—Game Review— Fable III

I loved Fable II and could hardly wait for the release of Fable III. The hype, the promises, my own eagerness to have a game that lived up to all of it... Alas, these were not to be.

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***Fable III***

Published by Microsoft Game Studios
Developed by Lionhead Studios

Released 2010 | Action, Role-Playing

For Xbox 360/One, PC | Review: Xbox 360

*Rated M for Mature 17+*

Blood | Language | Sexual Content

Use of Alcohol | Violence
(Click HERE for more ESRB rating details.)

HGG Score: ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 6/10

Synopsis? 

Albion is in trouble again and needs a hero. That's you. Again. This time you can talk.

First impressions? 

Prettier than Fable II, but that's about all that's improved.

Graphics and voices? 

Good. Beautiful graphics, well cast voices. The main character talks now. I like that. You can see many of these things in the official launch trailer I've embedded below. ▼


Gameplay? 

Fairly similar to Fable II. Action RPG with glowing orbs to collect. You can use the orbs to upgrade your character's abilities. Fighting isn't difficult to catch onto.

Just like with Fable II, there are mini games in this. Interesting is about all I can say about them. I'm not the biggest fan of mini games.

Storyline? 

You must undermine the king's plans to more or less destroy Albion. He's a bad king, but there are other cards in play. He's also your brother, so your actions are considered treason. That, naturally, puts you on the run. While you run, you kill things, build yourself up, recruit others to stand against your brother, and then end up on a remote island and discover the threat is so much bigger than your brother. It was a fairly interesting story for how cliche it actually is.

Complaints? 

Too cliche, too repetitive, too linear, too...other things. On the other hand, it requires very little thought, so if you just need to chill for an hour or two, or even just ten minutes, it's a good one to play. It is deserving of its M rating, however, as they went just a bit overboard with the sexual "humor" in this one.

Overall? 

I've played it a lot. Five saves with my own profile and several more with hubby's and each kid's profile. Yeah, a lot. I'm missing one achievement on this one. So it's definitely replayable. It is not, however, by any means great.

HGG Score? 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 6/10 life hearts.
There was so much potential here and it fell far short of the promises. If you start the Fable games with this one, you might like it. A lot. But if you play this after Fable II or Fable Anniversary, you will be doomed to disappointment. 

Where to buy?

• Amazon 
• GameStop 
• Best Buy 
• Walmart 
• Xbox Live Marketplace 
• ...or try your local used games store. ☺

Until next time...