Xbox Gaming in South Africa

Picking up 50 years or so on from Fable 2, not only has the world of Albion progressed into an industrial era, but all the magic stuff's been upgraded too. That, or the designers over at Lionhead decided to overhaul the entire spellcasting system. I like the first option, because it's more whimsical or something.

Anyway, talking to CVG, senior design director on the project, Josh Atkins, describes the changes.

"From the moment the player receives their first spell, they are able to cast the maximum spell level, albeit very very slowly," he reveals. "As the hero levels up their spell ability, they will find that progressive spell levels will cast much more quickly, meaning that at maximum spell ability level, the highest level of the spell will almost insta-cast. This means magic for all levels is much less about standing about waiting to charge up to useful levels and is more immediate and fun."

There's also the new concept of Spellweaving, enabled by the use of spell gauntlets. When two gauntlets are equipped, players will be able to combine spell effects to produce combos.

"For example, if the player chooses Vortex on one hand and Fireball on the other then they will cast a Fire Vortex which sucks people off the ground and sets them on fire, especially good against those annoying Hobbes," says Atkins.

He also describes the weapon morphing system, previously alluded to by Peter Molyneux. "Initially, all weapons look very standard, but as the hero powers up, the weapons morph to reflect the hero's playing style," he explains. "Some weapons have predetermined paths and missions the player has to perform to give them amazing new abilities while others morph to reflect exactly what the hero has done in the game."

Check out the new levelling and magic abilities in the combat trailer below, taken from the Mourningwood Fort mission in Fable 3.

Fable 3 will be out locally on 29 October.