Fable. What springs to mind when you think of this RPG series? For me it’s 3 things. Its charming sense of humour, the harrowing choices you are forced to make, and Peter Molyneux’s overactive imagination. Usually hype is born in internet forums and like a snowball rolling down a steep hill, the information comes larger and faster and before you know it, it’s an avalanche, and nobody is clear of the source of all this useless information. Hype can become powerful enough to kill a game. A decent game comes out of the blue, nothing special, just a standard RPG with a decent story and nice combat system… you’re not going to hail it game of the year, but you’ll play it, enjoy it, look out for a sequel, job done. A decent game comes out in a blaze of publicity, along with impressive game trailers, and promises that it’ll be the best game since sliced bread… 9 out of 10 times, if you expect too much you’ll be setting yourself up for disappointment.
The difference with Fable was that Peter Molyneux himself made many promises the game failed to keep. It wasn’t just rumours, it was straight from the horse’s mouth. Now, I know that both of the Fable games have sold well and got pretty good reviews, but some gamers were left a bit cold when they realised that they didn’t get what they expected. I have played Fable and Fable 2 and I enjoyed them both. Sure, neither of them are the masterpieces they were supposed to be but I have had many hours sucked out of my life due to them. Their quality lies in the fact you can leave the story behind and become immersed in the Fable world, marry a villager or five, maybe destroy a town if you please. I also like how there is an actual sense of alignment from good to evil, and how it actually affects how people react to you.
So moving on to the release of Fable 3. Not as hyped up as the previous two, or maybe we’re just more tentative this time around. All we really know for sure is that we get to be King! Well I try not to be too excited. But when I got my hands on the demo at the Eurogamer Expo, I couldn’t help it. I played two out of a possible seven demos, and to be honest I could have sat there all day, if I were allowed. My first demo was one showing off the combat aspect of the game, and my first thought was ‘Where are all of the multicoloured orbs?!’ After my mild dismay, I noticed that actually, they’ve cleaned up the combat a lot. The flourishes are simpler to pull off (not that they were difficult before, just a little fiddly), and switching between melee, ranged and magic seems to be smoother.
I also played the beginning of the game. Without giving too much away, you won’t even be half an hour in before you’re faced with a difficult decision. I also noticed character interaction is better, you actually make contact with the person you’re talking to instead of dancing like a loon or belching in front of them. I think this shows a lot of promise, and I’m interested to see how my previous save game affects the Fable 3 world. At the Eurogamer Expo Developer Session for Fable 3, Peter Molyneux would reveal nothing about the last half of the game, instead wanting us to find out for ourselves what would happen, and how. This must have been a massive challenge for him to do, but sometimes silence creates the most anticipation.
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