Fable III Member Review for the Xbox360

Simply put, i loved fable 1 but found Fable 2 to be a bit of a bore-fest. I had no idea what i would think of Fable 3, depending on how the game was changed from 2 to 3. The way it all turned out was odd, i go from loving the first game and getting excited about the sequel to hating the sequel and not looking forward to the 3rd game at all. The thing is that i played the third game and had a lot of fun with it. From now on I'm never going to assume what a future Fable game is going to be like.

Because I went into the game expecting it to be boring, i had a pessimistic view on everything. At first I was bored as hell, noticing the still horrible camera that hasn't changed, the glowing trail still fails, and generally everything looks exactly the the same as the game that preceded it. With that in mind, the graphics are still a big downpoint. Fable 3 basically has the same problem as Halo Reach. Same graphics with motion blur. It isn't that blurry but the characters look very dated now. The environments look good enough but overall it's hardly up to the current day standard.

I first started to realise I was having fun once i started killing enemies. The combat is improved and very fun, while still being farmiliar and easy to pick up. Just like the previous games, you still control your player by changing between melee, guns, and powers. The powers were a bit weird this time though, instead of just blasting fireballs from your palm like a wizard, you have a gauntlet, so really this just means you don't have powers, you have a glove with lighter fluid in it. The fact that weapons change their look based on how you play is a good idea I think. It's different but more unique and actually kind of suits the type of game that Fable is. Most fans won't like it, but I for one do.

The voice acting is actually up there with the likes of Mass Effect and Metal Gear Solid for quality, i'd actually have to say it's the biggest highlight of the game. Not just how expertly it's done, but also the dialogue is very humorous and it helps that I for one love British humor. As much as I love Simon Pegg, I think that Dylan Moran would also have served as a great person to pick for this. His sense of humor is contagious.

I actually found that the best part of the game was the collectables, which is a very weird thing to think.

Honestly, im tired and i can't be bothered writing out the rest of this review as i normally would, so im going to go all effortless with the rest and just kind of list my opinions.

Combat = fun

graphics = dull, with environments being a bit of an exception.

Collectables = even more fun

Voice work = very very good

Achievements = Much improved, but still a bit of a hassle

Multiplayer = Good idea, poor execution. It's too easy for people to join your game, kill your wife and leave without doing anything remotely useful

Even though im being lazy, there is one section that's worth a paragraph. There is one simple thing that has made this game go from what could possibly have been an A- all the way down to a B-. And that very simple thing is the technical problems. Fable 3 is, without a doubt, the most broken game I have EVER played. All you Halo and COD fanboys who call each others games broken and ****? you haven't seen anything yet.

Most games with problems on the technical side are usually just freezing or slow servers (and even though slow servers is a bad problem, thats online, its at least a little forgiveable. Fable, however, is mostly a single player game and should not have many problems at all). Fable 2 was bad enough, but Fable 3 builds on the problems of the previous game and amplifies them. Freezing is still a problem, despite being heavily criticised in Fable 2. The framerate drops at the most random times, there doesnt even have to be anything on the screen for it to happen. The glowing trails dissapears and points you in the wrong direction and the dog runs around in circles rather than lead you to treasure. These problems are all way too common, and frankly I havent even mentioned the worst part. Most games with these problems are able to keep them away from the gameplay to make sure that even though what you see is flawed, what you do is not. But the framerate drop interupts the jobs so you'll constantly lose your multiplyer and there is NOTHING you can do about it, and the glowing trail pointing in the wrong direction makes it impossible to do certain quests.

Fable 3 could be so much better than it is, and believe it or not, it isn't even Peter Molyneux's fault. Fable 3 NEEDS a patch, and it needs one fast. The release date was way too soon and we can only hope that this horrific problem never happens again.