Fable Anniversary Previews and Gameplay Footage

Lionhead’s remastered Fable Anniversary has been showcased at this year’s E3, and the few previews and gameplay footage we’ve managed to round up should give you a decent idea of how much the devs have changed/updated the original Fable for this Xbox 360 re-release.

Polygon:

There’s someone else with an eye on this project, Lionhead founder Peter Molyneux, who has now moved onto new things with 22Cans. “He’s very interested in progress,” said Oman. “We chat about it often. He and Tim had breakfast today and talked about it.”

Famously, Fable was one of Molyneux’s great development projects, a living, breathing world that, he said at the time, would redefine gameplay. Even if it didn’t quite pan out according to the Molyneux hype, Fable is, according to Oman, “one of the most successful IPs in gaming history.”

He said that the new game will retain the exact same controls as the original, but with “a more intuitive design, that feels exactly like the original.” he added, “Visually, it’s completely updated, in all the environments from bright outdoor scenes to misty graveyards. We’re able to do the things the original designers could only dream of.”

RPGSite:

The UI has been rejigged to feel a little more modern, but the moment-to-moment gameplay is the same. It’s a strange feeling to return to this game’s more complex UI-reliant combat after the ‘˜one button’ rhythm-driven combat of Fable II and III, but it still feels pretty good. There are new control options for those more familiar and comfortable with a feel closer to more recent titles in the series. All told, it’s a little more obviously sluggish than modern games, but again, one has to remember that this game is a decade old.

The save system has also been made more forgiving to match Fable II and III, and will allow players to save at anytime from anywhere in the game – even during quests.

The game unfortunately still features load-times, the architecture of the game such that it would likely be impossible to turn it into a flowing open world – but Lionhead has reduced them significantly. The developer describes them as ‘˜Lightning Fast,’ and they certainly zipped by during our time storming Twinblade’s camp at E3.

Finally, you can see the game running over at GameSpot, with lead designer Ted Timmins offering some commentary.