Fable III Game Review

When Fable II hit stores fans were left slightly disappointed, expecting more. Fable III is everything Fable II should have been, It takes everything it's predecessor did so well and improves on it to create one of the best RPG's of the year so far. Fable III is much more streamline, accessible, and most importantly enjoyable than it's predecessor. The game is much more than just a refined version of the second game in the series, it's innovative and provides some emotional moments that will have players glued to their television sets for hours.

A half-century has past since the events of Fable II and Albion is now faced with the Industrial Age, with it comes oppression, depression, despair, and hunger. Children work in factory's while beggars line the smog-filled streets. The throne of Albion now belongs to the son of Fable II's hero, squeezing the life out of his citizens and leaving the world with a feeling of hopelessness, Albion is in need of a new hero. Your duty, as the brother or sister of the king, is to gather the masses and build an army large enough to take the kingdom from this ruthless tyrant, restoring hope to the people of Albion.

Fable III is a fairly typical fairy-tale game. The core gameplay mechanics are similar to any of the other games in the series, you'll go on quests, fight with hobbes, collect various items, and explore the flexible world filled with classic British humour. The game does feel much more streamline than it's predecessors and focusses less on the traditional role-playing style and overall feels less cluttered.

Fable III focusses heavily on the politics aspect of the world. The whole point of the game is to gather enough followers so that you will be in a position to take over and rule yourself. You will have to act like a real politician, making promises to leaders, handing out coins to beggars, and shaking hands with the people to prove your worth as a hero. Completing these many tasks will open up new gameplay elements, as well as allowing you to upgrade your character. After all this is done, that's when thing's begin to get really interesting.

Unlike most fairy-tale games, simply becoming king or queen will not be the end of your journey. Everything you promised the people before taking seat on your throne will now have to be put into place and made reality. It will be your job as king or queen to make tough decisions that will effect your kingdom as the people come back to ask for your help as their chosen ruler. This is the best part of Fable III as it forces the player to make tough emotional decisions which will have serious consequences . Sadly the game is far to easy and at times feels like it was made for a ten year old child, you can complete the game with ease and don't be surprised if you don't even fall once. The challenging part of the game is the decisions you make as king or queen, i found these to be some of the toughest in a video game i have ever played because it really felt like whatever i decided would have a big impact on the game. This sense of responsibility and concern is very hard to create in a game and the developers did a fantastic job. This climax to the game is intriguing and tests the players personality extremely well, you can be as good or bad as you like but usually it just boils down to what you think is morally the right choice.

One of the thing's Lionhead studios manages to do best in it's Fable franchise is to create the classic British humour and this game is no exception. The absurd humour, puns, and cheap jokes are all back and they are hilarious. Shortly after hearing the wails of children working in a factory you will be given the option to burp in their faces or maybe you would prefer fist bumping a beggar while wearing a chicken costume, anything is possible in Fable III and most of it will make you laugh no matter how immature it gets.

Fable III gives players a great deal of flexibility, this sense of freedom is one of Fables strengths. Players can do a variety of thing's such as commit murder, raise a family, take up odd-jobs, play merchant as well as the ability to customize your character. These might all be side distractions for the main game but the level of detail and contend is astonishing at times and creates a much more believable world. The world of Albion will react to any of your actions as well which helps create a realistic world. However because very little of the game is pre-scripted bugs will pop up with frustrating regularity and dialogue will often overlap, confusing the player at times and these are just a few of the frustrating aspects of the game.

Fable III is still extremely fun and addictive once you begin to explore this world, with the almost non-existent menus and very streamline approach to the game it now feels much more accessible than any other game in the franchise to date. The new 3D interactive world map is a blessing which Fable fans will welcome, it is a vast improvement on Fable II. Traditional RPG fans will be disappointed with this new approach though and might feel a little let down with the new direction. There is no health bar, no branching skill tree, and no levelling up system which is good and bad, i personally like the rewarding feeling of reaching a new level with my character in games like this.

Voice acting and audio is great in the game, the delightful British sense of humour develops into great personality's in almost every character you meet. Even side missions feel like they have had as much work done on them as the main game which is fantastic, there are of course still the traditional go-fetch missions as expected in any big RPG but overall the quests are very well-written, imaginative, creative, and most importantly fun.

Exploring Albion is extremely fun and addictive before and after receiving your seat on the throne. After i finished the main quest i ended up spending hours on side quests and attempting to collect all the game had hidden away from me. The world has changed allot since Fable II so it's even more exiting to see how thing's have changed if you played the previous games.

The co-op has been vastly improved as well. The screens are no longer tethered and you don't have to take up the role of henchman, making the experience this time around feel much more rewarding and satisfying compared to the chore of Fable II.

Overall i found Fable III to be the best in the series so far. It provides a great story with emotional moments and big decisions which have a real impact on the huge world of Albion. The game is not the most impressive visually on next-gen consoles but it's still a fabulous looking game, there are allot of bugs which is quite disappointing and the difficulty is far to easy but the delightful British sense of humour and unique feel this game has make it well worth the money.

Fable III is a great game and fans of the series will be happy 8.5/10