Fable III Hands On

Ever wondered what it would be like to wear a frilly dress, a strapping battle axe and a charming tiara – all in the aid of a colossal act of regicide?

I have. It’s been a childhood dream for years.

Thankfully, Lionhead’s husband and wife team, Lousie and Sean Murray, know my affliction all too well. I’m fairly sure they suffer from it themselves, so much so that they made a series of games about it.

I’ve always been fond of Lionhead. Ever since Black and White they’ve shown a desire to push the envelope and provide gamers with something new and interesting. With that title it was all about playing god, but with Fable the gameplay is firmly rooted in the perilous relationship between choices and consequences.

It’s a formula (if you can even call it that) which has struck a chord with gamers. The original Fable was well received, and 2008’s follow up is still the largest selling RPG title on the Xbox. These are big shoes to fill, so I was curious to sit down with Louise and Sean and preview Fable 3, Lionhead’s latest addition to the series.

The title is set around fifty years after the events of Fable 2, in the fantastical land of Albion. Playing as either a prince (or princess) you must combat your brother – Logan – who is on the throne and getting up to no good in the neighbourhood. He’s a massive douche, and he’s ruining the country. It’s up to you to lead a rebellion against him and for better or for worse, try your hand at being the monarch yourself.

Louise agreed that in any role playing game, context is important. In an interesting move Lionhead have moved away from the traditional fairytale setting and have added a dose of industrialism to Fable 3’s world. The word ‘Dickensian’ comes to mind. Steam power has just started to take hold and the poor are eking out an existence in decaying villages or crowded, polluted factories, while the aristocracy watch on, eating bread and cake. Lionhead have set the stage for a good bit of old fashioned violent rebellion.

What clearly sets the Fable franchise apart from other titles is the way it deals with your character's progression through the story. Every choice matters, every action has a consequence. And it was clear from my sneak peek of Fable 3 that the core moral mechanic of the series has been retained, updated and improved on.

As per other Fable titles the moral choices you make will physically change your appearance and how other characters relate to you. However, in Fable 3 your environment also responds to the suffering or joy you heap upon it. Belch in people’s faces, scold your servants or punitively raise taxes and you and your world is going to look pretty dystopic. Shower everyone with goodness, and sunbeams and rainbows will spring from every crevice.

It was clear that in Fable 3 Lionhead have managed to more subtly work your moral choices into the story line. Louise showed us a segment where your character must sneak into a mercenary camp. When confronted by guards who mistakenly ask you to perform a party trick you have the choice between kissing them or farting in their face. Louise opted to let out a ripper, which resulted in the mercenary character vomiting all over himself and his pals in disgust. An act of purile humour, sure. But such antics have always made me immaturely chuckle – plus it was a nice homage to the giggling childishness of Bullfrog, Lionhead’s much loved predecessor. And it was pretty funny.

But simply Fable-with-more-decisions this is not. Louise explained that Lionhead are “trying to move Fable from RPG more to Action-Adventure”. Now in doing this the studio is still “attempting to keep the Fable feel” but there have been significant changes to the levelling system and the traditional RPG narrative.

Louise explained that one of the main problems Lionhead had experienced was trying to find the right balance between hardcore RPGers and casual gamers. The Fable series has been warmly received by casual gamers and Lionhead wanted to move away from the (now very old) experience-points-orientated style of levelling. In its place is a levelling system that is intrinsically tied to the story. At the completion of key game milestones, your character enters the “road to rule” a physical map in which a paved road suspended in dream-space snakes its way towards the castle – and the coveted throne inside.

The road is divided into sections by gates, with each section representing a new level. Unlockable chests can be found in each area with each giving new abilities and powers; this innovatively reinvents the classic RPG-style skill tree. Complete more of the story and more gates (and chests) are unlocked. It’s a deceptively simple concept, and it cleverly links your character's physical development with the game’s progression as a whole. I was pretty impressed. But, I’m a sucker for subtlety.

Secondly, in Fable 3 the story does not end when you have deposed your brother. Lionhead’s polarising lead developer – Peter Molnyeux – was frustrated at RPG games ending when you had finally built your character up to be the biggest, most powerful badass around. In order to drag role playing adventure games past this hurdle, the second half of Fable 3 is centred on what you choose to do as the monarch of Albion. This adds an even greater level of moral complexity, as your choices no longer affect you as an individual. Citizens may wish you to uphold promises or break alliances. Right at the beginning of the game my character was asked if she would sign a petition calling for the end of poverty in Albion. Being the pinko leftist that I am I readily agreed, but I soon began to wonder what effect that promise would have later on in the title, and whether other decisions I made would make its fulfilment an impossibility.

To help you with these big decisions are a plethora of engaging support characters. Lionhead have taken audio immersion to heart, boasting over forty seven hours of recorded dialogue and the inclusion of some big ticket voice actors. John Cleese plays your helpful butler Jasper, Stephen Fry reprises his previous role as Reaver, iconic British actor Ben Kingsley appears and Jonathan Ross and Charlie Brooker are also set to enter your ears.

So the title has a star studded cast, but you can’t make an omelette without cracking some eggs. The Fable series has been praised for its combat and what I saw of Fable 3 was promising. The third person hack and slash is retained but has been improved with ‘flourishes’ – power moves that if timed correctly result in a brutal slow motion attack. Spells have also been replaced by spell gauntlets, giving greater depth to the variety of spell casting options. But the most interesting change must be the inclusion of weapon morphing. In Fable 3 not only does your appearance change, but your weapons do to. They morph and develop according to how they are used – enabling your weapons to begin to reflect your own personal fighting style.

It’s fairly obvious what Lionhead is trying to achieve with Fable 3. They are looking to push the RPG genre into uncharted territory and inject an even larger dose of freedom and personality into your Albion experience. At the same time they are trying to wrap this gameplay within the comforting blanket of fantastical storytelling and iterative plot development.

The title is set for a release on October the 26th so there’s only a month’s wait until you too can take your rightful place on Albion’s throne. How you realise your childhood dream of benevolent reign, rebellious terrorism or childish fart jokes is up to you. The choice is yours – and that’s just how Fable 3 likes it.