Review
Fable III
By Toronto Thumbs Staff - November 12th, 2010
Mike Croft’s Take
It is 50 years after the events of Fable II; You are the child of the last great Hero of Albion (your character from the previous game). That Hero has died and your tyrannical older brother is now the reigning king. The people have suffered under your brother and as he seemingly slips further into the darkness, the people around you have begun to discuss a revolution. Will you lead it?
The game is split into two parts: first, you must sneak out of the Royal Castle and find enough support to stand against your brother and take the thrown yourself; secondly, as Ruler of Albion (presuming your uprising is successful), you must start making decisions for Albion, steering it in the direction you choose for the future.
Gameplay is very similar to that of the previous game; controls are simple, with buttons for ranged, melee and magic attacks. There are only two types of melee weapons (hammers and swords), two types of ranged weapons (pistols and rifles), and six spells. The game does include 50+ legendary weapons, each with their own spin on the limited types that you can have. You are able to wield combinations of those 6 spells. Though there is a wide selection of clothing there is no such thing as armor to worry about.
The cumbersome menu and inventory system from Fable II is gone; in this third title of the series, you rarely see a menu of any sort. For the most part, this function has been replaced by your ‘sanctuary’, which is a collection of rooms where you can choose the weapons and clothing that you will carry, save your games, choose quests, and review the map. It is a little different, and takes a minute to get used to, but at least Lionhead is trying to address a real problem in an interesting way.
As you make your way through the game, instead of experience you collect ‘Guild Seals’ which you can then spend to improve your character from a collection of chests on the ‘Road To Rule’ (another visualization of what traditionally would be handled in a menu or special screen); oddly you collect more ‘Guild Seals’ from interacting with NPCs than actual combat.
Though the graphics have been improved (with the pre-rendered story cinematics looking especially great), it is in the voice acting where the game really shines. With a lineup that includes Sir Ben Kingsley, Simon Pegg, Stephen Fry and John Cleese, how could you go wrong (although John Cleese spends most of his time in your sanctuary pushing DLC on you). The overall sense of humour throughout the game is very enjoyable with constant poking at the RPG genre and the world of Albion itself.
But everything is not perfect: the game suffers from a collection of noticeable technical problems. At times, I experienced severe episodes of lag; the golden trail that helps guide you through quests would consistently disappear for minutes at a time; my dog would find buried items but get stuck on pieces of the environment.
Though the map, quest and fast travel interface works well, you quickly become sick of load screens when moving from location to location; although this is a problem with most games in the genre. I dislike these screens but I don’t have a decent solution either. All of the quests and dungeons are very linear and not particularly challenging; overall the story is enjoyable with a few minor twists but nothing that will blow your mind.
A big part of the Fable series has been the morality component. Throughout the game you are presented with choices to make; these choices shape your appearance and how the people of Albion react to you. Everything is very much black and white, you choose early on if you wish to take the role of Hero or Tyrant and follow that path throughout the game; I would rally have liked a little more grey area covered, with bonuses for balanced players.
The co-op system is much improved, allowing drop in and drop out using an actual hero character instead of the nondescript henchman from Fable II. I preferred couch co-op over playing through Xbox Live, because both players can experience the story at the same time; whereas on Xbox Live you spend a lot of time waiting for the main character to finish interacting with the story. Couch co-op provides an excellent opportunity to play with a friend, spouse or child who may have had no experience with this type of game.
Overall I enjoyed the game, but not as much as much as Fable II; I can’t really put my finger on why. Although, my time spent with Dragon Age (which I loved, and which came out in-between Fable II and Fable III), is my top suspect. I miss some of the traditional RPG aspects that have been simplified out of the series, specifically the micro managing of stats, abilities, weapons and armor.
If you enjoyed the previous two games, you will enjoy the third. For a gamer looking to get into an RPG for the first time, Fable III would be an excellent choice.
- Introduction
- Dana Russo’s Take
- Mike Croft’s Take
