It almost seems symbolic that Peter Molyneux, the creative director and front man of Lionhead Studios which is responsible for the Fable franchise, is making promises for the third game in the series. Fable 3’s main concept is the process of becoming King (or Queen) and making promises to get there. Fable and Fable 2 were also hyped by Molyneux and fell short of the target. With Fable 3, Lionhead aimed to create the best Fable game yet and just about succeeded.
Fable 3 is a story that is based on the player’s rise to power to overthrow the ever so cruel king of Albion, who is not only extremely hated but also happen to be your brother. In order to make a run at the throne and finally take his spot, players will need to gain the trust and support from several different groups in the land of Albion. There are several ways to accomplish this. Player choice is important in Fable 3, especially in the end game.
After the prince or princess escapes with trusty Walter and your butler, Jasper who is voiced beautifully by John Cleese, the journey begins. The first place, which also serves as an interactive menu, players set out from is the sanctuary – the place your father has created, the last hero. The sanctuary is a big room with a large map and adjacent rooms where players can modify their character, change weapons, buy items or join friends over Xbox LIVE. The choice to create this interactive and simple way to navigate options and fast travel or manage real estate from the map makes the experience much more streamlined and allows for quick and painless navigation.
As mentioned before, players will start to explore the world, complete quests and meet the excellently developed cast which makes the game an absolute joy story-wise. The quests will sound familiar to Fable players, the usual fetch quests as well as main story missions make up the meat of the game. I spent about 11 hours to complete the main story but one could easily make this a 30 hour game. There are exhaustive options in terms of gaining followers, buy and sell real estate, discover the world and fart at random villagers who will love you for it. The people of Albion are responsive to your actions, if you spend your time doing evil, villagers and towns people will despise you. I was called a wife killer many times as I accidentally tossed her over a bridge. Sorry. On the other hand, you will be cheered on if your path and play style creates a positive character. Either way, it adds immersion to the world.
As players make their way through the story, gaining followers and allies, they will make their way past the gates on the ‘road to rule’. At each gate players are able to spend follower shield points on upgrades for weapons, magic and other abilities. By the time you reach the last gate it is time to take over what seems to be rightfully yours. I will not go into story spoilers but things might not be what they seems.
The gameplay of Fable 3 is pretty basic, yet fun and does not feel repetitious. There are the three weapon buttons which return from Fable 2, firearms, melee and magic which now can be combined to create even more vicious attacks. Melee kills also lead into some awesome finishing moves in slow motion and are pretty to look at. Of course your dog is with you and will help players find treasure, detect enemies and attack your foes as well.
Up to this point in the game I had close to no complaints as the story was good, characters great and combat was fun. Of course there are a few buggy sections with contradicting dialog and weird environmental hang ups, but nothing major.
After you gain enough followers and all allies stand behind you it is time to overthrow the king and take his place. Players find out a few things about their brother which leads to the twist and many big decisions. Once the player becomes the ruler of Albion it is time to build up the treasury in order to prepare for a rather important event. Here is where players are put in several situations when decision making becomes critical. While most of the decisions you make have a massive impact on how the world and your people perceive you they still seem a bit arbitrary and not far reaching enough. I wish Molyneux and team would have taken this further and created and even more deep experience of being a leader. The time spent as king is simply too short and time lapses too quickly. With all that said, it is still a neat and interesting experience to be the king of a great land like Albion.
Speaking of Albion, the world feels dense, alive and vibrant which adds a lot to the gameplay experience. While the graphical standards might not be up to snuff with the current generation of consoles, Albion and other places in Fable 3 are beautifully designed and create a great atmosphere.
Fable 3, as its predecessors just falls short of its promises with a distinct difference though, it mostly succeeds in keeping them. The latest work from Lionhead turned into an incredibly fun, deeply immersive and story driven adventure that cannot be missed. Fable 3, despite some of its shortcomings, is the best entry into the series. Playing through the game has kept me coming back as soon as I put down the controller. Fable 3’s rich world, excellent cast and fun gameplay are some of the best work on consoles to date. However, I wish there would have been more of a direct impact on my decisions throughout the game before coming king – and once I was the leader I wanted it to feel more immersive and less arbitrary. If Lionhead does not mess with what is good about Fable 3 and add to the areas I mentioned, then maybe Fable 4 will finally be the game we can call perfect.
Score: 8.5 / 10
Fable 3 was developed by Lionhead Studios and published by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 on October 26th. A copy of the Xbox 360 version was provided to us by Microsoft for reviewing purposes.
