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Fable: The Journey Preview

This week I'll be taking a look at Fable: The Journey, the newest addition to the Fable series. I myself played Fable II extensively on Xbox 360 and really enjoyed it. In fact, myself and a friend had a 72 hour marathon from start to end to complete it and had great fun playing it and each choosing the different rewards at the end and changing our relationship with the towns people etc. However, I never got round to playing Fable III, which means I need to get on it before the release of Fable: The Journey this October.


fable 2 main
 
Fable: The journey is an upcoming action/role playing adventure game developed by Lionhead Studios for the Xbox 360. It is the fifth installment in the already well established "Fable" series, however, this title comes with a twist. It will be exclusive to the use of the Xbox Kinect peripheral (For those who don't know the kinect is a motion sensor input device for the Xbox 360 based around the webcam style) This is quite interesting as I like to play my games whilst laying on my bed/on the sofa relaxing as I haven't got the space to be jumping about performing fictional magical spells - nor do I really want to. I was hoping this would support the standard controller method  but this doesn't seem to be the case. 

kinect photo

Set five years after the events of Fable III, the player controls a normal Dweller named Gabriel who has been separated from his tribe. Gabriel comes across Theresa, who has been wounded by a disease called The Corruption. The Corruption is taking over the whole of Albion, and Gabriel must take her to the Tattered Spire to restore her power. The game takes place throughout large portions of Albion. The events of Fable III are still felt during Fable: the Journey. According to developers, Fable: The Journey will read previous Fable III save files and change the game world accordingly. Details about loading these saves remains unclear. Player decisions will also affect the character's horse who drives the player's carriage throughout the game. If you spur your horse forward quickly with a whip, the horse's health may deteriorate. Alternatively, if you treat your horse well, they may exhibit a healthy glow. According to information revealed at E3 2012, the horse may even learn specific voice commands used when you spur it forward. It has been confirmed that this entry in the franchise does not deal with the ancient archon bloodline featured in past entries.

fable screenshot

 

By using the Kinect the player can manipulate their hands to perform certain gestures, players can enter a spell crafting mode, which allows to draw items with their hands and then use them as spells. This enables players to create shields, spears and hammers in order to defeat enemies. Players can also create fishing rods and telescopes, which can then be used in minigames. As enemies are defeated, life force is collected, which can be used to unlock new spells. Life force is similar to the experience system of previous Fable titles.

A large portion of the game takes place with the player character's horse. Driving the horse requires "holding" the reins and guiding the horse along a path. The player must also care for their horse by petting and brushing it as well as caring for it when it gets hurt.

There will also be cross-game interaction with Fable Heroes,  See Fable Heroes HERE. Playing Fable Heroes will level up the character in Fable: The Journey as well as unlock additional items.

 FABLE HEROES

To summarise, I'm actually quite looking forward to trying this out. The idea of the Kinect seems a bit of an inconvenience for me as a lazy role playing fan, however, looking at the trend in gaming of the past year or so, it seems we are moving into a 3D & a more "interactive" orientated style of gaming which means I may need to finally get a Kinect to see if the fuss really is worth it. The game will be officially released in the US on the 9th October, and 12th in the UK.

For a sneak peek you can see the official game trailer - HERE




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Meet the Author

About / Bio
I'm a lifelong gamer and share my passion with the world in the form of streaming my games on twitch.tv - www.twitch.tv/terrorhertz and making YouTube videos about all the games I enjoy. I'm also a budding games journalist here :)

My gaming journey began in the Christmas 1992 when aged 6, I got my Sega Mega Drive with Sonic One and World Cup Italia 90. Since then I have played and own pretty much every console since then, just check my collection video on my YouTube channel.

Now days I mainly play PC games and got into the PC side of things when I started playing Everquest in 2005. This game opened my eyes to the mmorpg genre and since then have played most MMO's of which World of Warcraft was my most played. Right now I'm playing and streaming DayZ and FIFA with a few other games thrown in here and there. I'm a games journalist and write weekly articles and monthly reviews and previews whilst also uploading 3+ videos weekly to my YouTube channel where you can find loads of awesome HD gaming videos - www.youtube.com/terrorhertzhd

I've worked as a hardware/software technician for Apple the past 4 years and really enjoy working with computers. I have built/modded/overclocked PC's since around 2007 and it's a massive interest of mine. My other hobbies include video editing, carp fishing, golf and playing guitar.

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