Quite a few tidbits about Fable III have come out of Microsoft’s X10 conference in San Francisco, including four new screens in our gallery and the following video documentary:
Hard not to notice how they really seem to like that back-stabbing maneuver in the video.
Sadly, LionHead and Microsoft did not issue a fact sheet for this game, so here is what we’ve managed to pick up elsewhere.
From G4TV.com, we learn that the character you play is actually the 18-year old son of your character from Fable II. It seems Albion has since fallen under the rule of a tyrant who must now be overthrown.
1UP notes that he is slightly overweight and a little clumsy, unlike his legendary father from about 60 years prior. “You haven’t had the greatest lot in life, and having a father who’s a legend is probably pretty hard to live up to.”
Aiding in this will be the ability, much as in Mass Effect 2, to carry over your character data from the second game.
They go into further detail on the “touching” system noted above, such as walking with your daughter near a bar and being reminded how your wife doesn’t like how much time you’re spending there. “In the far more hilarious case of the bum,” they say, “he thinks that you’re helping him out by leading him to shelter…but then freaks out when he realizes that you’ve taken him to the factory and intend to sell him into servitude.” You can even hold hands in co-op.
Another change coming is that Molyneux has taken a broom to the screen. That is, he’s cleaned off the on-screen indicators, as well as ditching traditional methods of weapon upgrading and using experience to level up. Some believe this might be what Molyneux feared would “piss people off,” but so far, it doesn’t seem to be creating any great waves.
On how this affects choosing magic, weapons, and clothing, Molyneux told 1UP “To me, the 2D part of Fable and Fable 2 was rubbish. That’s why people didn’t change their costumes: they had to go through 300 items! I don’t want that anymore. What I want is everybody to feel that changing your clothes, your weapon, your look is part of the game. Not just some 2D interface.”
A quick explanation of the changes is offered:
* Instead of a health bar, we get the “warping and blurring camera perspective” popularized by FPS games.
* Instead of upgrading weapons, the weapons upgrade themselves both cosmetically and with increased power based on how you use them. Kill a certain type of enemy more often, and the color and texture will change. Keep killing with a certain weapon, and it’ll grow larger and change shape the more you use it. And the glow it emanates will change based on the guilt or innocence of your victims. This is tied to your Xbox Live Gamertag, and you will be forever marked as the one who created it.
* Leveling-up and experience is replaced by the concept of “followers,” which you accrue and/or lose based on your decisions in the story.
G4 also notes that after deposing the king, you can run the kingdom yourself, making “judgments” that affect the citizens. There is another aspect to it, but Molyneux said he is saving that for the upcoming Game Developers Conference.
Asked about the story continuing once you become king, Molyneux was “coy” in his answer, only stressing that there would be “consequences and debts” to be considered in relation to your ascension to the throne.
“It’s about power, ruling responsibility. When you talk about choices and consequences, it shouldn’t just be about ‘me,’ it should be about all the things I promised on the journey to becoming king. It’s so easy in life to make all these promises, but when you become king, you have to live up to these promises.”
Those worried about Fable III being driven by Project Natal need not fear, it seems; Molyneux says “Fable 3 is a controller-based game,” though he did hint that there are “wonderful” things that the new peripheral will allow. Perhaps we’ll find out at GDC, or even E3.
Oh, and finally, dog lovers? You’ll have your chance to travel with your pooch in this one, too.
