Warhammers have never been my thing in RPGs, and I expected the same to be said of my approach to Fable. But, loading into my hands-on combat demo, I found myself falling for a hefty hammer over my usual go-to dagger.

I try out two loadouts during the session: one with a bow and arrow in addition to my hammer, and another with a more rapid-fire, SMG-like crossbow. Each comes with four requisite spells, from levitation to thunder spears and huge floating swords to pin my prey down before finishing them with a big hammer swipe. Most excitingly, I get to polymorph wraiths into little ghost chickens and boot them across the screen.

Developer: Playground Games
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Platform(s): PC, PS5, Xbox Series X
Release date: February 23, 2027

For Playground Games' first stab at third-person combat (the Forza Horizon developer has been more comfortable behind the wheel until now), Fable absolutely impresses. There’s irreverent delight in experimenting with the two systems, seeing which spells synergize with my weapon as I discover powerful new ways to beat up baddies.

Slaughtering a skeleton makes a spirit burst out of its crumpled form, which spawns even more deadly foes until you beat it to undeath all over again with a well-timed arrow to the head, fire bolt to the face, or wallop with my beloved hammer. Combat here can feel more inventive than typical hack and slash fare.

But, there are a few areas that still need smoothing. My character model's head and neck feel stiffer than expected while breaking into a run, and a seemingly automatic enemy lock-on can get frustrating when I'm swarmed out the gate.

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