The third time may be the charm for Peter Molyneaux’s Fable franchise.  After some hands on time with the two modes Lionhead was showcasing for the latest incarnation of their epic action adventure series, I walked away with a good feeling of where Fable III will be taking gamers this fall.

Set roughly 50 years after the events in Fable II, you are thrust into the role of an 18-year-old sibling to the King. An offspring from the hero of the second adventure, (a completed save file from Fable II will add to this in some capacity not yet revealed) you have lived a life of seclusion not knowing the harm your tyrannical brother has caused to the people of Albion. Upon discovering this atrocity, with your trusted mentor Sir Walter Beck, you flee the kingdom.

This is where the combat demo picks up, shipwrecked somewhere in the distant land of Aurora after fleeing, you find your hero (I chose the male and good path for my playthrough) with his mentor stranded in a dark, ominous cave.  Led by torchlight, the meat of the demo came down to fending off hordes of dark creatures (which looked like creepier versions of Kingdom Hearts Heartless) climaxing with a battle with an impressive foe called a Sentinel.

 If you’ve played the previous entry, not much has seems to have changed for the combat.  The demo allowed for the use the traditional sword, gun, and magic based attacks found in previous Fables. Each attack was mapped to a specific face button, allowing for quick executions when switching through attack types. It was easy to slice a few enemies, then blast a couple away, finishing them off by charging up your magic, raining down electric bolts. Though the engine used for Fable III, allows more on-screen enemies, I really felt nothing had really been added to update the combat, which to me was the weakest part of Fable II.

The updated visuals looked great on the other hand, not that Fable II was lacking. Everything is bigger and more detailed. The lighting effects in the cave were very impressive, as shadows acted realistically to the torch that Sir Walter carries. At the end of the demo, you find your mentor injured and the new hand holding mechanic is introduced. My first impression of this new feature was that it was incredibly slow and really slowed down, what seems like a faster combat system. Luckily this is not the normal case for this new feature as I found out in the second part of the demo, when escorting a date in the city of Brightwall, which is set in mountains west of Albion.

Upon entering, the first thing I took notice and the biggest improvement to the Fable franchise so far is the redesigned user interface. Gone are the traditional menus to access weapons, items, clothing, quests and even the map. In Fable III, the menu system is fully interactive. As you as you pause the game your thrown instantly and seamlessly into a hub where, voiced by John Cleese (one of many celebrity voice talents), your butler Jasper makes witty and hilarious comments as you decide on different weapons, clothing and other common option selections. To get to your weapons or clothing (the only two open options open in the demo) you just walk through the appropriate marked door and make a new selection. Your map is also located in the main room, but was not currently enabled. When you’re finished just press the B button twice to quickly exit.

The rest of my visit in Brightwall, was spent taking in the upgraded social and economic systems. Like the new menu system, everything has been streamlined. Shops have done away with menus, by presenting items to you out in the open ( you can even haggle to lower prices). When interacting with citizens, gone is the radial wheel for different actions replaced with button prompts over their head corresponding to their current feelings for you. At first you may be only have the options to shake hands or fart, (which when executed now, has your character pull the receiving victims head into your butts vicinity) but as you build a relation with them, the options might change to dance or point and laugh. It was also revealed by a member of team Lionhead that the way you interact with someone can offer new quests to partake.

Two quests were presented in the Brightwall demo, which ranged from dressing in a chicken suit to lure chickens back to their cages, to helping a man arrange a divorce by seducing his wife.  Both quests were fairly standard, but ended with morality choices. The chicken quest forced me to offer my opinion in what to do with the chickens; kill them or set them free. It was a hands-off decision, but my choices outcome to the morality of character was easy to understand. In the quest to seduce the wife, the end of the quest forced me to choose between the wife and the husband.  I could kill the husband and stay with his wife or let the husband go to follow through with the divorce. I chose to kill the husband, but in my clumsiness with the sword found that there was a third option. I had accidently killed them both in one swift strike. It was here, that I discovered that the morality system in Fable III isn’t so black and white this time.

My time with Fable III was a mixed bag. Though the combat doesn’t seem to have evolved much, the streamlined user interface and town structure has me excited to visit Albion a third time. The new weapon evolution system wasn’t shown at E3 which has your weapon changing based on your morality. This new feature may just be the kick the combat needs, but it looks like I’ll have to wait till the fall to pass finale judgment.