Only on the Xbox 360

Aug 19, 2009 09:41 GMT  ·  By

As you all know, the GamesCon conference is currently underway in Cologne, Germany. We're already in day two of the convention and there have already been some huge announcements made by Sony yesterday in regard to the PlayStation 3 Slim and new features for the PSP.

But today was Microsoft's turn to reveal new things as it has just held its joint press conference with its premiere European development studio, Lionhead. As you might know, there has been a teaser campaign on the Lionhead website lately, with every day revealing a famous historical leader, from Che Guevara to Abraham Lincoln, with pictures that were complemented by a quote from each and every person.

Now, as the press conference finished, Peter Molyneux revealed that his team was working on Fable III, which would arrive in late 2010, two years after the release of Fable II. The game will give you the primary task of becoming Albion's king and leading the people to happiness and the kingdom to glory.

Fable III will be something bold and different, Molyneux promises, stating that story and drama will play a major part in it. New things will be done with the dog and the bread crumb trails mechanics, which were present in the second game, and you will be offered complete control of your actions and your people's actions, as you will be the king of Albion.

Molyneux also says that your family in the game will play a major role but more details in this regard are not available at this time. Also, you will need to balance many things, including poverty and greed, tyranny and compassion or progress and tradition, all in order to keep your subjects happy. Furthermore, you will be able to set taxes and decide how you will rule your subjects. Your spouse, be it a king or a queen, will also point you into various directions over the course of the game.

It seems that you will start as a son or daughter of the hero from Fable II and then progress until the halfway point of the game when you will be named king or queen of Albion. This means that you need to keep your save data from Fable II in order for a higher degree of customization.

Your charisma will be put to the test, as you'll need to gather supporters throughout your campaign. Also, you will have to keep your promises in order for the people to accept you once you rule Albion. “Look at Obama, he's not looking as fresh-faced as he was, is he?” Molyneux said, in order to further highlight this game’s mechanic.

But once you grasp the power of the kingdom, you can do many other things, having the opportunity to fight, lead your people or make royal visits to locations within the kingdom. Funds will need to be taken care of properly in order to prevent poverty, but also to help underprivileged locations to become attractive for inhabitants.

A new system called judgment will be implemented, as you, as the king, will be able to point to various characters and listen to their stories. It will most likely be helpful in giving out side-quests in which you need to investigate whether the character is telling a lie of speaking truthfully.

Another new mechanic will be called touch, as your interactions with other people will be measured in a more precise manner. For example, if you are trying to court a woman, the new system will slowly allow you to shake her hand, hug her and more. This will be the expression touch, but there will also be a dynamic touch, which will let you reach out and interact with others. Molyneux then describes a good example of when you hear a baby crying. In Fable II, the game would say press A to save the child, but with the touch system, you will be able to pull the child from the house, while cuddling and reassuring him.

Overall, Fable III will definitely be something to look forward to in late 2010. Keep an eye out for more details in the following days. Until then, here is the debut trailer of the game.