The problems that then arise are an evolution of the series’ hallmark moral choices. It’s a thread that runs throughout Lionhead’s catalogue – games as polarising personality tests – no better epitomised than by god sim Black & White, in which you cultivated a creature to angelic or demonic extremes. Similarly, every decision in Fable and its first sequel sent the moral compass swinging between opposites – the cumulative results reflected in your avatar’s appearance. Choice and consequence take on big roles in the developer’s third outing to Albion, but Lionhead is keen that morality is no longer a trivial decision between horns or halos. With your hero as king, your decisions are dramatically reshaped in the light of regal responsibility and complicated by realpolitik: doing as you might wish just isn’t always practical.
Lionhead chief, Peter Molyneux
“I think it should be so much more sophisticated than ‘Do I want to be a psychotic killer or do I want to be Mother Teresa?’ That’s what most moral choices come down to,” says Molyneux. “I want to know what you’re going to do with power. I think there is an analogy with today’s world, and someone like Obama. He had the coolest presidential campaign ever. Literally, you had the world stopping and cheering when he was elected. And here we are over a year later and it’s now cool in America to bash Obama. A lot of leaders seem to age and whither within a few weeks – personally I’m looking forward to seeing David Cameron age a little bit, but there you go. Part of that experience is in Fable. When you become ruler, promises turn out be a lot more difficult to follow through on – like closing Guantanamo Bay.”
And what would be a Fable III equivalent of Guantanamo Bay? “Throughout the game you see these poor kids working in these factories,” says Josh Atkins, Fable III’s lead game designer. “Along the way you get an ally who says to you: ‘I really want you to make Bowerstone [one of Albion’s main cities] a better place, get the kids out of the factories and workhouses and into schools’. But you come to a point where you have to decide against a counterbalance of limited time and money.”
The game's locations are as charismatic as its characters
“You can try and keep all your promises,” says Atkins, “and you are certainly able to if you play a certain way – but it’s going to be challenging.” These new kingly conundrums serve as the backdrop to a swashbuckling adventure that should be be more familiar in its action to fans of the series. Although magic has receded from Albion as it presses on through an industrial revolution, it is still very recognisably the world of Fable – parodying that imaginary England of bucolic fantasy, by turns farcical and dark.
Lead designer, Josh Atkins
“Sixty years have moved on in the Fable world,” says Molyneux. “Your hero – who you can import from Fable II – saved Albion from The Spire. Fable II’s story ended with Teresa saying: ‘Thanks a lot, now get out: The Spire’s mine.’ You were crowned ruler of Albion. Then you died.”
In Fable III you play as one of that ruler’s children, seemingly disinherited in favour of your brother Logan, who then takes the throne. For the sake of brevity, Molyneux refers to the player as a man – but you can choose your gender just as in previous games. “So you’re a prince and you live in the castle, but you don’t really have any responsibilities. Meanwhile, Logan is becoming more and more tyrannical. There are protesters outside the castle – he just shoots them. He seems to be doing every terrible thing to Albion he can – he seems to have gone mad. And then, after a series of unfortunate events, you are forced to escape from the castle with a band of supporters.”
Nobody said anything about fighting fair...
In fleeing the castle, your dormant heroic powers are ignited, and it becomes clear that you must use them to foment a rebellion. “The next thing we say is: you need to get followers,” says Molyneux. “The more followers you have, the more powerful you are, the more abilities you unlock, the more you visibly change. Really, followers are just experience points, but we’ve tried to move Fable away from being a roleplaying game. There are some things I love about roleplaying games: progression, the feeling of getting more powerful, and feeling it’s you in the game rather than some canned hero. I love levelling up, but hate that it’s all about changing the number four to five to six. I think by playing a role you should feel like you’re part of the drama.”