During the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Peter Molyneux, Creative Director of Microsoft Game Studios, discussed the changes and updates that would be seen in the third entry of the Fable franchise. Fable III will lose some of the elements fans of the series have grown accustomed to. The health bar is being eliminated and the combat is being streamlined. Experience and leveling up system is being completely changed.

Molyneux explained:

"Surely, we had to keep experience. Experience for role-playing games is a massive thing. I began to realize that experience is all about combat, but the Fable world is much bigger than that."

Rather than collecting experience, you will gather followers for your army to overthrow a tyrant. The second half of the game will involve you ruling over Albion. The choices you make building towards your coup attempt will have consequences that will affect your path to the crown as well as your reign.

"Everything you do, however trivial or noble or wonderful, results in you gaining or losing followers." Get married to the right person, you get more followers. Make a promise to a certain town that you'll tear down a polluting factory, and you'll win their trust. Of course, making certain judgments, as the system is called in Fable III, might have consequences.

The item management in Fable II was far from perfect and Lionhead Studios plans to simplify the interface to make it more accessible to players. Fable III will take most of the interface into the 3D world. For example, clothing customization has gone from clicking through menus to an actual closet, complete with butler. You will be able try various clothing and customize with dyes with a touch of a button and changing the angle of the camera.

The two-dimensional map has been replaced with your own war room, where you can look down on a map table. The map table will allow you to see all of the areas and the real time happenings of the areas. Through a magnifying glass, the player will be able to see a 3D representation of what people are doing in the world.

Erik Brudvig of IGN commented:

I even saw Molyneux zoom further in to a single house where he could see his in-game wife and kids, and interact with them. Molyneux teased that, though it wouldn't be similar to an RTS, this map could be used for sending troops around the world once you are king or queen.

I was late on the Fable bandwagon. I just happened to pick up and finish Fable: The Lost Chapters recently and fell in love with the amount of content and choice. While currently working through Fable 2, I have been excited to hear about the innovations for the upcoming sequel. Molyneux and Lionhead are taking calculated risks to bring the franchise to another level, recruiting new to the guild while not alienating current members.

What do you think of these changes? If you haven't played a Fable game, does this news make you interested?

Source: IGN