Fable Hands On

Peter Molyneux's eagerly anticipated Xbox RPG Fable is upon display at Microsoft's E3 booth in playable form. drawn out lines, sweaty palms, and anxious gamers were all in force to earn their hands on what is touted as the console's greatest in quantity ambitious RPG yet.

Each comfort on the floor had a short demo available, starring a character of either beneficial or bad orientation (with appropriate skin color, markings, and sporting either a sky-colored or red aura), making their way from one side a few short sections of a single area. The gameplay of the demo was of the hack and slash variety, with individual melee weapon (either a spiked cudgel battleaxe, or sword), one ranged weapon (bow and arrow), and a exorcism or two (fire attack) to use against a horde of what appeared to be skeletal warriors of the undead variety (think Army of Darkness).

The graphics are as impressive in motion as the screenshot would lead single to believe, with lush, detailed environments. Controlling the main character was a light wind as all actions were tight and responsive. The demo upon the show floor was painfully short, however, jarring several players on the outside of their dream-like state they'd drifted into while playing. Knowing Lionhead's "when it's done" stance upon release dates, the wait for this individual is going to be a scabrous one indeed.

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