Xbox 360 Review: Fable III

This fall Albion needs a new hero. That hero is you. Fable 3 is set 50 years after its predecessor. You are the child of the past hero, and Prince of Albion. The land is unstable. Your brother, a tyrant, is facing threats from rebels. You are the only one who can stop his reign and bring joy back to Albion. The question is, is this quest as good as the last?

First, lets look at the story. It’s pretty good. The link between the last game and this is done well, and I found whilst playing the game I always wanted to know the next part of my adventure. It takes you to new lands that were previously unseen on past games. It introduces you to new and old characters, and I found myself really wanting to be a part of their stories as well. This really is helped by the fantastic quality of voice acting on display. It is nothing short of brilliant. With the likes of Stephen Fry, Jonathan Ross, John Cleese, Ben Kingsley, Simon Pegg and Zoë Wannamaker, how could it not be? It really adds to the characters, and the experience as a whole. Many a laugh I have had listening to their quotes. With the story comes a mass amount of side quests and collectables as well. They could keep a die-hard perfectionist going for hours.

The combat in Fable 3 is very similar to that from the previous games in the series. Melee, guns and Will all make a return. One thing though, it is very easy. I went through the whole game without dying once. One of the biggest changes is with magic. Instead of having a load of spells you can chose from, you can chose 2 spells to combine at once. I see this as an improvement. In Fable 2, I felt like there were too many spells, some I never used. In Fable 3, there is just the right amount so that for whatever your playstyle, there is a combination to suit you.

The progression system has also been changed. You now gain ‘Guild Points’ from combat or quests which you can spend to open chests in the ‘Road to Rule’. The chests contain damage increases in melee, ranged and spells, as well as new expression packs and new spells.  It only allows you to unlock certain chests when you have got to certain points in the game. Another added feature is the weapon upgrading. The more you use a weapon, the more damage it does. This also effects its look. All of these additions fit in great.

One disappointment about the game was the zones. Though some look graphically brilliant and something new to what we have seen in the Fable series, they were very linear. The same enemies spawn in the same places every time you go to the zone. There was no wondering, no patrolling, and no randomness in the spawns which I really would have liked to have seen. The enemies in the game are all similar to those in the last game. To be honest, bar one or two exceptions, they are identical. It would have been nice to see a lot more new foes. That’s not to say the current ones are bad, but it might just seem a bit ‘same-old same-old’.

Another issue I had was with your dog. Yes your trusty companion is back! It acts in exactly the same way as Fable 2. It finds treasure and dig spots for you… as well as tearing at your enemies as they lie helpless on the floor. This is all great (well actually the dogs attacks are pretty useless) except I actually felt like the AI had gone a step back. I believe that it is worse than in the previous game. My dog would bark, telling me there is a dig spot nearby, yet when I tried to find it with him, I would just find him walking into a wall. Many a time I would see him run off  to find treasure and lose sight of him. It’s a shame that no new functionality was added to the dog because it feels like a feature that was just added because it was in the last game.

The co-op in the game has been vastly improved! Each player has their own individual character imported. Each has their own camera angle too. Simple things I know, but features that were stupidly ignored in Fable 2. New activities can be done between the characters as well. You can now marry you companion, as well as buy a house together and make a business partnership. Beware, you may lose half your money!

There is a new start menu. Instead of it just being a pause screen, there is a fully interactive area. It is pretty much your HQ. In it you can adjust your weapons, clothes, and looks, as well as all the usual start menu attributes. The world map is also found here, and it adds an easy way to fast travel between zones. It’s a fantastic idea that really works and removes a lot of stress that is sometimes gained from RPG games. All the old features of the game remain, such as buying properties and businesses, expressions, families and your personality. Not a lot has changed here.

Overall, I would have loved to see a lot more change in Fable 3 from its predecessor. New enemies, improved graphics and better zone design and randomness would have been great to see. That said, the combat is good fun and the story is compelling enough, and there is no doubt it is better than Fable 2. One things for sure, I look forward to future DLC to extend my Fable III experience.

 

Verdict

What I like:

• Mass amount of side quests and tasks
• Addictive combat and progression system
• Hundreds of collectables and upgrades to keep a perfectionist entertained for a while
• Improved co-op

What I don’t like:

• The linear zones
• Disappointing ending
• Not a huge graphical step up from Fable II

 

Final Score – 8/10

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