Fable III Reviews

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Written by BuckGB on November 3rd, 2010

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For those turned off by the simplicity in Fable II, don't expect things to change in the follow-up. However, Fable III is still a satisfying RPG with an intriguing cast of characters and robust universe.

Even the astonishing '˜Mass Effect' series on Xbox 360 and PC can be so abstruse as to exclude an enthusiastic audience, so we can forgive '˜Fable III' for its comparatively minor obstacles. It is a grand occasion worth attending by most gamers who favour role-play or action set pieces. We'd like to say that it is successfully humorous too thanks to contributions from John Cleese and Jonathan Ross, but on this matter we must concede that any laughs will be down to personal taste.

Overall, Fable III is a good game, but one that feels like it's taken several steps backward from the progress made in Fable II. The various characters and personalities are well developed with fantastically written and acted dialog, the story is engaging, and the addition of monarchical judgments once you become king is a great addition. But the game feels watered down, with character progression options limited and combat made simplistic to the point of being an afterthought. And the final battle, while a definite improvement over Fable II, was still a huge letdown and far less than I had been hoping for. So while I can indeed recommend Fable III to those who enjoyed the previous Fable titles, they should--ironically--expect more evolution than revolution from this one.

Technical bugs where characters speak over each other and the action judders during visually complex sequences are a distraction from the quest in hand, as is the occasional dumbass enemy who's at odds with the otherwise flawless game design. And while these niggles aren't enough to spoil the experience and shouldn't stop RPG fans from taking the plunge, anyone weaned on Zelda or Final Fantasy will be irked by Fable III's minor failings.

Fable III offers a well balanced action-RPG for players versed in the Fable saga or not. Good or evil, seasoned RPG adventurer or fresh meat, quick grinder or meticulous explorer, Fable III teeters to each player's liking. While several tasks may feel like repetitive distractions, Lionhead Studios delivers an inviting and fun adventure. Players will be left questioning their moral choices, especially towards the latter part of Fable III.

Does Fable III finally deliver on the hype? Almost. It has the right combination of an epic story, side-quests and collectables, but the combat has become less rewarding and challenging. Interacting with villagers feels more of a chore than it did before, and the focus on making players swap Legendary weapons and clothing items for achievements is tedious. That aside, Fable III is a gripping adventure from your start as a lowly Prince to a righteous King.

I don't know why the game still doesn't let me make governing choices after the game ends. And for this, I can't say the game was amazing. But it has been very enjoyable, and I'll still be playing it next week, which makes it worthy of the highest score I've given a game in my reviews thus far.

Fable 3 took a lot of chances trying to make something unique. Some of these paid off (like customizable weapons) and some of them just made the game unnecessarily difficult (Sanctuary). There were parts of the game that made me scream, but I enjoyed playing the game so much that I kept playing despite the problems. I have a simple rule for telling if a game is great and that is by telling if I got addicted to it. I played Fable 3 for 2 days all day long almost forgetting one of them was a holiday; I would say Fable 3 is pretty good. There is plenty of dislike about Fable 3, but there is a lot more to love about it.

Fable 3 is far from perfect. I could write a list of grievances that would make your head spin. Thing is, anyone could do that with any game. At the end of the day it honestly comes down to one thing: is it entertaining. The last time I have played a game this much was Grand Theft Auto IV. It's amazing how a game can have the same storyline console to console, yet each player has their own separate story.

The game isn't awful, but it certainly didn't convince me of either Peter Molyneux's ability to develop a world class game, or make me want to buy a lot of RPG titles in the future. Final Fantasy has lost a sale because this was so unconvincing. Kids, or casual RPG fans will actually enjoy this. People looking for a more hardcore experience will be left disappointed with the promise of a game changing RPG that falls far short of the potential.

Fable III is both as close to what Peter Molyneaux originally promised, and the most far off. Traveling through Ablion is a deeply rewarding and interesting experience that you'll want to keep going back to. It's not perfect, but there's enough here to keep even the most seasoned heroes satisfied for quite some time to come.

Furthermore, it's accessible. Lionhead have stripped out the superfluous odds and sods that overcomplicated things and have left us with a combat system that should grant players of any persuasion access to the world of Albion. This is not a dumbing down, as some may see it, but actual progress in getting the (other half) involved. It's hard to resist the understated charms of Fable III, but I offer you this one piece of advice: be sure your (other half) is out of the room when embarking on the route of evil; it seems they don't like Heroes roasting villagers alive and then running off with their wife.

Fable III is not a bad game but it suffers once again from the unrealistic expectations created by Molyneux. There's a decent adventure to be found here, with a sweeping story and some fun quests but it's hardly ground-breaking, and the streamlining of items, interactions and options means it's also a smaller, shallower world than ever before taking only 15 hours for a comprehensive playthrough.

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