Fable Game Series - 1,2,3 Overall Review
I have an emotional connection with the fable series. A bad one. I still remember the time when Fable 1 was advertised as a breakthrough with gaming and how over-hyped it was. It promised us an unique experience in which every decision we made changed our character in a minor but significant way. If you ask me the choice-system in fable 3 is nothing but a parody of that promise.
But before I go on a long rant on this topic, let me introduce you to the game. The fable franchise is a standard computer RPG (RolePlayingGame) without many elements that differentiate it from games like Two Worlds, Oblivion or Gothic. (If anything the amount of choices you have in those games is superior to fable).
If anything, the strongest element of this game is the story. You start out as prince who has to overcome the reign of his tyrant brother by unifying all the people of the land against him. And even though the story (which has it's funny and enjoyable moments) is one of the problems with the game. You have to do so much good to further the storyline that the evil choices that you do have seem so out of place and even comical that the only way you'll be evil is if you've consciously decided right from the beginning "I'll be evil".
Honestly the amount of choice you have in this game and the choices you have are in my honest opinion one of the worst aspects of this game. I would like to compare it to a game that executed the same concept well... well. In mass effect 2 you have choices are not just 'evil for the sake of being evil' but are 'evil for utilitarian purposes' or 'evil for the greater good'. This is far better because psychologically, in the real world no one is evil for the sake of evil. When presented with a choice of killing innocent people you like that are part of your social group and saving them everyone will save them.
Although one might say that this was done for comical purposes. And there might be some truth to that argument because Fable 3 has quite a lot of jokes in it. But the problem is that Fable one and the Fable series in general was always advertised as 'giving the player choice to create his character as he wants' which is simply not true. I might still be influenced by the disappointment that the Fable 1 marketing campaign has created in my heart, but still. Almost modern every game that has "a good vs evil" choice system (Mass Effect, Star Wars KOTOR, Overlord, Fallout 3, Bioshock) executes it far better than the Fable series.
Another thing that almost any other computer RPG does better is the game play. Playing Fable 3 is just boring. The combat is broken to the point that melee weapons are absolutely useless while magic is so overpowered that even in the beginning of the game you can defeat whole groups of enemies with one click (while with a melee weapon it would take you at least 30 minutes of the most boring combat ever to do the same thing).
Navigating the game is also tedious. There's no menu, instead there's a room which you have to navigate to make the smallest changes in your character. The game designers have decided that most games are just to comfortable and thought that the most exciting thing we do in our lives is looking through our wardrobe to pick the right clothes. If this is true for you this game allows you every opportunity to do such tedious things. Over and over again. To change your weapon you have to press escape to enter the room, navigate to another room, pick the exact podium where the weapon you want is located, pick it and then leave the room.
A similar procedure is required for any other change.
Another thing that's absolutely horrible about this game is the character interaction. Theoretically you can start a relationship with every NPC in the game, just like in Skyrim. But unlike skyrim where you actually talk to the NPCs, the interaction in Fable 3 is pretty much a carbon copy of the interaction in the sims series. Characters don't talk, they whistle, burp and dance. You have a number of expressions ( which you can get through the games leveling up system ,which is in itself very limited and doesn't allow for almost any customization) such as whistling, "chatting", dancing or burping, mechanically repeating those expression will make a NPC your friend, and in turn they will give you a very boring fetch quest. (Such as "Bring me a book from this place" or "Get this for me and I'll be your friend")
The one aspect of this game that I liked is the fact that you can actually buy almost every structure in the world, and then subsequently rent it out. But at the same time this brings me to another problem in this game. The economy is broken. Being good is banal in the first part of the game, but after you become king you need money to be good. To be exact you need almost 6 million to be completely good. Which isn't actually that hard to get, because in fable 3 it's very very easy to earn money. But the problematic fact is that other than spending it on 'just being good' you have almost nothing to buy in Fable 3. There are maybe 5-8 weapons to buy in this entire game. What's the point of being a millionaire if you can't buy anything for the money you got? This again leads to the fact that this game is really biased towards making you a good guy. Because since you earn money almost automatically and you have nothing to spend it on it's very easy for you to save up money for the end of the game.
Well I think I have ranted on this game enough. Let me count some of the good aspects of this game. The plot is filled with unique humor, which is good in of itself. Although I myself never laughed at any of the jokes, I'm quite sure someone might.
The graphics are also very nice. Well this is a high-budget game so the producers probably thought that if they invest as much money as possible into graphics the game will be a success, and partially they were right. Trouble is that this game is now quite old and the graphics don't seem as impressive anymore. Which is another reason to avoid this game now.
In summary. If you really loved Fable 1 or Fable 2, or if you really want a computer RPG that tries to make you laugh with Jokes then I actually would recommend that you get this game. But on the other hand if you're expecting customization or the depth of gameplay that Skyrim or Mass Effect offers you'll be very disappointed.
Final Rating : 5/10
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But before I go on a long rant on this topic, let me introduce you to the game. The fable franchise is a standard computer RPG (RolePlayingGame) without many elements that differentiate it from games like Two Worlds, Oblivion or Gothic. (If anything the amount of choices you have in those games is superior to fable).
If anything, the strongest element of this game is the story. You start out as prince who has to overcome the reign of his tyrant brother by unifying all the people of the land against him. And even though the story (which has it's funny and enjoyable moments) is one of the problems with the game. You have to do so much good to further the storyline that the evil choices that you do have seem so out of place and even comical that the only way you'll be evil is if you've consciously decided right from the beginning "I'll be evil".
Honestly the amount of choice you have in this game and the choices you have are in my honest opinion one of the worst aspects of this game. I would like to compare it to a game that executed the same concept well... well. In mass effect 2 you have choices are not just 'evil for the sake of being evil' but are 'evil for utilitarian purposes' or 'evil for the greater good'. This is far better because psychologically, in the real world no one is evil for the sake of evil. When presented with a choice of killing innocent people you like that are part of your social group and saving them everyone will save them.
Although one might say that this was done for comical purposes. And there might be some truth to that argument because Fable 3 has quite a lot of jokes in it. But the problem is that Fable one and the Fable series in general was always advertised as 'giving the player choice to create his character as he wants' which is simply not true. I might still be influenced by the disappointment that the Fable 1 marketing campaign has created in my heart, but still. Almost modern every game that has "a good vs evil" choice system (Mass Effect, Star Wars KOTOR, Overlord, Fallout 3, Bioshock) executes it far better than the Fable series.
Another thing that almost any other computer RPG does better is the game play. Playing Fable 3 is just boring. The combat is broken to the point that melee weapons are absolutely useless while magic is so overpowered that even in the beginning of the game you can defeat whole groups of enemies with one click (while with a melee weapon it would take you at least 30 minutes of the most boring combat ever to do the same thing).
Navigating the game is also tedious. There's no menu, instead there's a room which you have to navigate to make the smallest changes in your character. The game designers have decided that most games are just to comfortable and thought that the most exciting thing we do in our lives is looking through our wardrobe to pick the right clothes. If this is true for you this game allows you every opportunity to do such tedious things. Over and over again. To change your weapon you have to press escape to enter the room, navigate to another room, pick the exact podium where the weapon you want is located, pick it and then leave the room.
A similar procedure is required for any other change.
Another thing that's absolutely horrible about this game is the character interaction. Theoretically you can start a relationship with every NPC in the game, just like in Skyrim. But unlike skyrim where you actually talk to the NPCs, the interaction in Fable 3 is pretty much a carbon copy of the interaction in the sims series. Characters don't talk, they whistle, burp and dance. You have a number of expressions ( which you can get through the games leveling up system ,which is in itself very limited and doesn't allow for almost any customization) such as whistling, "chatting", dancing or burping, mechanically repeating those expression will make a NPC your friend, and in turn they will give you a very boring fetch quest. (Such as "Bring me a book from this place" or "Get this for me and I'll be your friend")
The one aspect of this game that I liked is the fact that you can actually buy almost every structure in the world, and then subsequently rent it out. But at the same time this brings me to another problem in this game. The economy is broken. Being good is banal in the first part of the game, but after you become king you need money to be good. To be exact you need almost 6 million to be completely good. Which isn't actually that hard to get, because in fable 3 it's very very easy to earn money. But the problematic fact is that other than spending it on 'just being good' you have almost nothing to buy in Fable 3. There are maybe 5-8 weapons to buy in this entire game. What's the point of being a millionaire if you can't buy anything for the money you got? This again leads to the fact that this game is really biased towards making you a good guy. Because since you earn money almost automatically and you have nothing to spend it on it's very easy for you to save up money for the end of the game.
Well I think I have ranted on this game enough. Let me count some of the good aspects of this game. The plot is filled with unique humor, which is good in of itself. Although I myself never laughed at any of the jokes, I'm quite sure someone might.
The graphics are also very nice. Well this is a high-budget game so the producers probably thought that if they invest as much money as possible into graphics the game will be a success, and partially they were right. Trouble is that this game is now quite old and the graphics don't seem as impressive anymore. Which is another reason to avoid this game now.
In summary. If you really loved Fable 1 or Fable 2, or if you really want a computer RPG that tries to make you laugh with Jokes then I actually would recommend that you get this game. But on the other hand if you're expecting customization or the depth of gameplay that Skyrim or Mass Effect offers you'll be very disappointed.
Final Rating : 5/10
Author Bio :
Matt Neputin is a fiction writer who blogs about dark things and writes disturbing books .
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