Fable III review

"As you go through the game, you know you're going to affect the entire kingdom. After all, we tell you right at the start of the game, 'You're going to be king.' Now it's all about what you think is just and what you think is unjust," he adds. "There's this big moral choice in how much you want to sacrifice and which promises you decide to keep."

Of course, the road to the throne room isn't an easy one. (For one thing it involves dressing up as a chicken at some stage.) Once you escape from the palace you're taken to The Sanctuary, a room which will act as a central hub for your adventures in Albion. With Jasper on hand to guide you through the different functions of the hub, it almost feels like you have your own version of the Bat Cave.

From the Sanctuary you can change clothes, select weapons, toggle the gaming settings and use a map to fast-travel to any areas you've already visited. You can also use the map to seek out people in Albion in need of a hero to complete tasks for you such as playing a female part in a play, delivering a message to a friend in dangerous terrain and, yes, rounding up crafty chickens.

While a lot of Albion has received a visual overhaul in terms of the style of buildings, weapon types (trading pistols and rifles for a blunderbuss) and the clothes its citizens wear, long time fans of the Fable franchise will feel right home. The atmosphere, in spite of the darker plot, still feels almost fairytale like and everything looks absolutely gorgeous. From cavernous catacombs and the snow-capped rustic village of The Dwellers to the lush rolling hills of BrightWall, Albion is as beautiful as you remember it.

Still, there is a sense that events in the real world have started to seep into Fable III's magical kingdom. Albion's brutal drive towards progress at the cost of human suffering offers some interesting parallels with modern current affairs.

In a way, Molyneux says, the story arc involving the player's ascension to the throne will probably resonate all the more for players who have one eye on the global economic meltdown and the unpopular policy decisions certain politicians have made to remedy the situation.

"I think is unbelievably relevant to what's going on with our Government and the current budget cuts," says Molyneux. "What sacrifices are you prepared to make with your own popularity? You make these promises, and when you finally become king, you then have to deliver on them.

"The reason this resonates with Fable III is because in a world where we have credit crunches and various tragedies going on, it's rare to find a politician who actually keeps their promises."

By shifting the tone of Fable III's story to more mature territory and reflecting current events, Lionhead seems to have upped the stakes. The game's moral choice mechanic has been both enriched and deepened, and promises to deliver a far more engrossing experience this time round. If players are likely to walk away from Fable III having learned only thing, it's that being the boss isn't always fun - and it's certainly not easy.