Fable III E3 preview

Peter Molyneux’s Fable franchise has been a staple on Xbox consoles since the original launched way back in 2004. While the game fell way short of some of the lofty promises leveled by the game’s outspoken creator, it offered some great action and fantasy elements and enabled the player to make some real choices that would have impactful outcomes on your character’s development. Now, the third entry to the Fable series is getting ready to release later this year, and promises to be an even bigger experience than its two predecessors.

Fable III takes place some 50 years following Fable II, following one of the character’s children from Fable II. The game allows you to import save data from Fable II, allowing you to continue that particular arc at the cost of some early customization. Your character gets into a battle with your sibling, who has become the evil ruler of Albion, requiring you to intervene and claim your position as the rightful ruler of the kingdom.

One of the most striking changes in Fable III is the menu system, or lack thereof. The game lacks any semblance of a traditional menu, instead relying solely on the game universe from the moment you hit the start button. Changing clothes now requires you to use a dressing room that features all of your wardrobe possibilities, using magic requires that your character puts on specific gauntlets instead of changing them through the HUD, and shops contain their inventories on the shelves instead of in purchase screens.

Combat has gotten some changes to the formula as well. Magical spells can now be combined in order to create new and unique attacks and combos can be unleashed simply by holding down the attack button instead of just mashing it.

Fable III is looking to be a solid entry to the Xbox 360’s go-to action-RPG franchise and should be quite the journey for players to step into this October.