I'll be the first to admit, I wasn't really hyped up for this incarnation of the popular RPG from Lionhead but with an extremely limited budget, a generous Black Friday deal and the idea that it would last me a while, I picked it up. After playing it, I was somewhat of a happy camper.
In the first five minutes after putting the game in, you're put through an emotional roller coaster. The opening cinematic is not only a joy to watch graphics-wise but the mini-story will have you on the edge of your seat. Will the pint sized hero make it through the trials presented to him? I won't give it away.
The actual story begins 50 years after Fable 2 and your brother has taken the throne. His way of ruling is not really what the townsfolk were expecting in that he's somewhat of a nasty tyrnat type. Your journey will involvee making decisions that will either have you follow in his footsteps or assume a new style of rule through love and respect. As in Fable 2, all of your choices matter and shape your character and story. Your role is to lead a revolution against [insert spoiler here]. To become a leader, you need alliances and followers - sometimes you need to make promises to win people's support but when it comes that time, will you be able to honor those promises?
Starting out, you are given the choice of being the daughter or son of the past Hero. I will always give Lionhead major respect for being on the forefront of making their games enjoyable to wide ranges of people. Not only do they allow the choice of gender, but they allow you to choose your sexuality, as can be seen later in the game. You can choose between different fashion styles, too. Playing as a princess, I could either be frou frou or more "practical". I couldn't immediately see a difference between the styles during two playthroughs but knowing Lionhead, there was some gear turning behind the scenes. You are allowed a fair amount of customization throughout the game, too. You can wear a variety of outfits, both male and female styles regardless of your chosen gender. You can also dye your clothes to make them truly unique. You can buy and find tattoos, hair styles and make up. My most customized outfit consisted of a chicken bum, princess top, military gloves, highwayman boots with a beard, bald head and aristocrat makeup. Yes, I know, you wish you were me! Your choices in haute couture also affect your relationships with people.
Speaking of relationships, unlocking actions will shape what kind of relationships you have with people. You will find the usual goodies - farting, burping, hugging, dancing and more. And you can also invite people to bed with you. That is, either one or several at once.
You are given a companion, an ever faithful dog, who follows you throughout your journey. He can also be customized buy buying (with your money, on marketplace) special potions that change his breed.
One of the most important places you will come across is the Sanctuary. This is where your personal servant will keep watch over the kingdom map (fast travel), your inventory, gifts, treasury, settings, and what is one of the most annoying parts of the game - the "Sanctuary Shop".
In combat, you are given the ability to fight using melee, shooting or casting spells - your dog can come in quite handy with ripping apart enemies should you wish to train him that way. All of your combat abilities can be upgraded using guild seals that you earn through gaining followers and killing enemies. You can spend them on the 'Road To Rule' that can be reached through the Sanctuary or through completing major story quests. You will need to get your abilities in tip top shape to take on the numerous enemies you will battle on your way to victory. Another way to procure weapons, or infact, pretty much anything is by trading with others (remember those real people?) online. To see others' orbs, you will need to go to the Sanctuary and into the multiplayer room. One of the selections you have is to show or hide online orbs. Bowerstone has retained it's status of main meeting ground for trading. I recently traded a weapon to some nice chap while another player gifted me a baby crib... Me... A crib. That's funny. Ugh... While I have yet to jump into another player's game, you can do so to earn money, marry them and even have children with them.
The landscape of Albion is very similar to Fable 2 but the different regions are rendered just beautifully - the accompanying music is also done so well that you really feel that you're in another place.
While the majority of the voice acting is outstanding, I do wish John Cleese was given some more interesting lines as he welcomes you to the Sanctuary. Zoe Wannamaker and Stephen Fry also play large roles in the game and do so to perfection.
If you charge through the main story line, it should take you less than a day to complete the game but the side quests make the game last much, much longer. If you're a collector, there are many side quests you will love. You can also earn money doing jobs around the towns. I will admit that these jobs can get extremely repetitive as it's just a matter of hitting the right button in the sequence - each job is exactly the same just with different animations.
While I absolutely loved playing it, no game is perfect. However, unlike some other games released this year, there were no game-breaking bugs in my 3 run throughs. These complaints are more peeves than serious flaws. Firstly, every time I needed to visit the Sanctuary, I was met with Jasper (John Cleese), my servant letting me know that there are new items in the Sanctuary shop. Now look, I know everyone loves to sell extras with their games but hearing this almost every time I went to the Sanctuary was highly annoying. Also, some of the offerings were just crap. Should I really need to BUY black dye for my clothes or pay money for a couple of new hair styles? These are things that should have been included in the game, I'm sorry. I'm all for selling the quests and even the dog breeds but I do have some limits - perhaps lessons should have been learned from the horse armor debacle...
Another peeve I had was with the fast travel map. There is no "You are here" marker. It's very easy to get lost in some areas. During these times, the map is pretty useless. The only other issue I had was with my glowing quest trail. It would often disappear for no apparent reason. It would randomly reappear but sometimes I would get very lost trying to find my way - just like in real life!
All in all, I think Lionhead released an amazing game. I give it a 4 out of 5. I took one point off for the constant pushing of the "store".
PS. WHY a bigger deal wasn't made out of the "Design a Villager" I don't know. I wish I had known about this before I got the game. Ah well. If you want to have fun with the tool, check it out at http://www.xbox.com/en-US/Marketplace/Product/Fable-III/VillagerMaker
I liked the leveling system better, though hated that the game would kind of force you to progress the story if you wanted to level your character more (I was always caught up at the road to rule every time I unlocked the next part).
Over-all I had fun with this game but once I beat it I honestly now don't think I'll ever play it again which is pretty depressing since it's only a few months old. The only thing I plan on doing with it is playing with my guy so that I can help him grind through faster.
THERE NEEDS TO BE A REPAIR ALL BUTTON lol, that was the WORST part to me was the lack of repair all because repairing my houses took way to long.
Good review though