The Nice Touch
Before we go into your rise to power, you should learn about one of
the game's new, central play mechanics. Fable 2 used Expressions: you'd
interact with people in the world by selecting actions from a radial
menu. Dance or Sing to make people your friends; give an Evil Laugh or
Roar to make people cower in fear.
Fable 3 replaces that idea with the context-sensitive Touch
mechanic. Using just the Right Trigger (RT), you interact with people in
the world. The first example Molyneux showed off involved finding the
main character's lost daughter. Alone and upset in the city, you walk up
to her, and by pushing RT, you pick her up in your arms, comfort her,
and then set her down again. Now in a better mood, you press RT again to
take her hand and lead her around the city.
And that new mechanic plays directly into the morality system.
Perhaps you could sell her into slavery at some factory, or you could
bring her back to the safety of home. By interacting with and grabbing
people, Molyneux hopes that you'll have a closer connection with the
game's characters in general. When you meet someone in danger, you don't
just select a command from a menu, you can physically scoop them up and
rush them to safety.
While it seems natural to take your daughter's hand, Molyneux
also showed how you can interact with a beggar. The one-touch connection
lets you take his hand and lead him around -- whether you go to throw
him off a bridge or find a new home for him is up to you. But once
you're holding on, it doesn't seem the other character can get away. In
the demo, I watched as he took the beggar to a factory to be sold into
slavery. At first, the beggar seemed happy to accompany our hero, but
the closer we got to this evil destination, the more he tried to pull
away.
And these "touch" reactions are based on who you're interacting
with and how they feel about you. When you first meet someone, pulling
RT might just make you shake hands. Eventually, it will allow you to
hug, and depending on just how much the other character likes you, that
can lead to something much more, well, "intimate." Molyneux also
commented that Touch will play a part in battle, but he's saving
specific details on that aspect until later.
It's Good to be the King
Back to the story: Logan isn't a terribly popular leader. But you
still need the backing of the people in order to challenge him -- and
you do that by gaining new followers. Like renown in the last game,
having people support you makes you more powerful, gives you new
abilities, and opens up new avenues for you to explore in the world
You can gain more followers in several ways -- not the least of
which is by making promises. Molyneux says, "It's about power, ruling
responsibility. When you talk about choices and consequences, it
shouldn't just be about 'me,' it should be about all the things I
promised on the journey to becoming king. It's so easy in life to make
all these promises, but when you become king, you have to live up to
these promises."
So while you can say you're going to clean up the
streets, if you don't deliver on this, the people will lose faith in you
as a ruler. That doesn't mean you can't be evil though. As a ruler, you
have free reign to play with the new Judgment system: when people come
to you and ask for favors, you decide whether to throw them in the
dungeon, or take pity and give them funds from your treasury. You see,
as the king, you have access to a massive pile of gold. You then decide
whether to use it for the people or yourself. Do you turn the factories
into schools and orphanages, or do you put the kids on the street to
work?
Interactions with the games characters should mean a lot more
this time around too. Giving and receiving gifts in the first game
didn't have a huge impact on anything as whole, but Molyneux says that
this time you'll meet influential characters who have more far-reaching
effects if you help them out. His example included a woman in Bowerstone
who, if you successfully woo her, gives you access to more land and a
lot more followers.
Keeping up the Fight
Like the previous games, combat is based on three pillars: magic,
guns, and melee. But this time, the way you use your weapons has an
impact both on how you look and the way your weapons work.
Molyneux compares the system to Excalibur: The sword was a
strong, but it was desired because it was owned by King Arthur. In the
same way, the greater a leader you become, the more powerful and
valuable the weapons you use become. Wield a specific hammer or sword
often enough, and that weapon will grow larger and more formidable
looking. Even the types of enemies you take down have an effect. Kill
enough innocents, and your sword will drip with evil blood; kill evil
creatures, and your weapon will glow with a holy light.
Good weapons are meant to be shared as well. If you want to pass
it on to someone in another game, you're free to trade your weapons with
friends. And that weapon will always bear your name in the title; it
might travel halfway across the world, but it will always be called
"Peter's Sword of Vengeful Smiting" or whatever. Though he wasn't
specific, Molyneux commented that your Gamerscore will also have some
effect on how a weapon looks. The more you use a weapon, the more
distinctive it will become.
You're not only able to trade these items with your friends --
when you join another player's game, you can equip and bring your items
along. Your own unique character, with his unique look and weapons, can
join other people's games now. Molyneux teased that there's more
customization you can bring to your weapons, and co-op in general, but
those details will have to wait till GDC.
And being good or evil makes a much bigger impact on your
appearance than ever before as well. You're not just saddled with a halo
or horns for your moral choices, instead you sprout a set of wings --
blackish-red if your evil, feathered-and-angelic if you're good.
Don't Get Pissed Off
It turns out that Molyneux's comments a few weeks ago about making
gamers angry actually relates to something relatively tame: Fable 3 is
doing away with its HUD. Your health and magic is no longer shown in the
upper left corner, which isn't a huge departure from other similar
games. Instead, you'll know when you're taking damage and when your
character nears death by in-game graphical cues.
What is a big departure, though? No experience points.
Fable 3 is completely abandoning its traditional leveling
elements in favor of both gaining more followers to "level up," and
using your weapons more frequently to imbue them with power. That will
probably be a more divisive and important change than the lack of a HUD,
but that certainly doesn't mean that Molyneux and team can't do it
well.
Another surprise is that, like Mass Effect 2 , you can carry your character save over from the
last game into this new one. You can probably expect your original
choices back at the beginning of Fable 2 -- the ones that decided
whether Bowerstone is a den of thievery, or a bright and cheery part of
town -- to have some effect on this world as well. But we'll have to
wait longer to see how important those game's choices were.
But how will the lack of a HUD relate to choosing magic, your
weapons, and your clothing? Peter says, "To me, the 2D part of Fable and
Fable 2 was rubbish. That's why people didn't change their costumes:
they had to go through 300 items! I don't want that anymore. What I want
is everybody to feel that changing your clothes, your weapon, your look
is part of the game. Not just some 2D interface." I didn't get to check
out any of these menus first-hand, but there might still be some
menu-driven controversy left to discover.
What's the Same?
Molyneux obviously couldn't talk about everything in the game, but I
was able to pick out a few details that make a return from the last
title. First, several buildings had deeds tacked on the front, which
means you'll probably be able to buy, sell, and set rent for property
just like in Fable 2. Though, hopefully it will be easier to manage and
keep track of those properties after you buy them.
You're also once again accompanied by your faithful canine
companion. While there might not be a persistent HUD, standing next your
dog brings up the same D-pad interaction menu in the lower left-hand
corner: Left to praise and Right to scold. In the few scenes I watched,
your dog also helps lead you in the direction you need to go. Whether
that's going to completely replace Fable 2's glowing "bread crumb" trail
is still unclear.
But we still don't know about Natal's integration with the game
at all. You don't need to worry about this being a motion-sensing
exclusive -- Molyneux says, "Fable 3 is a controller-based game." But he
also hints at some "wonderful" things that Microsoft's new input device
will allow you to do; we'll just have to wait for GDC and E3 to learn
more about what sorts of interesting possibilities he has in mind.
