Fable 3 lands a Busy Gamer 4

First Glance:
The third installment to the popular Fable series. More choices for a new Hero and a kingdom to rebuild.

The Short Story:
Peter Molyneaux sends us back to Albion once again but this time as the direct offspring of the Hero from Fable 2. The choices you make throughout the game, as in the first two of the series, determine how people react to you and the outcome of the story. You’re putting together a revolution this time around and you have to make some tough choices along the way as you make your alliances and try to get the population of Albion behind you.

The Score:
Fable 3 has taken everything that was done right in the first two games and produced an absolutely fabulous outing into the world of Albion. Combat has been dumbed down (almost too much in some cases) and the story will leave you wanting more. The pros of this game, however, outweigh the cons and deliver on aspects that will leave even the busiest gamer wanting more. While you may want to play more than thirty minutes to an hour at a time, this game can be devoured in short sessions with very little problem and may almost be too short in regards to the storyline. Fable 3 pulls down a Busy Gamer 4.

Body of review:
Those of you who remember what we had to say about Fable 2 (http://www.busygamer.com/blog1/?p=1008) may be surprised that we’ve rated it’s sequel so highly but there’s a reason to all of it that may surprise you if you haven’t had the chance to sample Peter Molyneaux’s latest offering. To begin, there’s the story. Without spoiling it for you, the hero you create is thrown into the fray very quickly with your first moral choice coming shortly after creating your character. Forced to choose between two evils, you quickly begin to understand just how difficult some of the choices you have to make truly are.

That's your brother. Any guesses as to where his moral compass points?

I mentioned after playing the game over Halloween weekend that one could beat the storyline in Fable 3 rather quickly. This is the truth. It’s my estimation that if you were to focus solely on the story and avoided the side quests, you could conceivably wrap up the game in under 4-5 hours. You’re going to miss out on a lot of the game by doing this but if you were really pressed for time and wanted to just breeze through the story, it’s possible. And if you were to do so, you could still continue to do quests and power up your character as the side quests are all available regardless of what point you are in the story.

The combat system has been overhauled in Fable 3 and while I initially disapproved of the changes, they grew on me. To begin, all of your combat abilities as well as your non-combat skills are purchased using Guild Seals. Guild Seals are gained by killing enemies, completing quests, and by making friends (or enemies) with the local villagers. To improve skills, your Hero has to teleport to the Road of Rule, a shadowy realm reflecting your travels and adventures through the game, where chests line the Road that can only be unlocked by spending your hard earned Seals. This allows you to power up abilities without actually having to use them, a problem in the two earlier versions of Fable where one combat skills could quickly outpace your other two skills making it difficult later in the game to improve said skills against the harder opponents.

With the change to the combat skill system comes another addition to the combat. Each skill is accessed by pressing one button on the controller. In other words, pressing the Y button always utilizes your gun (the only ranged weapon category this time out) while X and B activate your melee and magic skills respectively. At first this might seem like an oversimplification but timing your attacks can produce some truly spectacular results. For instance, pressing X just as an enemy attacks results in a slow motion counter attack that typically results in a one shot kill. The game isn’t specific about the timing and the only means to practice the counter attack is to figure it out as you go. The counter attack can be done with all of your weapons and spells and once mastered can significantly increase your potency in combat. Flourishes still play a part in your fights and can be used to negate an opponent’s defense. (more…)

Fable III for Xbox 360 and PC appears to be quite generous on the prostitutes that will be roaming the towns, male and female, as depicted here in 2 pages of the new Fable III artbook.

The Art of Fable III book will contain images of uniforms, posters, characters and enviroments featured in the game. And maybe a few coin purses here and there. Yep we said it. I was wondering how much ‘play-style’ from Fable II would be incorperated in the third installment of the series, and judging by the pics I’d say that you will still be prompted to use ‘protection’ upon every endeavor.

And we always need that in our fantasy life too right? Of course. And need a bigger pic for your desktop – click away pervo.

(Gamespot) – Lionhead Studios launched the Villager Maker, a Web-based tool aimed at encouraging gamers to preorder Fable III by allowing them to create a character and have him or her imported into the full game.

The Villager Maker tool launched today on Xbox.com in the United States and United Kingdom. The Web-based Silverlight application lets excited Fable gamers create a character and design not only his or her physical attributes, but also the person’s backstory and decision-making thought process.

The tool is free and available to anyone, but those who wish to have their character imported into Fable III need to preorder the game. For those who reserve it, the created character will appear in the title as a quest-giving character who will deliver a task as well as 1,000 gold (Fable III’s in-game currency). Those looking only to tinker around with the software can share their creations on social media hubs Twitter and Facebook and can also download an image of their character for use as a desktop background.

Fable III is the third chapter in the Fable franchise. Developed by Lionhead Studios, the game is due out on the Xbox 360 October 26. Unlike its predecessors, it will cast players as the king or queen of Albion, tasking them with commanding their realm, keeping peace, waging war, and enjoying the game’s 47 hours of dialogue.