an informative four-pager over at IGN UK:

For the first time in the series, as our story begins, you play not as a blank child-shaped canvas but as a fully-defined character in the form of a teenage Prince (or indeed Princess), sibling to tyrannical ruler of Albion, Logan. This time, you have a voice which leads us to another significant shift in Fable’s previous dynamic. Earlier Fable games sought to increase immersion by planting players firmly in the shoes of empty, characterless vessels – and Lionhead readily admits that decision worked at the expense of the game’s narrative drive.

Think back to Fable II’s abrupt denouement and it’s unlikely anyone would contest this point. For Fable III though, Lionhead has taken a step back, with full cinematics designed to increase the dramatic and emotional impact of the game’s epic yarn. It’s a move that’s paid off based on our relatively brief hands-on time and Fable III doesn’t waste time getting its hands muddied in dark narrative waters.

Then we stop by GameSpot:

Another room in the Sanctuary provides access to two-person cooperative play, though this wasn’t available for our preview. According to lead designer Josh Atkins, that co-op mode allows two players all but free roam of one of their gameworlds, each as his or her own Hero. The two heroes won’t be tethered, restricted to the same screen, but both will have to stay in the same wider region to maintain co-op mode. The second player also gets paid, making co-op “one of the most lucrative jobs you can have” and a “pretty great way to make money and level up.” And, if you’re playing together for less mercenary reasons (or you fancy the 10G achievement), you can marry a co-op partner over Xbox Live as you would a non-player character. For the wedding enthusiast, Fable III even lets you pick a venue and a budget for the big day.

As with marriage, interactions with your co-op partner and with the citizens of Albion have much in common. You can extend most of the same gestures to each with Fable III’s much-touted, touch-based system of expressions. A pull of the left trigger has you hold hands with them, or you can tap the A button to enter a kind of interaction mode, offering the relevant choices. You can shake hands, for instance, dance together, or give money. As in Fable II, expressions can be extended–successfully pulling off a basic handshake turns it into a knuckle bump. A similar mechanic allows interaction with your dog, offering options to pet it, play fetch, or tell it off.

Before heading to G4:

Chests cost Guild Seals to open and it’s here that one of Fable III’s most interesting new features makes itself known. In order to obtain Guild Seals (essentially experience points) and develop your character’s skills you will need to defeat enemies and gain followers. While fighting enemies to gain experience is nothing new, attaching an experience mechanic to the pretty powerful interaction/Sim engine is a stroke of genius. Peter Molyneux has championed the need for an emotional connection in games for years and, like the dog in Fable II, this could be a step further to making you feel emotionally invested in the world.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the co-op mode, which has been completely overhauled. Players now take their characters into other players’ worlds and it’s possible to play through the entire game in co-op. Anything gained in co-op mode is taken back to the single player mode. But it’s the relationship system that makes Fable III’s co-op so different from any other game. Players can get married and have children and the full expressions system is open for people who play with their spouses, boyfriends or girlfriends. It’s these people (and apparently there are a lot of them) who gave Lionhead this idea in the first place.

And Eurogamer:

While a lot of Albion has received a visual overhaul in terms of the style of buildings, weapon types (trading pistols and rifles for a blunderbuss) and the clothes its citizens wear, long time fans of the Fable franchise will feel right home. The atmosphere, in spite of the darker plot, still feels almost fairytale like and everything looks absolutely gorgeous. From cavernous catacombs and the snow-capped rustic village of The Dwellers to the lush rolling hills of BrightWall, Albion is as beautiful as you remember it.

Still, there is a sense that events in the real world have started to seep into Fable III’s magical kingdom. Albion’s brutal drive towards progress at the cost of human suffering offers some interesting parallels with modern current affairs.