The Fable franchise has followed an interesting path since it’s birth on the Xbox some years ago. What started out as solo quest of a boy turned hero took a different turn in Fable 2 to a game with more difficult decisions between good and evil. Fable 2 also introduced a limited form of co-op which for most, simply didn’t fit the bill. Now Fable 3 is here and it not only expands on the concept of what is right and wrong, mostly blurring the lines, but it also expands on the co-op giving people exactly what they want.
Fable 3 starts with you as a prince or princess, you are the child of the Hero from Fable 2. Your brother Logan is currently sitting upon the throne of Albion, but he’s a very unpopular leader that some call a tyrant. It isn’t long before your mentor Walter whisks you and your pooch away on a question to rally the people of Albion to your side to overthrow your brother.
Fable 3 is a lot more like an adventure game and less like an RPG. No longer do you collect orbs based on melee, magic or ranged attacks leveling up that ability - instead all your actions, aggressive or not, yield you experience points towards Guild Seals. These seals are then spent on different chests on your Road to Rule, the chests contain items like different expressions, upgraded attacks, and new spells to learn. It’s here in this hub world that you’re really given the choice to shape your character.
Another big change is the lack of weapon and armor collecting - or rather - the lack of importance of it. Sure you can still collect or buy different outfits and armor, but they have no statistical effect on your character. You are given your choice of weapons like a sword, hammer, rifle and pistol at the start which you’ll use for most of the game. While there are “epic” weapons you can acquire and complete special tasks with, there’s very little reason to switch off of your favorite hero weapon. As you use your weapon it’ll morph and transform - glowing different colors, adding curves and twists, and adding different styles and sizes to itself. This all depends on what you kill, as well as what deeds you do while wielding the weapon. This adds to the cool factor when joining a co-op game, showing off your bad ass weapon.
The combat is mostly unchanged from Fable 2, a one button system yields plenty of cool moves and maneuvers. The longer you hold a button, the greater the power of the swing of the hammer or shot of the pistol. New though is a dynamic action camera that will slow down and focus in on particular animation. There’s a huge variety here you’ll see - whether it’s an overhead smash, the breaking of an enemy’s leg, or the rapid shot of a gun into the bad guy. So despite one button, the combat is incredibly satisfying.