Shixx
11-05-2010, 04:07 PM
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/5003/fable3.jpg
Developer: Lionhead Studios
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Platforms: Xbox 360
Release Date: October 26, 2010
Plot/Story
Fable III takes place roughly 50 years after the previous game, as you take the role of one of the children of the hero from Fable II. You take the role of either a prince, or princess based on your gender and you're living in a Castle, which is under rule by a tyrant King, and you're brother named Logan.
The story pretty much begins with you being forced to leave the Castle with two of your father, or mothers (depending on your Hero from Fable II I believe) closest supporters. The butler named Jasper, and the soldier named Walter Beck. They take you through these catacombs where you end up becoming a Hero like your parent. The game then begins with you leaving the Castle, and trying to find allies, and support in overthrowing your brother and claiming the throne as your own.
In my opinion the plot is interesting, and had me thinking at some points. It's definitely an improvement story-wise from Fable II, however in my opinion Fable 1 had the best story, however this game doesn't fail on delivery an interesting, and fun story.
If you're looking for a good story, and something to draw you in and make you keep playing, then you'll enjoy this story. I couldn't put the game down, and wanted to know what happened next.
Gameplay
First off, I'd like to put it out there that the game-play, and everything is vastly improved from Fable II. I'd like to go into the leveling system or now known as the Road To Rule. The Road to Rule is basically this trail that players can travel to and spend these things called "Guild Seals" which can be used to open these chests on the Road To Rule and basically "buy" their next skills. Guild Seals can be obtained through doing quests, killing enemies, and dialogue/interaction options with people.
The Road to Rule includes things like dye packs, emote packs, spells, and weapon level upgrades.
The cool thing I noticed about leveling up your hero weapons, is that they changed in appearance when you leveled them up. This was really cool in my opinion as I hadn't seen anything like it before, definitely something unique and interesting and always made me anticipating the next time I leveled up my weapon to see what it would look like next.
This was a good thing, the camera has been fixed. We all know how annoying the camera could be, and was in Fable II. Well, it's been fixed. We get a better view of our character, and it's also easier to maneuver.
Not only that, but in co-op play over Xbox Live the players aren't restricted to one camera, each player gets their own camera so they can split-up and pretty much, go anywhere they'd like. This made me actually play more of the multiplayer since I could enjoy it without all the camera restrictions.
Not only is the Camera better but you bring everything you get in another "world" back to yours.
Multiplayer also returns to Fable III vastly improved like everything else. I love the multiplayer component of this game. First, I'll dive into some things that are improved about it. Players can actually play as their own Hero in other Hero's worlds. I hated playing as a henchmen (or pre-set character).
Not only can you play as your own Hero, but your dog also comes into the game as well as your morality choices.
You and a friend can also do some interesting things online, such as get married, have children and open a business partnership which allows you to buy, and manage real estate in your friend's world. Players can also co-op the entire story of Fable III with a friend via Xbox Live. The multiplayer is definitely one of the best features in this game, and will definitely keep me occupied for months to come, as it's vastly improved from the multiplayer in Fable II.
http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/1870/17744058.jpg
The combat is pretty much the same as Fable II. You can simply mash the X button which is your basic melee attacks, or hold down the button and you'll do what is called a flourish, in which your character does some insane, strong move that can send enemies flying, and sometimes even kill them depending on how strong you are. The Y button is your ranged attacks, so this is pretty much anything involving guns. You can press Y to shoot, hold down Y to make a stronger shot and deal more damage, and also press the left trigger to go into an over the shoulder view to make things more accurate, and help with your shooting.
There is Combos you can pull off and Cool finishers you can so it seems "accidentally" do.
Finally, you have your magic which has been changed up a little. You get these things called "Spell Gauntlets" which can be used to generate spells, who knew? With these gauntlets players can combine two different spells and make some devastating attacks. For example, I combined the Fireball Spell, and Vortex Spell to make a fire twister in a sense. Magic can be used by pressing the B button.
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/5003/fable3.jpg
The morality system comes back to Fable III, and this time is way more interesting in my opinion. You all know how you could grow horns for being a bad-ass in the previous games, and what-not. Well, that doesn't happen in this game...well, in a sense. If you're 100% evil your character won't develop horns, but they'll still have some evil features.
However, your character will have horns and some demonic wings if they do certain interactions with NPC's, or if they do a flourish, charged up a shot, or charge up magic. The morality system also extends to other things such as how your family will feel about you, whether they hate you, or love you. The morality system also takes part in the kingdom you eventually rule.
If you're an ass, the kingdom will hate you and villagers will often make remarks about how you're no better than your brother, but if you're a good King well, you get the idea. However, being a good king or bad king has both its benefits and consequences. I loved how many ways your choices could reflect and change what happened in Albion, it's very cool. I also happened to like the fact that my choices could be seen, such as areas deteriorating, and villagers starting to disappear.
http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/365/loganw.png
This is King Logan, your tyrant brother.
Now, do you like collecting? Remember trying to find all the silver keys, or shoot all the gargoyles in previous games? Well, they've brought collecting back into Fable III and there's a ton! Silver Keys are back, but this time there's 50, as well as 4 Gold Keys which are scattered around Albion. The Silver Keys unlock the Silver Chests, like they've done in previous games.
However, these Gold Keys unlock Gold Doors which are scattered around Albion and have some nice things inside them. Gargoyles are also back but in a different form, they're back as Gnomes. Yes, players get to hunt Garden Gnomes all around Albion, and there's 50 of them. I had fun collecting these, and getting all 50 was a good achievement in my mind.
Another collectible added to the game is Auroran Flowers, there are only thirty of these flowers, and once collected they make dyes which can change the color of the players' tattoos.
Finally, we have the Brightwall Books, which are 30 books scattered around Albion which the player can find, and store in this giant library called the Brightwall Academy. So, if you're a person who loves collecting things in games, or even getting achievements these collecting quests, and fun are for you. I think they did a great job with the collecting, and I had fun hunting things down.
Graphics, Sounds and Other
The game looks gorgeous, everything looks so beautiful from the water, to the landscape to even the towns and villages. Everything just looks so good in my eyes. However, the game does have it's graphical issues, but again this may just be me. I've noticed that the game has frame-rate issues and sometimes will get really slow, and laggy, and sometimes the game freezes. Again, this may just be me but is a tad annoying.
I did notice the Enemies were kinda stiff even when you do what looks like a brutal attack it's almost like doing a brutal attack to a punching bag
No real Feeling of Inflicting violence.
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/5003/fable3.jpg
Other than that the game is gorgeous, the sounds all work together perfectly. Exploring snowy mountains is very interesting as everything just seems freezing, and that it must be very cold in that area. They did a great job bringing Albion to life in this game, from the broken down area of Bowerstone Industrial to the high-class end of Reaver's Manor. The game just looks so good.
I don't know what else to say about this section of the game, other than if you're looking for a beautiful game, Fable III delivers, most definitely.
Verdict
8/10
Final Thoughts-
-If you're a fan of previous Fable games, you'll most likely love this game.
-If you hated Fable II, Rent it
-Combat is a little Simple and is easily button mashy
-The Virtual Menus as I see them are a + only because it's instant there is no Loading between "menus" and no real feeling of pausing the game.
-Fable 3 is a very Solid RPG-Adventure Game in my opinion.
Developer: Lionhead Studios
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Platforms: Xbox 360
Release Date: October 26, 2010
Plot/Story
Fable III takes place roughly 50 years after the previous game, as you take the role of one of the children of the hero from Fable II. You take the role of either a prince, or princess based on your gender and you're living in a Castle, which is under rule by a tyrant King, and you're brother named Logan.
The story pretty much begins with you being forced to leave the Castle with two of your father, or mothers (depending on your Hero from Fable II I believe) closest supporters. The butler named Jasper, and the soldier named Walter Beck. They take you through these catacombs where you end up becoming a Hero like your parent. The game then begins with you leaving the Castle, and trying to find allies, and support in overthrowing your brother and claiming the throne as your own.
In my opinion the plot is interesting, and had me thinking at some points. It's definitely an improvement story-wise from Fable II, however in my opinion Fable 1 had the best story, however this game doesn't fail on delivery an interesting, and fun story.
If you're looking for a good story, and something to draw you in and make you keep playing, then you'll enjoy this story. I couldn't put the game down, and wanted to know what happened next.
Gameplay
First off, I'd like to put it out there that the game-play, and everything is vastly improved from Fable II. I'd like to go into the leveling system or now known as the Road To Rule. The Road to Rule is basically this trail that players can travel to and spend these things called "Guild Seals" which can be used to open these chests on the Road To Rule and basically "buy" their next skills. Guild Seals can be obtained through doing quests, killing enemies, and dialogue/interaction options with people.
The Road to Rule includes things like dye packs, emote packs, spells, and weapon level upgrades.
The cool thing I noticed about leveling up your hero weapons, is that they changed in appearance when you leveled them up. This was really cool in my opinion as I hadn't seen anything like it before, definitely something unique and interesting and always made me anticipating the next time I leveled up my weapon to see what it would look like next.
This was a good thing, the camera has been fixed. We all know how annoying the camera could be, and was in Fable II. Well, it's been fixed. We get a better view of our character, and it's also easier to maneuver.
Not only that, but in co-op play over Xbox Live the players aren't restricted to one camera, each player gets their own camera so they can split-up and pretty much, go anywhere they'd like. This made me actually play more of the multiplayer since I could enjoy it without all the camera restrictions.
Not only is the Camera better but you bring everything you get in another "world" back to yours.
Multiplayer also returns to Fable III vastly improved like everything else. I love the multiplayer component of this game. First, I'll dive into some things that are improved about it. Players can actually play as their own Hero in other Hero's worlds. I hated playing as a henchmen (or pre-set character).
Not only can you play as your own Hero, but your dog also comes into the game as well as your morality choices.
You and a friend can also do some interesting things online, such as get married, have children and open a business partnership which allows you to buy, and manage real estate in your friend's world. Players can also co-op the entire story of Fable III with a friend via Xbox Live. The multiplayer is definitely one of the best features in this game, and will definitely keep me occupied for months to come, as it's vastly improved from the multiplayer in Fable II.
http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/1870/17744058.jpg
The combat is pretty much the same as Fable II. You can simply mash the X button which is your basic melee attacks, or hold down the button and you'll do what is called a flourish, in which your character does some insane, strong move that can send enemies flying, and sometimes even kill them depending on how strong you are. The Y button is your ranged attacks, so this is pretty much anything involving guns. You can press Y to shoot, hold down Y to make a stronger shot and deal more damage, and also press the left trigger to go into an over the shoulder view to make things more accurate, and help with your shooting.
There is Combos you can pull off and Cool finishers you can so it seems "accidentally" do.
Finally, you have your magic which has been changed up a little. You get these things called "Spell Gauntlets" which can be used to generate spells, who knew? With these gauntlets players can combine two different spells and make some devastating attacks. For example, I combined the Fireball Spell, and Vortex Spell to make a fire twister in a sense. Magic can be used by pressing the B button.
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/5003/fable3.jpg
The morality system comes back to Fable III, and this time is way more interesting in my opinion. You all know how you could grow horns for being a bad-ass in the previous games, and what-not. Well, that doesn't happen in this game...well, in a sense. If you're 100% evil your character won't develop horns, but they'll still have some evil features.
However, your character will have horns and some demonic wings if they do certain interactions with NPC's, or if they do a flourish, charged up a shot, or charge up magic. The morality system also extends to other things such as how your family will feel about you, whether they hate you, or love you. The morality system also takes part in the kingdom you eventually rule.
If you're an ass, the kingdom will hate you and villagers will often make remarks about how you're no better than your brother, but if you're a good King well, you get the idea. However, being a good king or bad king has both its benefits and consequences. I loved how many ways your choices could reflect and change what happened in Albion, it's very cool. I also happened to like the fact that my choices could be seen, such as areas deteriorating, and villagers starting to disappear.
http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/365/loganw.png
This is King Logan, your tyrant brother.
Now, do you like collecting? Remember trying to find all the silver keys, or shoot all the gargoyles in previous games? Well, they've brought collecting back into Fable III and there's a ton! Silver Keys are back, but this time there's 50, as well as 4 Gold Keys which are scattered around Albion. The Silver Keys unlock the Silver Chests, like they've done in previous games.
However, these Gold Keys unlock Gold Doors which are scattered around Albion and have some nice things inside them. Gargoyles are also back but in a different form, they're back as Gnomes. Yes, players get to hunt Garden Gnomes all around Albion, and there's 50 of them. I had fun collecting these, and getting all 50 was a good achievement in my mind.
Another collectible added to the game is Auroran Flowers, there are only thirty of these flowers, and once collected they make dyes which can change the color of the players' tattoos.
Finally, we have the Brightwall Books, which are 30 books scattered around Albion which the player can find, and store in this giant library called the Brightwall Academy. So, if you're a person who loves collecting things in games, or even getting achievements these collecting quests, and fun are for you. I think they did a great job with the collecting, and I had fun hunting things down.
Graphics, Sounds and Other
The game looks gorgeous, everything looks so beautiful from the water, to the landscape to even the towns and villages. Everything just looks so good in my eyes. However, the game does have it's graphical issues, but again this may just be me. I've noticed that the game has frame-rate issues and sometimes will get really slow, and laggy, and sometimes the game freezes. Again, this may just be me but is a tad annoying.
I did notice the Enemies were kinda stiff even when you do what looks like a brutal attack it's almost like doing a brutal attack to a punching bag
No real Feeling of Inflicting violence.
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/5003/fable3.jpg
Other than that the game is gorgeous, the sounds all work together perfectly. Exploring snowy mountains is very interesting as everything just seems freezing, and that it must be very cold in that area. They did a great job bringing Albion to life in this game, from the broken down area of Bowerstone Industrial to the high-class end of Reaver's Manor. The game just looks so good.
I don't know what else to say about this section of the game, other than if you're looking for a beautiful game, Fable III delivers, most definitely.
Verdict
8/10
Final Thoughts-
-If you're a fan of previous Fable games, you'll most likely love this game.
-If you hated Fable II, Rent it
-Combat is a little Simple and is easily button mashy
-The Virtual Menus as I see them are a + only because it's instant there is no Loading between "menus" and no real feeling of pausing the game.
-Fable 3 is a very Solid RPG-Adventure Game in my opinion.