When fable 3 hit store shelves, it was met with very mixed responses. As a big fan of Fable 2, I was certain that I would enjoy Fable 3 just as much regardless of some negative reviews, considering even Fable 2 had its fair share of criticisms.
To my surprise though, my completion of Fable 3 left me feeling wholly unsatisfied and somewhat cheated.
Let's start off with the basics.
The game begins similarly to the previous games, in that after a brief introduction to the protagonist, the controls and basic game mechanics, you will bear witness to murder. The killing is executed (no pun intended) by none other than the tyrannical king; your brother. This murder sets the foundation for the narrative of the entire game... revenge. But unlike other games revenge-based-plots, the narrative does delve quite a bit deeper and will present to you the suffering of the common folk in Albion and how the King is mistreating them.
You will take it upon yourself to start a revolution, take the throne and bring harmony back to Albion.
I do not wish to spoil the story for others but upon taking the throne, you will make a discovery. A dark discovery. Something that will influence every decision you make from then on, and believe me, there are plenty.
This twist in the storyline was ingenious. I will not ruin it for you but I promise that it will change everything. When you take the throne the game will provide many choices for you to make, day after day. You will have to make sacrifices one way or another. You will truly have to think about every action you make, think of the repercussions in the short run and the long run. And you will witness changes around you, based upon what you choose to do. Whether it be building factories around Albion, draining bower lake, building a brothel or an orphanage, and so on.
Being a king was the biggest new feature the game implemented and I truly enjoyed having freedom to craft the future of Albion. So what is my complaint?
As far as the gameplay goes, it plays virtually the same as the previous two games. You can still have children, have a house, have sex, get a job do the whole real-estate thing, customise your character, customise your house and whatnot.
I was a little disappointed with the relationship side of the game. In previous games you could romance everyone and effectively have numerous girlfriends/boyfriends. Now everyone has a set sexuality so if you are a male you cannot romance a lesbian female or a straight male. If you are a female, you cannot romance a straight female or gay male. This, despite being perhaps a bit more "lifelike", did limit the enjoyment of the game.
But that is only a minor issue.
One of the major issues for me was how darn quickly I completed the game. As usual Molyneux put Fable 3 on a pedestal and claimed that the part of the game where you gain the throne is only about midway through the game. This was a big, fat lie. In actual fact, the part of being king was incredibly short and felt way too rushed.
Overall the game was not short, in fact it has great long-life if you do the side quests and whatnot. But for such a major part of the game to be so hasty really spoiled the experience for me. Seeing months go by in a blink of an eye simply gave me the theory that Lionhead ran out of time or ideas towards the end of the game, and they wanted to get it onto shelves as quick as possible.
Lastly, no matter what decisions you make, ultimately they are useless. Everything boils down to simply one thing.... money. If you gain a lot of money early on in the game, then you are sorted. You wont be put into situations where you are forced to make bad decisions as king.
My last complaint is a bit picky but I think that Fable's exploration is starting to show its age. The small areas, the load times... it shouldn't still be occuring in this day and age. Now we should be able to roam the entire world of Albion, witnessing a load screen perhaps only when entering a city or village.
In terms of sound, Fable 3 truly doth shine. The voice acting is excellent. It is the first Fable game to have such an extensive cast of famous actors/actresses to do the voice work. These people really capture the wacky, sometimes serious and slightly comedic mood and feel of the Fable universe.
The soundtrack is as pleasant as always but didn't particularly stand out.
Graphically the game won't be impressing anyone but it is by no means a bad looking game. It is certainly a lot better than average, and in some cases looks wonderful. The animation is particularly nice, especially on foliage and other kinds of scenery.
Overall, Fable 3 is an adventure worth experiencing despite its shortcomings but those expecting a triple-A rpg will only be let down by this short-winded, anger-inducing, albeit enjoyable and tight rpg.
7/10TL;DR:
The game is definitely enjoyable, the storyline had a very clever twist, the voice actings great, some new features were decent and are welcome additions to the fable formula but the end felt rushed, some changes spoil the experience and the game engine is showing its age.
Subject: Wolfie Reviews: Fable III 
Mon Oct 17, 2011 12:02 pm
