Fable III

By Oli Welsh Published 29 June, 2010

Rule of fun.

It was hardly Milo & Kate. When Peter Molyneux trotted out onto the stage at Microsoft's E3 press conference two weeks ago, it was to slap a 26th October release date on Fable III, introduce a new trailer - and then get out of the way of the bullet train of ultra-marketable Kinect software steaming onto the stage, sharpish.

Molyneux's blue-sky thinking is a great asset to Lionhead and Microsoft Game Studios, and he can still generate excitement and debate like few other game designers. But he's learned the hard way about over-promising, that sometimes it's best to shut up and let the games do the talking. So it was at E3 2010, not just at the conference, but with Fable III itself.

Lionhead felt it had something else to prove this time - that its game was real, full of the stuff that it had been talking about, and you could play it. To that end, it landed what must have been one the largest and most comprehensive playable demos of the year on the E3 show floor.

The demo comes in two parts, one doing the ramshackle rustic comedy thing with a bit of freeform questing, trading and conversation dotted around the village of Brightwall. The second showcases combat, storytelling and a more serious and epic mood in Shadelight Dungeon. I get to sit down and explore them both at relative leisure, in the company of a couple of Lionhead guides, away from the hubbub of E3 itself.

"It's all there. This is a bit of a different Lionhead, really," scripter Ted Timmins tells me. "There's no broken promises this time around... In the past it was all talk and no show. What we've come to E3 with is a message that everything we talk about, we can show you in some form on the screen."

More on Fable III

Well, not quite everything. We still didn't get to see anything of Fable III's Big Idea, which will see your character become the ruler of Albion halfway through the game's story, and have to manage the expectations of the supporters you've gathered en route, while making decisions about the future of your kingdom even as you continue your quest.

It's a fascinating prospect, of course, but one with a huge and potentially unwieldy scope that could be hard to reconcile with the streamlined accessibility Molyneux was so keen to highlight when we saw the game earlier in the year.

To be fair, Lionhead is hardly saying more about kingship than the nothing it's showing. But Timmins - who along with senior artist Jon Eckersley is overflowing with pride and enthusiasm for the game, even after a long day of demoing it on the show floor - isn't above teasing us a bit.

"What's great about [the ruling stuff] is the game doesn't actually end when you think it should. It carries on for double the amount of time. We feel we've crafted a longer experience, almost two games in one, a game that changes so much halfway that it feels like the second half is a completely new experience," he says.

"When you're King, some of the decisions you make will change a level from what you've seen it to be to being something completely new and different."

Enticing stuff, but in the spirit of the new Lionhead, let's get down to what's in front of us. The cheerful, pastoral, sunny town of Brightwall shows no signs of the creeping onset of industrial revolution, so evident in the smoky metropolis we saw back in February. Clothing fashions have moved on, but otherwise this is the Albion you remember: equal parts Tolkien, Jane Austen, Monty Python and Disney's Camelot; saucy, scenic and stereotypically English.

Wander close to any other character and a prompt pops up inviting you to press the left trigger to hold hands. This is the "touch" mechanic Molyneux is so proud of, allowing you to physically lead characters around in a style reminiscent of the PS2 classic ICO. I don't find a use for it beyond dragging a comely wench round the back of a barn and flirting with her, but that seems use enough, to be honest.

Later, Timmins and Eckersley show me "touch" working in a more structured story setting, at the end of the Shadelight Dungeon episode. The hero needs to lead her blinded companion Sir Walter out of the cave, dragging the slow old man by the hand, the animation noticeably different to my exploits as a rustic sexual pest. Timmins explains how something as simple as letting go of that left trigger at this point could make a profound change to your game.

"This is a completely subtle choice. At any point, we can let him go and run off. We don't say you have to go back, we never make it an objective or anything like that. Just cross the desert and leave him... If you were playing the retail game, he'd remember what you just did. There's ramifications."

Otherwise, back in Brightwall, everything has been freshened up considerably - with the exception of one creature and some of the hero models, Fable III's artwork is 100 per cent new - and the game feels more seamless and effortless to play, but also distinctly familiar. Your dog gambols around your feet and helps locate quest objectives, and the sparkling breadcrumb trail is there to tempt you towards something to do next, if you want it.

'Fable III' Screenshot 2

Timmins lets slip that Jonathan Ross and Stephen Fry's characters share scenes and a bit of banter that will be especially enjoyable to British players.

I end up dressing up in a chicken suit to bring some hens home to roost, and subsequently get involved in an animal rights debate with the farmer and his wife about whether to slaughter them. Then a local worthy asks me to help him get a divorce by seducing his uptight wife (in a scene revealing that the hero has a voice in dialogue this time around). If you were worrying about Fable losing its lightness of touch and sense of humour as it goes all political, don't.

One remarkable change is the game's menu interface. Incredibly for a role-playing game, there isn't one. Press start and, in a neat bit of technical sleight-of-hand, you're instantly warped to your Sanctuary, an otherworldly home, map and options interface in one. Here you'll find your John Cleese-voiced butler Jasper who offers explanation, guidance and dry comment. (Fable III's impressive voice cast also includes Bernard Hill, Simon Pegg, Michael Fassbender, Zoe Wannamaker, Jonathan Ross and Stephen Fry.)

'Fable III' Screenshot 1

Cut-scenes won't be interactive this time, Lionhead feeling that players' inattentive capering was detrimental to storytelling.

You change your weaponry, wardrobe and other options in this dark chamber by walking through a series of doors, and there's a 3D map table in the centre to interact with. You can use it to see all open quests and warp to them. A treasury room houses your records and stats, and a Live room leads to the game's online co-operative mode for two.

This, as we've heard before, is much improved over Fable II's. "We do admit, the co-op in Fable II was rubbish," says Timmins frankly. "We'd be restricted to being within 10 yards of each other, I'd have to be your henchman. What we've done this time is, if you bring your hero into my game, you bring your hero, your stats, your weapons, your interface... Together we can run anywhere in the same region." You'll be able to pursue entirely different tasks as you go, as well as trade weapons, even get married.

"If I'm playing with my girlfriend, I can get married to my girlfriend in the game," says Timmins. "Have a wedding, get down on one knee like in real life. When you actually get married in the game, you have a shared bank account. So one day you might turn your game on thinking yeah, I've got 1000 gold, I can have that weapon that I wanted, you run over you press A, you've got no money. The reason is, you go to your house, you've got pink wallpaper and a new bed."

On to Shadelight Dungeon. This thoroughly spooky cavern is situated on the new continent of Aurora, a Middle Eastern desert land as stark and mysterious as Albion is bucolic and friendly. You land here after a shipwreck, your vessel destroyed by a cannonball during an escape from the tyrant Logan who you're trying to depose.

It's hauntingly beautiful. Outdoors, sandswept dunes and crags under a glowering sun would be the most spectacular desertscape of E3 if it wasn't for Journey, but it's a close run thing. In Shadelight, the huge, misty spaces of the cavern are populated with crowds of pure black shadow beings with glowing eyes and fantastical, vaguely Egyptian monsters that steer refreshingly clear of fantasy norm. Bearing in mind the industrial and pastoral moods we've already seen, Fable III is clearly exploring a much wider tonal range than its predecessors, in terms of its art at least.

We've already heard about the weapons that will grow in power and morph with your hero according to your actions and decisions. As with everything in Fable III, including your own hero's levelling and status - even the health bar relegated to an action-game-style desaturation effect - this happens organically and is translated into in-game effects rather than interface readouts.

'Fable III' Screenshot 3

Lionhead's worked on making female characters grow more attractive as they grow powerful - rather than just fatter, as in Fable II.

"There's no convoluted level-up screens, there's no having to spend experience on certain things; it all happens in the background, it's all subliminal," says Timmins. "When your weapon becomes more powerful, the hero stands up, throws his weapon in the air, everything goes into slow motion, and it blasts all the enemies away."

"We actually call it the Greyskull moment, as in Castle Greyskull," says Eckersley.

Combat's had a complete overhaul: although Lionhead likes the simplicity of Fable II's "one-button" combat, they felt it was sluggish and clumsy, especially when switching weapons. Now, with ranged and melee attacks mapped to separate buttons, combo attacks, slow-mo finishes and swift animation transitions, it feels even more like a third-person action game, albeit one that's played at a slightly more relaxed pace. The timing could be more crisply defined, but there's plenty of time for Lionhead to refine that.

Given how solid and sleek and comprehensive this demo of Fable III is, that's a reassuring thought indeed. There's every sign that one of Molyneux's two great ambitions for the game - to make a sprawling, emergent RPG as approachable and slick as the most mass-market action game - will be realised. On the other ambition, its political dimension, we'll have to accept his promises for now. This time, though, we're inclined to take them on trust.

Fable III will be released on 26th October, simultaneously for Xbox 360 and PC.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (85) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • riceNpea #1 2 years ago

    again we have a build up of AAA titles in october, november! what's worse is that now i'm going to have to buy an xbox too!

    edit: and this statement gets negged why? because i don't own an xbox?! some of you are such 'tards.
    Edited by 1 at 29/06/10 @ 19:09

  • kasabkata #2 2 years ago

    Are we gonna see beautiful women this time ? :)

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #3 2 years ago

    BUT WHAT ABOUT COUCH CO-OP?

    It's all very well them banging on about the (excellent-sounding) Live co-op, but the missus and I play Fable II very regularly, on one Xbox. I want to know how many of these exciting Live features are being incorporated into the couch co-op too.

    Anyway, all that aside, FIII does sound like a damn fine game, although a bit too soon after the last one for my taste. I quite liked the long (real-time AND game-world-time) gap between I & II.

  • evilrobot #4 2 years ago

    Fable is just a nice easy play world i like to trot around in and lose myself, i will be buying, can't wait.

  • sanctusmortis #5 2 years ago

    What happened to the Kinect features he talked about previously?

    Buying this day one, as I have the previous pair. Fable 2's one of my few 1k games, and tomorrow night I'll have both DLCs done too (borrowing a mate's copy so I can See the Future)...

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #6 2 years ago

    Yeah, I 1K'd Fable II as well.

    Unfortunately the max gamerscore is about 1750 or something ;-)

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #7 2 years ago

    When your weapon becomes more powerful, the hero stands up, throws his weapon in the air, everything goes into slow motion, and it blasts all the enemies away.

    Last time, they nabbed sub-targeting from Crackdown, this time the level-up sequence, eh?

  • geeza2020 #8 2 years ago

    You didnt just compare demon souls and fable 2 did you? Oh, you did.

    Cretin.

  • lucky_jim #9 2 years ago

    Not sure why you think comparing Fable 2 with Demons' Souls is worthwhile in any way android123. You're either a troll, an idiot, or both. You may as well compare your toenails to the moon, for all they've got in common.

    The world of Albion is awesome though, looking forward to returning. Between this and Fallout New Vegas, I'm gonna spend the final quarter of this year partying like it's 2008- and I can't wait.

  • fongy #10 2 years ago

    I have to say I was soooooo disappointed with Fable 2 - I remember Fable being fresh, original, brilliant and witty...
    The sequel was pretty much the same game - a bit larger and with an annoying dog...
    Now they say they've streamlined the RPG elements even more and made the combat "even simpler" - it's been totally dumbed down beyond belief...
    Combat was basic to start with - even more and it's going to become a game for kids (younger audience) + eliminating the best part of RPGs - the levelling up?
    I think I'm going to give this one a miss...
    :(

  • Shinetop #11 2 years ago

    it's been totally dumbed down beyond belief

    Streamlining and dropping archaic gaming conventions is not the same as dumbing down.

  • Raiten #12 2 years ago

    I realy do wonder what's so remarkable about removing the good ol' inventory screen, which has allways served it's purpose of allowing quick swaps of weaponry/armors etc. Now i'm forced to warp in to some weird location and run around like an idiot to get the items i want? improvement? hardly, sounds like a major nuisance for playing.

  • TRUTH #13 2 years ago

    Fable all you did was accept a mission, kill everyone on the screen and repeat!!!...all the side quests where totally useless, and did not effect anything. Nothing really changed!!! ...I found that it was a gloried action game; go to this area, kill everyone, go to next mission and repeat. There was no real adventure, puzzle solving, and most side quests where just collecting items (while slaying everyone). Yes you get married! have children!, by property! ...but for what!!!...I did all that but it didn't really change the game. The dog was a good idea, but was fairly useless in everything other then find treasure. The very few hard decisions also did not really effect your character - I decided to age myself, and let the female character live (can't remember her name); was warned that this could effect my appearance and make people frightened, inc my kids and wife...But nothing happened!, the game continued without any consequences or danger of losing anything. I married, divorced, two timed, had children, lost them , had more - yet nothing really changed what I did good or bad.

    Fable needs a lot more variety and a feeling of progression and advancement (Like the amazing Demon's Souls, Zelda, Metroid etc etc)...not simply repeating the same game with a different mission name, and side quests which are fairly non important. This is not an adventure or rpg, it's more action game with worthless side quests.

    Oh! my dog died, but I couldn't careless as he wasn't important in any real sense. I also never noticed any changes when I was released from prison 10yrs later (only my kids got older and uglier!), the whole area looked and felt the same...What wast the point of the speech that there will be big changes - WHERE!
    Edited by 1 at 29/06/10 @ 16:21

  • JayKwon #14 2 years ago

    Just don't listen to Molyneux's promises, play the game with a clean mind and you'll be fine. Although it sounds he learned his lesson.

    I loved the first two games, didn't really think they were RPG's though, more an Action Adventure blended with the RPG genre. And that's exactly what I like so much about the Fable series.

  • geeza2020 #15 2 years ago

    looks alright. Its a shame that there are less and less hardcore RPG's being made these days, as its probably my favourite genre, but a slightly more action/adventure style is also just fine IMO.

  • smelly #16 2 years ago

    Once bitten twice shy.. I'll take any preview/review i read of this with a pinch of salt.

  • darkmorgado #17 2 years ago

    Oh god, Android is carrying on the same moronic trolling that he did in the Demon's Souls review thread I see.

  • mcreddie #18 2 years ago

    More like:

    "I've got 1000 gold, i can get that new weapon and some awesome armour - oh wait. Where's it all gone?"
    The house is empty, stripped clean of any previous furniture. There is a note on the floor,
    "I have met someone else, goodbye forever. Love babycakez89"
    Your character proceeds to cry into his old worn gloves.
    Edited by 1 at 29/06/10 @ 16:30

  • Dizzy #19 2 years ago

    Another 10 in the making probably.

  • MrWonderstuff #20 2 years ago

    Be nice if they introduced streaming tech to the game...Loved Fable 1&2 but it sometimes felt like a series of areas and not a cohesive world. Now RDR/Fallout3/GTA did that well.

  • ignatiusjreilly #21 2 years ago

    Streamlining and dropping archaic gaming conventions is not the same as dumbing down.

    Quite often it is. I guess we'll wait and see in this instance.

  • Siberian_Khatru #22 2 years ago

    I feel a little hyped for this, commencing hype-killing mode.

    So, half-way through it transforms into a management game, like Spore. Wacky humour is back, as charming as the best bits of Armed & Dangerous. Half of budget is blown on celebrity voices, we all know how sincere and likeable they usually sound in games. "Follow me" mechanic is supplemented by hand-holding, making already robotic animations even more obvious. The game is even less RPG, even though it never was an RPG in the first place, more of a Zelda clone. Already super-clunky interface is replaced by "walking through a series of doors" (I recall some game from the 90's that did the same, before everyone realised that mundane actions should not be recreated in-game). They admit combat in F2 sucked, yet they can't seem to explain why it's any better in F3.

    Better.

  • TRUTH #23 2 years ago

    Demon's Souls is f**king brilliant...Best rpg, best adventure, best action that requires skill & thought - not fancy over the top moves. It's a game with the best online use, and better then any Fable game in rpg, adventure, progression, atmosphere, fighting...actually it's the best & deepest action/rpg game available. Will please many fans of deeper game play.

  • ronuds #24 2 years ago

    Enough about Demon's Souls. Nobody gives a crap.

    Looking forward to this. Fable II is still my favourite game this gen.

  • BigJonno #25 2 years ago

    Sounds fantastic. I didn't know about Simon Pegg being in the cast, which is great news. As for the lack of stats, it sounds fine to me. Fable was never a crunchy, stat-based game, it was all about role-playing in the literal sense of the term. In many ways, this sounds like it's going back to the original vision for the game, which was supposed to be statless with all the "levelling" done by actually doing stuff.

  • Hypercube #26 2 years ago

    And lucky_jim, i'll compare whatever game i want so stick that in your pipe and smoke it you mong.

    Fable III is nothing like Frogger! Yeah, I said it, deal with it!

  • Grayvern #27 2 years ago

    I'll buy it and I'll probably enjoy it.

    But:

    I'll still be annoyed that Molyneux has to have a go at more traditional RPG's to try and sell his own. There is still a place for stat based RPG's they are not archaic.

    I'm annoyed that there are no uk developers trying to make more meaningful, serious, and storied RPG's.

    When the article started comparing Fable 3 to many British staples the first thing that popped into my mind was really really bad Pratchett imitator. I never found fable funny I found it twee in a way that left no room for ironic enjoyment of it's tweeness.





    Edited by 2 at 29/06/10 @ 17:36

  • Metalfish #28 2 years ago

    Whilst I can understand that making female heroes get prettier is going to please most fans I found it pleasingly counter-cliché that my warrioress ended up looking like a shot-putter. In hot pants and fancy hat.

    Not sexy, but pretty reasonable for someone who was smashing everything's head in with an enormous axe.
    Edited by 1 at 29/06/10 @ 17:40

  • ronuds #29 2 years ago

    Yeah, my wife's character ended up looking like Arnold with long hair... she was at least 7 foot tall, too. A beast in every sense of the term!

  • darkmorgado #30 2 years ago

    android,

    Just because you don't have the skill to play Demon's Souls doesn't make it a bad game, as the universal critical and commercial praise demonstrates.

    Perhaps you only love Fable so much because it pretty much plays itself and has no challenge?

    Either way, any comparisons are pointless as they approach the genre from two completely different directions with two completely different mindsets and goals.
    Edited by 2 at 29/06/10 @ 18:21

  • ronuds #31 2 years ago

    ^ It's funny how many people who obviously have no interest in buying this are commenting on it.

    Some people like Fable better... some like Demon's Souls. Get over it and move on, plx.

  • sneetch #32 2 years ago

    @darkmorgado
    android,

    Just because you don't have the skill to play Demon's Souls doesn't make it a bad game, as the universal critical and commercial praise demonstrates.

    Perhaps you only love Fable so much because it pretty much plays itself and has no challenge?

    He doesn't own a PS3 and I doubt he's ever even seen much less played the game, he's the obviously blatant, insecure, fanboy troll I've seen on this site yet (and that's saying a hell of a lot) every comment I've seen that he made has had a derogatory remark about the PS3 on it, "Xboxgame is brilliant and much bettar than ps3game!"

    Fable II was fantastic, my favourite game on the Xbox so far by a long chalk, Demon's Souls is fantastic and is rapidly becoming my favourite game on the PS3 but comparing the two games is like comparing chalk and bananas.

  • Xardan #33 2 years ago

    What's with all the comparisons between this and demons souls?! What is wrong with you people, just go away! The gaming community is a disgrace, you people disgust me.

  • darkmorgado #34 2 years ago

    @sneetch

    Fair enough. I thought Fable 2 was ok (i think my gamerscore is something like 825 on it), but it was just far too easy, the story was a letdown, the gameworld felt far too small and it was all over far too quickly. I hope that Fable 3 fixes those problems, but I fear the Molyneux's evangelical attitude towards simplifying games will continue to come at the expense of appreciable depth.

    Looks like Android is negging every post again. /sigh
    Edited by 1 at 29/06/10 @ 18:15

  • Progguitarist #35 2 years ago

    Once bitten twice shy indeed...how Fable 2 got a 10/10 score I'll never know. It was painfully average and had several bugs.

  • smurphs #36 2 years ago

    Fable II really surprised me by dragging me into its world hook line and sinker. I can't wait to get my hands on Fable III, especially if they've improved the map system, which was a bit of a joke in Fable II. Unlike Fable II I'll take my time with this one and explore everything.

  • Geordiemp #37 2 years ago

    If they fix the coop to be proper and system link then I may jump in.

  • StooMonster #38 2 years ago

    I'm currently playing Fable 2, and enjoying it very much ... I will definitely buy the next one, after I've done Fallout New Vegas. However, I hope it has fewer bugs; even though I am playing it later than release (and it's been patched a couple of times), for example I still just got caught out by the Lady Gray bug. :-(

  • makeamazing #39 2 years ago

    I dont like this new attitude of gamers saying our previous game was crap (or aspects of it), but this next one will be the bees knees. Just cant trust people that do that.

    Also where is Fable 2 for PC... ? Is Fable 3 a continuation of the story from 2, in other words will those of us buying it on PC need to worry about what happened before..?

  • Goodfella #40 2 years ago

    Stupid to compare Fable II and Demon's Souls but then it takes a special kind of idiot (android) to try. Anyway, clearly Metacritic loves both games, shame nobody loves android......well, it's not really a shame.

    [link url=http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/x box360/fable2?q=fable%20ii
    ]http://ww w.metacritic.com/games/platform...[/link]

    [link url=http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps3/d emonssouls?q=demon's%20souls
    ]http://ww w.metacritic.com/games/platform...[/link]

    Edited by 2 at 29/06/10 @ 19:20

  • Pirotic #41 2 years ago

    Can't wait, and neither can the wife. Fable II is the only game she's ever liked, she'll be chuff to bits to hear they've made the women look less like men in a dress this time around.

  • Goodfella #42 2 years ago

    Everyone including yourself?

    Fable 2 was great and totaly owned demon souls(the game that resembles a ps2 title).

    You're the numbnuts.

  • darkmorgado #43 2 years ago

    I can't stand the ps3 game everyone keeps waffling about in this fable(yes fable)thread, deal with it fanboys.

    You're the one who bloody brought it up in the first place, just as you were the one that brought up Fable in the Demon's Souls thread. Moron.

  • Scimarad #44 2 years ago

    "What's great about [the ruling stuff] is the game doesn't actually end when you think it should."

    Well, we would think that if you hadn't been going on about it every opportunity;)

    Once again I'm excited about the prospect of playing this but I'm certainly going to treat the EG review with a bit of healthy scepticism if it gets another 10/10...

  • Nephirion #45 2 years ago

    Can female characters have sex with the dog now?

  • darkmorgado #46 2 years ago

    Now stop waffling about it and stick to the subject matter.

    Coming from someone who derailed the Demon's Souls thread by waffling on about Fable and it's "Danny Elfman-esque" score.

    The funny thing is that most of the people who mentioned it in this thread did so to ridicule the fact that you were comparing the two games and the fact that you spent so long harping on about Fable on the DS review thread.

    And for your information, I own ALL systems, with over 60 games on the 360. If you don't believe me, you can check my gamertag, which is the same as my username on here, though to be honest seeing as you yourself are the biggest fanboy going the insult means nothing coming from you.

    You really are one of the biggest hypocrites on here.
    Edited by 1 at 29/06/10 @ 20:15

  • darkmorgado #47 2 years ago

    @Scimarad

    Can't agree more. What worries me is that the ruling stuf won't have any depth. Molyneux likes to talk up the idea of decisions having consequences, and the responsibility of being a ruler but experience with the first 2 Fables, of which he said the same thing, has shown that the reality never lives up to his hype.

    If the Ruling is done right, it will be ace. I want to be able to rebuild run-down buildings, manage the economy. I want to be able to implement my own version of the NHS after my industrialism creates widespread health problems. I want to be able to attract tourists from rival nations to generate extra income, and then have to deal with the citizens who feel I care more about foreigners. I want to be able to marry my daughter off to secure a relationship with a rival monarch, before then declaring war and leading my armies across the world. If I bleed my country dry to fill my own coffers, I want people to come and try to overthrow me.

    What I am expecting from Fable 3 though is this: Marry someone, who then sits around in the castle all day and does absolutely nothing. Get an occasional voiceover saying "someone in your castle wants to ask a favour", then get there and find out that it is YET ANOTHER bloody NPC begging me for a bit of gold, who I then give money to because I have it flowing out of my ears and coming in, by the thousands, because I have nothing to spend it on and the game earns me money even when I am not playing it.

  • darkmorgado #48 2 years ago

    @tigerstyle,

    Again, get your facts right. The whole Fable/Demon's Souls thing was CREATED by Android trolling on the PS3 threads, and I have already shown that I am not a PS3 fanboy.

  • Goodfella #49 2 years ago

    tigerstyle must surely be androids other account.

    What makes me laugh really hard is the assumption that anyone who is pro Demon's Souls doesn't have a 360. I can assure you I do and I think it's the biggest piece of shit hardware I've ever had the misfortune to own.........twice!

  • Goodfella #50 2 years ago

    Lolling, haha-ing and calling people twats really doesn't make you any less of a twat yourself.

  • darkmorgado #51 2 years ago

    @tigerstyle

    Can't help but think now that you are deliberately ignoring the evidence that the people posting are not fanboys.
    However, a quick check of your forum posts has shown me that you definitely ARE a fanboy. You seem to relish indulging in immature cock-waving arguments over who has the better console.

    A bit sad really.

  • darkmorgado #52 2 years ago

    @tigerstyle

    calling people "numbnuts" and marking down posts just because people have a different opinion to you. That makes you a complete and utter fucking twat

    I take it you will apply that logic to yourself as well then, and admit that you are also a "fucking twat"?

  • Goodfella #53 2 years ago

    tigerstyle, you appear to be doing exactly what you are accusing me of, but with added, unnecessary abuse.

    Man, these internet fights are getting boring.



  • sneetch #54 2 years ago

    @makeamazing
    I dont like this new attitude of gamers saying our previous game was crap (or aspects of it), but this next one will be the bees knees. Just cant trust people that do that.

    It's strange, it's a very negative way of building up a product, why not just say the last one was good, this one is way better. Mind you this is just a bloke who's working on Fable III not really a PR guy so he's probably just a bit careless or glib in the way he's putting things. I know a few people who would say the first game of a series (a game they love) was complete crap when they're talking about its sequel, it doesn't really mean they think it's crap though. Just comparatively.

    Also where is Fable 2 for PC... ? Is Fable 3 a continuation of the story from 2, in other words will those of us buying it on PC need to worry about what happened before..?

    I doubt it, Fable II was set a few hundred years after the first one with only vague mentions of the first game and the first hero as distant half-forgotten legends (as everyones hero would have been different). This one is set 500 years after the second one so it'll probably be much the same deal, the hero from the second game will be just a fuzzy legend.

  • darkmorgado #55 2 years ago

    @sneetch

    500 years? I'm sure that you play one of the kids of the hero from the second game.

    EDIT: Quick check on Wikipedia says it's set 50 years after Fable 2, not 500.

    In fairness though, the story in the Fable games has always been rather insubstantial so I doubt that any knowledge would deepen your understanding of the game.
    Edited by 2 at 29/06/10 @ 21:06

  • lucky_jim #56 2 years ago

    @android/tigerstyle: Jesus, I just pulled someone on making a pointless, worthless comparison and suddenly I'm a PS3 fanboy. Pretty astounding considering I've got a 360 but no PS3. And have adored the Fable series since the first game. I'm just able to see there are a whole load of PS3 games, including DS, that I'll also enjoy if I ever get around to buying one. I'm no fanboy (except for the Dreamcast), I just have a habit of reacting against badly-informed wankers.

    Making such a comparison is, as I said, pointless. It just makes no sense, and only serves to derail the discussion and demonstrate to everyone what a witless, insecure, micro-penised unwanted stepchild you are. Ok, you like your 360. I like mine. I don't understand why that means you need to slag off a completely different game which (in all probability) you've never even played. If you'd drawn a comparison with, say, Zelda, I could just about understand because the two games have similarities. But Demon's Souls? Really? It's a fairly niche game, why can't you just shrug your shoulders, and think "ah it's not for me" like any normal adult would?

    And can you really not understand that if everyone thinks you're a prick, is calling you a prick, and telling you to stop being a prick, maybe (bear with me here), just maybe, it's because you're being a prick?

  • darkmorgado #57 2 years ago

    @lucky_jim

    Well said.
    It astounds me that idiots like them are able to get away with regular, personal abuse on other members for something so trivial as not sharing their fanticism. Surely Retroid or someone could step in?

  • darc #58 2 years ago

    Not one mention of spell-casting? I'm curious how that's going to work with the further streamlined interface, esp. with melee and ranged using up that much more of the controller. Casting was totally borked in Fable II IMO - one button was just not enough to get the job done. Interfaces that involve holding the button for two seconds vs. 1 second to get a different result always *feel* vague and unsatisfying, whether it's a video game, a smart phone, or a coffee maker, it's just bad design.

    Otherwise, looking good. I'm sure I'll love it and hate it, and ultimately, I'll be glad I played it.

    Little concerned about the whole "two completely different games", though. For one thing, not everyone who wants to buy an action-adventure-RPGlite wants to buy a strategy game (which is the closest guess I have for the 2nd half per the article.) Besides which, if you're investing in development of one half of a game vs. another, I'd imagine you'd lean toward investing in the half that all of your audience will see, vs. the half that some people will never reach.

  • onyxbox #59 2 years ago

    Oops my iphone doesnt have android123 on ignore... what a fanboy.
    Sad thing is... I don't thing he/she even knows it.

    Time to hit ignore again.

  • darkmorgado #60 2 years ago

    My ps3 posse?

    Can you even bloody read? I DO MOST OF MY GAMING ON THE 360.

    Now fuck off, you tard.
    Edited by 1 at 29/06/10 @ 22:22

  • lionbum #61 2 years ago

    Oh! I came here all excited to read the comments on Fable 3, and instead had to wade through a big fight about a game as similar to Fable as Tetris is to Splatterhouse.

  • Creasy #62 2 years ago

    "Be nice if they introduced streaming tech to the game...Loved Fable 1&2 but it sometimes felt like a series of areas and not a cohesive world. Now RDR/Fallout3/GTA did that well."
    Scratch Fallout and you'd be right.

  • Farzlepot #63 2 years ago

    I'm looking forward to Fable 3. I enjoyed the second one, slightly exaggerated though the EG review might have been.

    Disclaimer: I own a PS3, but have never played Demon Souls. Thus I have absolutely no opinion on it, one way or the other, nor do I consider either game to be either alike or dissimilar to each other. Terms and conditions apply, please see side of box for details. "Fanboy" and "Troll" are registered trademarks of Retards Inc. Your statutory rights will be revoked. This message will self-destruct after the beep. *Beeeep!*

  • sneetch #64 2 years ago

    @darkmorgado
    500 years? I'm sure that you play one of the kids of the hero from the second game.

    EDIT: Quick check on Wikipedia says it's set 50 years after Fable 2, not 500.

    In fairness though, the story in the Fable games has always been rather insubstantial so I doubt that any knowledge would deepen your understanding of the game.

    50? Oops. Disregard what I said makeamazing. :) But darkmorgado's right there's really not much you need to know from Fable II, your granddad/grandma won and that's pretty much all that matters. I don't think that it would be spoilt by not playing the previous game, there probably won't be that may recurring characters, for example.

  • ShiroBen #65 2 years ago

    "There's no convoluted level-up screens, there's no having to spend experience on certain things; it all happens in the background, it's all subliminal," says Timmins. "When your weapon becomes more powerful, the hero stands up, throws his weapon in the air, everything goes into slow motion, and it blasts all the enemies away."

    Yes. That is the very definition of 'subliminal'.

  • Zaiz #66 2 years ago

    Demon's Souls seems like a wannabe properly modded Oblivion. YEAH. I WENT THERE.

    But more importantly, this game looks fun, different than the GRIMDARK tear gaming is on. Which is a good thing. I picked up Dragon Age, and couldn't get over the GRRR FANTASTY RACISM GRRR GRIMDARKness of it. GRIMDARK can be done well(particularly by not overdosing on cliches), gaming has not been doing it well(has been overdosing on cliches, and then ODing again on its deathbed). In other words, a shiny sandbox game that is light hearted and humorous? Sign me up.

  • Madder-Max #67 2 years ago

    "You change your weaponry, wardrobe and other options in this dark chamber by walking through a series of doors, and there's a 3D map table in the centre to interact with. You can use it to see all open quests and warp to them. A treasury room houses your records and stats, and a Live room leads to the game's online co-operative mode for two"

    meh. sounds like ME2 dumbing down. Will wait until game comes out and read number of reviews. Sounds like this author was getting 'lionhead' from someone at the studio whilst typing.

  • Grayvern #68 2 years ago

    Light fantasy can be good but it's the fact that Molyneux feels the need to say that this is the future of RPG's that's going to depress anyone.

    Given that the true hybrid RPG action game still doesn't exist. By this I mean the potential for emergence revealed in games like Deus Ex. The story choices of something like Mass effect. And RPG mechanics that are really deep but don't mess with things that shouldn't be messed with. Ie: Shooting is one to one player skill the RPG mechanics not taking away from that but adding extra powers abilities or potential for variety in play that couldn't be achieved by player skill with straight up game mechanics.

    Good storytelling in RPG's ,which are far longer than other games, is to have a story that hits multiple notes; humor, drama, seriousness, comedy. Not necessarily in any equal measure but you can't hold a single note for a whole game it has to be broken up occasionally, by things such as Mordins song.

    Also @ Madder Max ME2 characters had nearly the same number of powers as the original game you just didn't have to spend incremental points inbetween, and the loot in mass effect was mostly so incremental as to be immensely annoying.
    Edited by 1 at 30/06/10 @ 03:55

  • sirtacos #69 2 years ago

    The only thing I'm remotely interested in is the voice acting for the main character. Aside from that, I'm reserving my enthusiasm for when the NPCs actually have some character and importance. Oh yeah, and give me a call when the main plot actually draws the player in. Aside from that, it honestly seems to be more of the same - except for the one-button controls, which I'm very glad they've done away with.

  • Scimarad #70 2 years ago

    Can I suggest to all the people slinging insults back and forth; Ignore and Move On!

  • Shinetop #71 2 years ago

    It's strange, it's a very negative way of building up a product, why not just say the last one was good, this one is way better.

    Frankly, I think it's kind of refreshing that a developer doesn't try to gloss over what are obvious faults in their previous game, but simply calls it like it is. "This aspect was great, this was garbage. Here's how we're going to do better." Frankly, I like it a lot more than your usual marketing polish like "It was a bold idea and we think we've succeeded in bringing the original idea to life, but sadly it was an aspect that did not reflect well with the public."

  • Bloke1182 #72 2 years ago

    I agree Shinetop. I bought Fable II on day one, because I was so excited by all the stuff that I read. When I played the game, I absolutely liked it, however some aspects of it just couldn't live up to what I had read and seen. It was a great game with some flaws, like most games have. I find it admirable in a developer that they digress and improve. Can't blame them for trying to make the best game they can.

  • Kerome #73 2 years ago

    Lol @ the bit about making female characters more attractive as they get more powerful... I remember all the comments about celery at the time Fable II came out, there were a lot of 'muscular' female heroes ;)

    Anyway, it's looking good, I'll enjoy this - should be a good gaming season for the 360, Crackdown 2, Reach, Fable III, Fallout 3 New Vegas - and I haven't even touched Red Dead Redemption (or finished the Mass Effect 2 DLCs).

  • Doctor_What #74 2 years ago

    It's been a slow year for the 360 releases so far, it's nice to see something like this coming along to cheer up the second half. Very much looking forward to F3!

  • Boomerang #75 2 years ago

    Can you kids take your stupid arguments elsewhere please so that the rest of us don't have to wade through your petty squabbling to read the actual comments about ... *checks what article this belongs to* ... Fable 3?

    Thanks

  • darkmorgado #76 2 years ago

    @Doctor_What

    I wouldn't really call it a slow year to be honest. Mass Effect 2, Darksiders, Bayonetta, Blur, Split/Second, Metro 2033, Alan Wake, SSFIV...

    Unless you are talking about exclusives of course, in which case yes, we have only had Alan Wake, Metro and ME2.

    To be honest, my wallet has remained constantly empty this year as I am always picking up new games (around 1-2 a week). Having all formats is good for playing all the best games, but damn it can be expensive :-)

  • BigJonno #77 2 years ago

    While I don't think you'll need previous Fable experience to enjoy number 3, I'm pretty sure that it will follow on pretty strongly from the others, especially with a certain character who is pretty central to events in both games. (Hint: She's the only character in both games who isn't undead in the second one.)

  • sneetch #78 2 years ago

    @Shinetop
    Frankly, I think it's kind of refreshing that a developer doesn't try to gloss over what are obvious faults in their previous game, but simply calls it like it is. "This aspect was great, this was garbage. Here's how we're going to do better." Frankly, I like it a lot more than your usual marketing polish like "It was a bold idea and we think we've succeeded in bringing the original idea to life, but sadly it was an aspect that did not reflect well with the public."

    It was refreshing, I'll give you that, but outright trashing something you were previously promoting as amazing (and I think it was amazing) does send mixed messages. I think they could have phrased it better without resorting to marketese "it didn't work as well as we'd hoped because (insert list of reasons and ways it's been improved possibly due to feedback received)" sounds better to me than "it was rubbish". Mind you they do seem to be working on their perceived overselling and then underdelivering problem, maybe this is a sign of that.

    I'll be happy with Fable III if the shops keep working: the bloody furniture shop bug in Fable II ruined my property empire. :)

  • darkmorgado #79 2 years ago

    @sneetch

    While I agree with your point, I always look at it from the point of view that Molyneux and Lionhead are artists, and artists are never happy with their work. What's the old saying? A work of art is never finished, just discarded?
    Looking at it from that point of view, you could say that while they are immensely proud of Fable 2 they are disappointed that they weren't able to do everything that they wanted to.
    Of course, the raft of criticism that the co-op system received might have something to do with it.

    And I know what you mean about the furniture bug - that was annoying.

  • Cherub007 #80 2 years ago

    The moment I saw more than 90-odd comments next to this article, I knew someone had left the creche door open again.
    Damn I love that ignore button.

    Oh, and I think a lot of the disappointment at Fable 2 was the misguided marketing of it as an RPG as opposed to a pleasant wander in an openworld forest. My immediate thought upon playing it was that it was like a fantasy Grand Theft Auto rather than a proper RPG. I treated getting married/laid/fat/ugly/rich as just fun things to do, rather than intrinsically necessary game devices. Whether they should have been, of course, is another story.

  • TRUTH #81 2 years ago

    Fable II gameplay - go and do mission, kill everything, go to nex area and do the same!!!....All side quest where mainly useless mini repetitive games, that never really changed anything. No puzzels, no sense of adventure, just go one area to the next and repeat the killing. Dog did nothing more then find treasure.

    Very simplistic as all missions where just the same with a different title. As you had nothing to really figure out, your upgrade skills that never really changed character skill otherwise then more powerful weapons/attacks/magic - never needed skills to learn to open new area, go to areas unable to reach before, fight tougher baddies to pass areas, able to use new skills to accesss new missions.. etc etc...everything that makes an rpg/adventure is missing!

    All that effected your character was very minor with no real threat of anything - what was the point if nothing major was gaind on lost. I did enjoy Fable II at first and did all/most side missions - but found very few where actually worth doing, and the main mission was just go to new mini area and kill everyone (would have been nice to use a more stealth, sneaky, strategy skills and method of thought; rather then using mostly the same method all the time) and report back!!...The game is buillt around a few areas of gamplay. For an adventure/rpg..this is not good.

    Fallout 3, Demon's Souls, Zelda, Metroid, Oblivion, Okami, Ico, Shadow Of Colloses , Castlevania (the new one is bringing back the adventure), early Tomb Raisers - all surpass Fable in many areas with adventure/puzzles/rpg. Hope Fable III has more thought into how not to make games with repeated missions and make a better adventure, rather then a set of mini areas that always need to be loaded.

  • Cronan #82 2 years ago

    This is sounding promising, I'm looking forward to it

  • superdelphinus #83 2 years ago

    i hope it's good.. I was also really disappointed with Fable 2, seemed like a surprisingly short and linear experience with some sub-pratchett/ python nob gags thrown in

  • RedSparrows #84 2 years ago

    'Dumbing down'?

    Fable, from the off, has been about RPG-lite. I'm not sure you can really get at it for 'dumbing down'. Fable 1 was hardly Morrowind.

  • miiiguel #85 2 years ago

    Err.. the 1st guy to come up with Deamons Soul was a fella named Mogs or something. *

    Who in fact seems, judging by the speech, like a clone of an ass named daniels. Lite this, lite that.


    * - Probably he's on everybody's ignore list, hence no one saw that it was actually him, the owner of the bright comparison.
    Edited by 2 at 04/07/10 @ 22:31