-OPENING-
Let's face it from day one that Lionhead Studios has been making the Fable franchise it was filled with tons of unfulfilled promises. The first Fable starting it all with the massive promises left unfulfilled and Fable 2 added a decent amount but not enough. Now low and behold Fable 3 arrives and with the bragging that you can do more than the originals it's very hard to believe. Is third time the charm or is this another lie with a retail price tag?
-STORY-
Fable 3 takes place fifty years after the events of Fable 2 making you the descendant to the Hero who killed Lucien and looked into his own future thanks to Theresa. From the beginning you have the choice of playing the role of the Prince or Princess since your father was king and is now dead. You quickly discover that your brother Logan is a tyrant and has been abusing his role as King of Albion. This is where you step in and play the role as The Hero and leader of the revolution your goal is simple, overthrow your brother and return Albion to normal. To my surprise the story was actually interesting since you will be thrown all over Albion to get allies as well as outside of Albion's border. You make promises to different cities and towns that you will bring change for the better and for the people when you become King or Queen. Yes I said when this is no spoiler for Lionhead was bragging about this for quite sometime, so to those who might get angry...don't. In the end you will be forced to choose whether or not you deliver on your promises and be a good ruler or just another tyrant. The story will actually draw you in fully for once and when you complete it will leave most satisfied, it might also call out to you for another go with different choices. My only complaint is that the hardcore gamers like myself will not be satisfied as just like Fable 2 once it moves into full gear it ends. Leaving me with the question why not make one more game or expansion pack simply involving this particular section or area of the game. Assassin's Creed 2 did it with the story and two expansions why can't Lionhead Studios simply do the same, except make a conclusion in the DLC.
-GAMEPLAY-
This is where the game truly shines for it's simple but satisfying. Combat is smoother than all the other games with a much more generous auto aim system that won't conflict with combat whatsoever. All melee, ranged, and magic attacks are hooked to three different button so there is no complications. Traveling the world is much easier since almost everywhere you see you can go with an open map though it is a shame to see the areas in Albion are still broken off into sections. The inventory system is completely scrapped and replaced with The Sanctuary where with just a clock of the start button will immediately transport you there. In the Sanctuary you can select whatever weapons or magic you want and also fast travel though the map. The map makes you wish there was a one hundred percent open world because Albion is extremely massive as is Aurora. The newest feature is called Spellweaving allowing you to mix two spells for a special combination and more devastating affects. For instance weaving Ice Storm and Shock will electrocute your enemies while ice shards impale them. There are a total of fifty weapons both ranged and melee however you cannot find them in a single game, either you will make a new game or join another player in cooperative play to acquire them. A great feature they added into Fable 3 is called Weapon Evolvement meaning certain actions with weapons will make them more useful. Killing so many balverines can make a weapon much more powerful, while killing your spouses can add fire or shock damage to others. It's a good system since your Hero Sword, Hammer, Pistol, and Rifle evolve the most. It's a very interesting touch but at the same time it feels as if it could have been pushed much further. As you upgrade you melee and range the Hero Weapons stand out the most however leave you with four upgraded that cannot be changed. This is disappointing especially since if you'll truly evil you weapon can look as corrupted and demonic as can be, however, if you're good they can look as Divine as God himself. Once you melee or ranged reached it's maximum level the weapons no longer change they remain the same, meaning if you're good then go evil you'll be a demonic deity with a weapon that someone like the Pope would wield.
Traveling the world is pretty neat you can take the path of traveling on foot or fast traveling both are useful and both can be entertaining however the world feel rather limited. This is where I was disappointed, since Fable 1 the promise of open world has been thrown around more than a hot potato within a crowd of ten thousand people. This is NOT a FULLY open world game the areas you traverse are decent in size and have barely any limitations of where you can and can't go, however the game falls flat on it's face here. Areas are broken off into sections and simulate game time in hours as you travel between them there are no hidden towns or trade places, there are no wandering merchants, and barely any roaming NPCs. You'll constantly feel restricted when you look at how much detail the world map has in the Fast Travel menu but will almost be brought to tears to see how limited you are in accessing it. Invisible Walls, small ledges a man could climb but you can't, and leaps that are barely anything that you can't make even though early you jumped off a ledge that is almost the size of a three story house. The auto-aim system and interaction system can also be very hard to get over. When you're fighting multiple enemies or in a group of Albion's inhabitants this issue shows. They'll be a downed enemy waiting to be finished off with a stab in the heart and you'll be stuck targeting him at times instead of the six others who are beating you down or shooting you with firearms. My personal favorite is when you try to speak to your Online ally normal towns-person and the interaction icons just switch from one person to another. This happens more often than it should and no update has yet to up rise to fix this issue and it seems like there isn't one in the near future.
-PRESENTATION-
There hasn't been much improvement in this category since Fable 2 the only difference between the two is that there is a little extra detail and barely any improvements on the soundtrack. The AI is about even in this regard except for the Dog. Your canine friend returns in Fable 3 and is flat out stupid. The dog will try to lead you to a dig spot but wind up walking in circles and barking aimlessly at you, this is very annoying especially since chests and dig spots can get you ANY of the weapons you need to collect. To put things simply your Dog is so stupid if it could fall off a cliff and die it would several times over.
-CLOSING-
Let's face it Fable 3 is like the other Fable games they add a little more but hold back so much a little too much to be honest. It's at most a rental something you'll play to pass time waiting for the next game you want to come out. It's not worth the current price tag and will only be worth the purchase when it's in a bargain bin or given to you for free.
-Exile-
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