Fable III

[RPG Post]

Fable III

It starts with a chicken. As all good adventures do. There are chicken suits, moments of play acting like a chicken, collecting of chickens. The time-indicating device as you wait for new sections to load is a chicken in a gear.

I start off the review with chickens because you will either appreciate the humor in the game or not, depending upon how funny you find the running chicken infatuation. There is farting, belching, a Mr. Creosote-worthy puking scene and, coincidently, John Cleese as a mild-mannered butler. The game is funny, but perhaps a bit puerile for some tastes.

I love a good bit of sophomoric humor, especially combined with some wit and a dash of inspired laughs, so send in the chickens.

[end_news_blurb]

Looks

The game looks gorgeous. The scenery changes from place to place rather than slogging through a dull sameness scene after scene and both the score and voice talent are quite good. The sights and sounds elevate this above many other electronic role-playing games but they alone are not the only reasons to play the game. There are some very good parts. And there are some issues. For instance, “How do I beat people up,” you ask.

Combat in Fable III

Beating people up is easy. Too easy. And here, more than any other single game mechanic, Fable III shows a dumbing down to the point where the game is not …not challenging. You do not gain individual experience based upon the weapon type you are using, as you did in Fable II. You can buy levels in Melee, Guns and Magic, up to level 5 in each just by spending guild points which you earn throughout the game.

Magic is powerful. And it has a hollow sameness. Spells have an area of effect and a targeted option. And, with no motivation to use each weapon skill, you can win with magic every battle. Sure your weapons change in looks, so perhaps you style yourself a master of sword play and try to stick with that, as a role-playing kind of thing. But ten hours into the game, everything is bested by magic. So why choose anything else?

Interacting With NPCs

Dancing in Fable III is like shaking hands in the real world. Or, wherever I currently reside. There is so much dancing, patty-cake and hand holding that it makes the mentally ill part of me squirm. That is to say all of me. Could I just get through an area without having to earn trust by dancing? I am not a hurdy-gurdy monkey damnit, I am a prince on his way to overthrowing the king.

There are still moral choices to make, friends to be had, enemies to antagonize, peasants to make cower in terror, if one is so inclined. But the choices felt ...less emotional this time. Your looks still change as you go to the dark side but there is something missing, some sort of weight that Fable II gave to choices.

Sims Kingdom, Fable Edition

You build money by making pies. Blacksmithing. And lute strumming. But not lots. You make lots of money by becoming a landlord. Managing property, having tenants both individuals and businesses, pays the bills. Unlike the last volume, you only earn money while playing the game, so the accumulation of gold moves slower, but it is inevitable you will build up your stockpile. And what you do with this gold later is manage a kingdom. Choose what to build and when. The choices here having lasting effects on your populace and are some of the first to carry that emotional weight I mentioned earlier.

Sanctuary

Not the Thieves' World kingdom, but the new pause screen. Hit the Start button at anytime and you are pulled into your only little happy place. I liked this game mechanic. Choose weapons, clothes, possessions here. Look at your treasure. Compose yourself. Save the game. Take care of all your character management needs while your butler attends to you.

Multiplayer

This time there is real multiplayer. No faithful servant but instead another full blown hero. You can work out a business deal where you split treasure down the middle or you can marry (and divorce, thereby splitting everything down the middle). You can each play separately then get together for the occasional dalliance. You can even have kids together and hire a nanny while you are out saving the kingdom. It reminds me of Spy Kids for some reason.

Wrap up

The game is fun. There are some missteps, some glitches, but they are outweighed by the design, the score, the humor and the playability. This is not a hard core RPG but it is a gorgeous adventure with humor, ethical decisions and a faithful canine companion. I recommend it in spite of the changes to the combat and magic systems. For some other points of view there are reviews at here, here and here.