Hands On & In Depth With Fable 3 - E3 2010

If you've been following my Twitter account, then you know Fable 3 was the #1 thing I wanted to get my hands on at E3 this year. Luckily for us, most E3 attendees have no idea how awesome this game was, so playing a demo for 45 minutes, complete with a walkthrough & all the answers to our questions from not one, but three amazing Lionhead associate producers, wasn't that difficult to score. Here are some photos, video footage and fun facts from our experience.

- Voiceover. This game featured actual in-game chatting. Instead of only being able to make noises when you interact with others, your hero actually SAYS THINGS. With a VOICE. Sure the grunts are still there, but with new feature, we get more of a feel of our character's place among the citizens of Albion.

-There is a swashbuckling character voiced by SIMON. EFFING. PEGG. who, as of right now, is available to make fall in love with you if you are playing a female hero. I really hope this doesn't change cause any character voiced by Simon Pegg, I want in love with me.

-Steven Fry is returning as a voice. Another voice? Playing the evil brother? MICHAEL FASSBENDER. Cue Eruditechick freaking out. Cause that happened. It was awesome.

-The menus are no longer in 2D, but rather fully interactive 3D environments. You talk to Jasper, your butler, change & dye clothes, etc, all by actually running around and engaging. This makes a huge difference as you feel like the game is more organic and continuous. It's. Awesome.

-YOU CAN MARRY YOUR FRIEND'S HEROES OVER THE INTERNET AND THEN HAVE KIDS TOGETHER AND WHOEVER IS IN CHARGE OF THE UNIVERSE YOU PLAY IN KEEPS CUSTODY OF THE KIDS IN SINGLE PLAYER MODE AND THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME AND I WILL HAVE KIDS WITH ALL OF YOU

-The female hero is effing HOT. The game designers noticed that the female hero in Fable 2 got WAY too masculine the more powerful she got. While she is certainly still taller than most of the men, now she is also smokin hot. Even the way she stands, neutrally, is extremely feminine. Win win win.

-The spell mechanism has completely changed. Now you wear gauntlets, each gauntlet representing a different spell. These spells can be combined to create super cool combo spells. All I could get out of the lovely producers was the following: There are six different spells. One spell is lighting, one spell involves throwing swords, and while slowing down time doesn't exist anymore, something similar does.

- Instead of cashing in experience for power ups (no more orbs?), whichever skill you use most gets automatically upgraded. This is pretty much the same as in Fable 2, but simplified. No orbs, no cashing in. Just using and getting more awesome as time progresses.

- The environments are fucking beautiful. Actual cursing is required to describe the beauty.

- Instead of having a whole wheel of gestures (which was confusing for many), you now have specific gestures to pick from depending on the person & situation and it's a whole lot simpler to get someone to like you. While I quite enjoyed the wheel, I also mastered it with my 40 hours of gameplay. But for a lot of people. I imagine it was just confusing and annoying. So simple = just fine with me.

-You are required to wear a chicken suit as one point.

-Your sword changed depending on your morality, down to what EXACTLY you spend your time killing. There are 88,000 different ways your sword can look, including the dropping of blood when you're super evil.

-Being able to touch others goes beyond holding hands, kissing, playing with your kid and hugging your dog. It also applies to combat, which now includes a lot more advanced moves, including grabbing

Below, you can catch three hands on gameplay videos. One features the touching mechanism as it applies to dance. Now instead of looking like an idiot, you're actually dancing with your partner, and in the process, making a Dirty Dancing reference. Another shows off the part of the 3D menu where you can change outfits, along with the hotness of the female hero. The final video shows off some of the fighting mechanisms.

This is still my most anticipated game of the second half of 2010. I'm so effing excited. 40 hours on Fable 2 will be nothing compared to the time I put into this. Oh video games. Why are you so awesome?

If you are attending E3 today, be sure to check out the Fable 3 area at Microsoft. If you are not attending E3, OCTOBER 26TH, BABY. Pre-order now!

Dance Gesture

3D Menu


Fighting