Fable III Reviews

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Written by BuckGB on November 10th, 2010

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It belongs in the treasury where Fable 2 should have been; it smoothed out the flaws of second game and created a truly wonderful experience full of diverse yet stressful decisions. Will you create a memorable fable or a fearsome legend?

It took a couple of tries but finally, we get the fantastic game Fable should be. It may seem overly familiar at first and the character interactions aren't as deep as you'd want. However, the smooth combat is aided by some fun quests and a terrific sense of humor. The voice cast adds to the package, letting you really enjoy the adventure as it goes along. But when you get to the twist regarding becoming king, the game truly shines as a brilliant RPG, making you feel the weight of responsibility and wanting to see the full range of choice and effect ahead of you. The game has a wonderful visual style and presentation that charms you and the inspired concept of (Dickens meets BioWare) provides a wonderful theme that the graphics more than back up. There may be shortcomings in some depth and a few character lags while others may be bothered at the easy combat. But innovative touches like the Sanctuary make it stand out more and in the end, you get a game that's truly a fun epic, which is something worth paying homage to.

Although the game can easily be completed in under 20 hours, if you engage in all the side quests in Fable, you could easily stretch it out to 25 hours or more, depending on your micro-management skills. If you enjoyed the original games, you will enjoy the latest title in the trilogy and fortunately newcomers can jump straight into it. There are some glitches in terms of graphics and of course the convoluted menu system but thankfully because the game is so fun to play, this should pose no issues to the majority of gamers. It would have been nice if you could explore your dark side more in Fable III but let's face it, most games generally target the good and Fable III is no exception to the rule. With a fun and over the top story that is oozing with comedy, this is the perfect game to get lost in for a few weeks. Recommended!

Fable III is a beautiful addition to an already loved franchise, and while it does scale back on a lot of things in favor of a more straightforward presentation, it still manages to captivates gamers through its critical decision-making element. You many not sprout horns or angel wings, but you can almost feel the repercussions of each decision you make on your journey. It's a wonderful tale that is illustrated phenomenally in every pixel from start to finish.

Interaction with NPCs feels very stripped down in the game. There are very few actions you can perform near the beginning of the game, and you earn more of them as you progress. This, however, makes the interaction feel very restricted and not quite as free-flowing as in Fable II. The hand-holding function doesn't work very well either. It serves practically no purpose at all, and the developers could have simply done away with it.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), the public is quite used to the empty promises of Mr. Molyneux and it's not so bat that he was more quiet before releasing this tittle. Although the game has not reached its full potential, it does not necessarily mean that it is bad. On the contrary, Fable III is a fun game and make it worth the fifteen to twenty hours as you will need to complete with little bit of side questing, but it's certain that you will laugh playing this game, but in the end you will not be able to break away that "however it could have been better" feel.

Sharing many aspects of the series' previous outings it would be easy to dismiss Fable III as a sideways step rather than a stride forward. But it's a wonderful yarn, full of memorable characters and slapstick charm. Definitely the best in the series, then, but it's hard to shake the feeling it could have been so much better.

The more I write, the more I realize that Peter tweaked this game for a North American teen audience. Bling, entourage, bragging, simplified gameplay, uncomplicated storyline, Batman's butler, and silly characters are not the ingredients I'd cook for an RPG recipe (although I'd have the butler play a more important role). Hey, Peter, why not make it a first-person shooter? You'll definitely sell more copies this way. Now seriously, Fable needs a reboot, not a make-up. Find a way to incorporate some true RPG elements, make it really epic and don't just throw stuff in there. Then have someone with vivid imagination come up with a story and write some clever dialogue for it. Yes, you'll probably work three or four years on that title, but when it's out, it's an instant hit. What about starting the game like an animal? Like that chicken from the intro? That would have been funny as hell. In the end, it's a fable, isn't it? That's why it should start acting like one.

Fable III does not solve the flaws of the first two games. The core experience, warts and all, has remained largely intact. If you didn't like the combat or you felt the simulation aspects were boring, this one might not win you over. However, if your complaints about Fable I and Fable II were about the story, then the third installment could be what you wanted. It has a much more focused plot than previous games and puts players into an unusual role for video games: the conflicted ruler. While it might not be all that much fun to marry a villager, play the lute for peasants, or even slay Hollow Men, it feels good to wear the crown.

Fable III is destined to divide fans of the series. It provides the same elements that are intrinsically formulaic to Fable and that are established features, as well as integrating a few new concepts that it fails to ever really maximize the potential of. It just feels like a rather underwhelming experience that misses out on achieving a sense of grandeur that Molyneux so clearly craves. On the other hand, there will be many people who are content with the minimal changes made to the Fable formula and are happy with the world of Albion just the way it is. There's much to enjoy about Fable III, and to call it a bad game would be criminally unjust; but if Molenyeux seeks to take the franchise to the next level, expect a small revolution within Lionhead's offices when Fable IV is being crafted.

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