Molyneux announces Fable III at GamesCom, coming 2010 [update]
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Aug 19th 2009 at 4:20AM } 
Update: Added details after the break.
Gallery: Fable 3 (GamesCom 2009)
- Molyneux teases: "I think there's something fundamentally wrong with role-playing games. Game like Fable ... it's been there since the early '80s." Won't say what he thinks it is yet. Will announce later.
- "The race for the crown has begun." Tagline spoken by Zoe Wanamaker/Narrator.
- Game takes place about 50 years after the first. You play as the child of the hero. Bowerstone has continued moving on and has become quite industrial. The game is not just about Albion this time.
- Half the game will be spent trying to ascend to power. The game will not turn into a micromanagement RTS after that point. Judgment and Touch system will be used to influence the world.
- Focus on story and drama in this iteration. Actors and writers have blocked entire scenes. Video shown of practice sessions.
- Asks what type of kingdom will you have: poverty/greed, tyranny/compassion, progress/tradition?
- On the way to the crown, players will make deals and promises to factions. The question is whether people will keep those promises once they're in power.
- Players are a hero ruler -- Molyneux used the example of Star Trek or Caesar, that players won't just be sitting around once they rule Albion. They will still have adventures.
- New gameplay mechanic: Judgment and Touch. Judgment allows the player to dictate the outcome of a situation. The example used was a girl who steals food is brought in front of the ruler. The player can judge her immediately or investigate. Touch will allow players to grab NPCs. Example used was running into a burning building to grab a child who wouldn't come otherwise. Now you can shake someone's hand or refuse to. Handshake leads to hug, to embrace, a "snog," and as for that last one, Molyneux "won't say where it'll lead." This will replace the expression system.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Pos @ Aug 19th 2009 4:28AM
[I've been banned]
No Kill Tayler @ Aug 19th 2009 4:29AM
Then go on those websites.
No Kill Tayler @ Aug 19th 2009 4:32AM
I meant, go back to IGN then.
Its not like their gonna do a live blog now that you've asked, when the show's already on the road.
MechaGamerX @ Aug 19th 2009 4:56AM
If you like IGN so much, then why don't you MARRY IT?!!
blitzkrieg @ Aug 19th 2009 6:22AM
Your name fits you. P.O.S.
Ashitaka @ Aug 19th 2009 8:24AM
@ blitzkrieg
I've already said that to this guy in another thread xD He really is a piece of shit (well, at least his comments are).
Buttscratch @ Aug 19th 2009 8:37AM
Please learn proper grammar. "IGN does THEIR work." Thanks bye bye.
Dano @ Aug 19th 2009 11:02AM
Did you even notice the posting time for this article? Who is going to be reading a live blog on a US-based website? I would rather see an edited, salient summary of the event as opposed to the normal "live blog" dribble.
iluvmyzune @ Aug 19th 2009 1:51PM
dude halo reach, crackdown 2, gears of war 3, fable 3, alan wake, splinter cell, 2010 is the year of the xbox!!!!!!!!
ignfan69 @ Aug 19th 2009 3:24PM
IGN sucks!
No Kill Tayler @ Aug 19th 2009 4:28AM
The time is....really late!
Access Granted [No one can stop Mr. Domino!] @ Aug 19th 2009 10:32AM
The shops are now closing!
dude if thats in game footage... that's EPIC!
commen-cents @ Aug 19th 2009 4:07PM
@captain planet
i apologize now that there is a broad window, im sure this dropping around holiday next year will be a good thing for microsoft
never the less your still my hero ;)
pete @ Aug 19th 2009 10:54PM
in-game footage?! HA!
sorry to break your balls, but they have a history of leading us on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELbctfs826A
commen-cents @ Aug 19th 2009 4:29AM
in production huh? so thats their way of trying to soften the $299 playstation blow? no release date in site= no news
McWilly @ Aug 19th 2009 4:39AM
You sir already win fail comment of the day.
No Kill Tayler @ Aug 19th 2009 4:42AM
Ha then anything related to FF13 isn't news.
commen-cents @ Aug 19th 2009 4:51AM
@ no kill
I agree with that as well... I've never played any final fantasy games so I dont get the hype around them.
No Kill Tayler @ Aug 19th 2009 5:14AM
I was making fun of what he was saying. Everytime final fantasy whatever comes out with a new game, it doesn't have a release date so coinciding with what he said, I was being sarcastic basically.
I believe this and whatever joystiq posts IS news, no matter if it had a release sate or not.
Snowblind @ Aug 19th 2009 6:48AM
Microsoft were never going to announce a price drop or anything along those lines at the EUROPEAN event, the 360 is still cheaper than the PS3 over here.
Imagine how that would go over.. "we're dropping the price of the Elite to $199.. but you Europeans, you still get to pay the same amount as before."
MS said this wouldn't be a big event going in, and was infact listed as a Microsoft/Lionhead conference.
Captain Planet (now accepting new Planeteer recruits and official sponsor of the Cody is a Douche contest) @ Aug 19th 2009 11:10AM
You had to suspect the PS3 fanboys would come in here and say some shit like...
ZOmG!!!!11! XbOks suXxoRz!!1 GT5 > FABle3!!111!!!!!!! AhAHhhh Jo0 guYz AnD jUr RRR0Dee PS3 4EvrR!!
You fucks need to relax. I hardly think announcing Fable 3 was to "soften" the Sony news from yesterday. If Microsoft wanted to do that, I'm sure they would have put together a trailer for Gears of War 3 or Halo: Reach.
This news of Fable 3 however, is fantastic.
Raphael @ Aug 19th 2009 4:30AM
sweet. i am pumped for new info... sounds kwl... was wondering that if the character you had in fable 2 had a child boy/girl could you play as them in the next one, like the character progression in Mass Effect 2
Premature ejaculation man @ Aug 19th 2009 4:33AM
I want a pet lion this time.
R (Planeteers | Power of Penile Pulse) @ Aug 19th 2009 4:37AM
My Fable 2 character was a lesbian. Please explain how I have a kid. Did I adopt one without knowing? (Could have happened on one of those drunken nights in Bloodstone.) Also, how does my undead wife feel about this news?
Also, Peter, please get on inventing a female condom. I have 13 STDs from sleeping with my zombie wife because Fable 2's condoms arent lesbian friendly.
No Kill Tayler @ Aug 19th 2009 4:39AM
Or what about 4 wifes I have, do they suddenly kill themselves?
Chris Are @ Aug 19th 2009 1:05PM
Wow, apparently I need to play Fable 2...
protofunc @ Aug 19th 2009 6:55PM
@R
Your comment is fucking hilarious! Fuck putting a +1 on that shit, you've just leveled up!
B @ Aug 19th 2009 4:42AM
*yawn* Didn't we just get a Fable game + DLC?
ThatPCgameryouhate @ Aug 19th 2009 6:42AM
Yeah, and this isn't coming out until 2010!!!!!!
That's a year. In case you couldn't count.
Chairman Hurf [Planeteer | Power of Politically Correct Comedic Relief] @ Aug 19th 2009 9:24AM
YOU WEREN'T ACTUALLY YAWNING I SAW THAT... LIAR
Ghostbuddy @ Aug 19th 2009 5:00AM
Eurogamer has exclusive preview up.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/fable-iii-preview
Among other things, the game takes place 50 years after fable 2. You play a direct desendant, just one generation away, from the hero of Fable 2. By the end of the game, you will become the king of albion. I also get the impression, the game will use a Natal. In the press conference, they briefly mentioned they thought about weither to scrap the emote system. Then he goes on about a new feature, "touch". And the dexterity you would need to do the things he describes, sounds like it would require natal. Beyond that, the game is coming out in 2010. So it could very well be a title, that will be interperted sort of like a launch title for Natal.
This could just be typical lionhead overhyping, but this game sounds awesome.
jaaaaaaaaaaames @ Aug 19th 2009 5:00AM
lol no ps3 fans in here yet :) looking forward to fable 3 tho
Abriael @ Aug 19th 2009 8:06AM
I guess most of the PS3 fans are too dumbfonded at how underwhelming the Microsoft keynote was to even bother commenting...
Ashitaka @ Aug 19th 2009 8:29AM
You hit the nail on the head, Abriael.
F1: Basu Gasu Bakuhatsu @ Aug 19th 2009 6:45PM
you guys just got a price drop. No need to try and turkey-slap such great news with your little pea-shooters just because you feel insecure.
jahd5000 @ Aug 19th 2009 9:09PM
im a proud ps3 owner you jackass and being a ps3 owner doesnt make you a fanboy who would go criticizing any 360 exclusive. Actually im really interested in Fable 2 and 3 since i loved 1, but not getting a whole console (and if this natal, another peripheral) only for two games.
so instead of making fun of ps3 fanatics, you are describing your own race as people who expect such comments the same way they do on any ps3 good new.
VaultICEE @ Aug 19th 2009 5:14AM
Fable 3!? Damn, I still haven't gotten the second one yet!
...in related news, does anyone know if Halo 3 is out yet?
CH3BURASHKA @ Aug 19th 2009 5:21AM
...? Yeah, you kind of missed it's release date by a few years...
ThatPCgameryouhate @ Aug 19th 2009 6:43AM
If by Halo 3, you mean Halo ODST, then no. It hasn't. But in the meantime learn to count.
CH3BURASHKA @ Aug 19th 2009 5:21AM
Jesus, ain't that a bit quick?
Will the new pet rhinoceros be the most amazing AI ever?
Vcize @ Aug 19th 2009 10:12AM
It'll be roughly the same amount of time as there will end up being between Assassin's Creed and its sequl, Bioshock and its sequel, Mass Effect and its sequel, etc and none of those seem too quick...
R (Planeteers | Power of Penile Pulse) @ Aug 19th 2009 5:30AM
Whats a " Judgment and Touch" system? Is that the whole "choices=consequences" thing theyve been hyping since Fable 1?
R (Planeteers | Power of Penile Pulse) @ Aug 19th 2009 5:34AM
UPDATE: Answered my own question here:http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/101/1015409p1.html
As a big fan of Fable 1 (beat it like 3x) Fable 2 (beaten 2x and have all DLC, and over 1k gamerscore on it) I have to say that....
This game sounds boring as holy hell....
Premature ejaculation man @ Aug 19th 2009 10:28AM
I played Fable 1 so much. I still feel its the more fun game in the series. I think its time for me to replay #2 now though =D
Angus @ Aug 19th 2009 5:36AM
I just hope it doesn't end up like Fable 1 and 2 where Molyneux promised everyone the moon and then failed to deliver. Remember the multiplayer? "Bring your hero to your friends world". All I recall was selecting from a bunch of preconfigured characters.
I'm not bashing the games, only Molyneux's capabilities as a vacuum salesman.
guttertalk @ Aug 19th 2009 8:43AM
If he's overhyped Fable 1 and 2, what could possibly be the reason for your hope that he isn't this time?
The Fable games are somewhat fun, but Fable 2 got ridiculously easy and boring when I had to stop playing for a while and came back to a mountain of money.
neil_1982 @ Aug 19th 2009 5:58AM
Well is that all we are getting form Ms,? after sonys 3 hours pres yesterday,
well i was lloking out for a new console, either ms or sony but well ive pre ordered a ps3 i was hoping that ms would have somthing on show and a price drop on the elite .
oh well we shall see if anyting arises later in the day.
WPstart @ Aug 19th 2009 5:38AM
I thought you became the ruler of Albion at the end of Fable II? Wouldn't your descendants inherit that?
avan @ Aug 19th 2009 6:09AM
is this the game they been working on? well i love fable so this is a good news specially if it comes with natal
AnkleSpankle @ Aug 19th 2009 6:12AM
Nothing new, Markus Llyn the Lead technical programmer for Fable 2 came into Uni and was giving a presentation and accidently shown a slide with Fable 3 in it with milestones set for the game's development.
This was around 4 months ago now, good to see it's actually real though, recently completed Fable 2 and thought it was rather good (With the bugs aside)