Fable III Preview

So the news is out on Fable III for Xbox 360... And it's going to be bigger and better! Everything that made Fable II so good has been included in the game, plus even more new features. Starting with giving the main character a voice. Now your prince or princess will air their views and feelings far more expressively than before. This will surely lead to all manner of wonderful encounters with quest characters and civilians alike.

One of the most anticipated new features of the game is the chance to be King (or Queen) of the world of Albion. To my understanding this means that you are able to make decisions that affect townsfolk across the whole of Albion and can gain a loyal following or become a hated dictator. In Fable II you were able to buy up property and businesses to gain the title of King/Queen, a feature of the game that I found fun to play with. Owning enough properties allowed you to have the title of King/Queen but this never had any impact on the game. Now you can own the whole of Albion and have the power that was hinted at in the previous game.

The moral decisions you have to make in Fable III have been seriously overhauled and nothing is black and white anymore. Whereas in previous Fable games it has been pretty obvious where different choices will lead you, in Fable III the decisions you have to make have far more wide reaching consequences. For example, in the early stages of the game there is a  group of poor struggling townsfolk who are leading a peaceful demonstration and you are given two choices; kill the ringleaders of the protest or let your best friend die. It's a harsh decision to have to make.

Finally, the last new feature of the game available in all previews are the weapons. Weapons will now grow and develop with you; if you are a decent upstanding person your weapon will take on a holy glow and shape, if you are evil your weapon will become darker and more intimidating. Along with the changes to your characters features (a staple from the previous games) this new feature will add even more different ways to develop each character you play.

Add in the extended gameplay (Fable III is at least twice as long as Fable II), the updated graphics and the wider variety of missions to keep you going and this is shaping up to be the next game of the year.