The Fable series has enchanted players since the first game appeared on the Xbox and PC back in 2004.
Over the course of the past six years, Lionhead Studios has continued to bring us quality titles in the Fable franchise and Fable III is no different. The newest game in the series takes an already good game and puts a few twists on it to surprise and wow players.
The story of Fable III is slightly similar to the first two games but with a few twists added in. You play as either the prince or princess of the kingdom of Albion where the story takes place. The player happens to be the child of the protaganist from Fable II.
The previous hero has left the kingdom to your older brother, Logan. After seeing the terrible things Logan does to the people of Albion, you set out with your servant Walter, your butler Jasper and your trusty canine companion to start a revolution.
The combat system of Fable III is very similar to that of Fable II. The player wields both a melee weapon and a ranged weapon in combat.
However, there are differences to how the ability system in the game works.
In Fable II players got certain orbs that corresponded to strength, will and skill. In Fable III, all of the orbs have been combined into one type that corresponds to acquiring “Guild Seals.”
Guild Seals can be spent on the “Road to Rule,” which is a place in another dimension that contains upgrades for melee damage and magic as well as expansions to your interaction skills with people.
The most interesting change in Fable III is that the Sanctuary is the game’s pause screen. When the player presses the start button, he or she is instantly taken to the Sanctuary.
Inside the Sanctuary, players can do all sorts of things. He or she can customize what clothing the character should wear, what weapons and magic to wield, view pacts made for alliances and find companions online for co-op play.
The Sanctuary also contains a map of Albion in the middle of the main room so that the player may find quests around the kingdom or set targets to certain quests. The map also lets players fast-travel to any city that the player has explored.
Game options such as sound settings can be changed here as well. To prevent this being gameplay feature from being abused, items cannot be used to heal and healing items cannot be purchased in the Sanctuary.
Another interesting change is that during the game, the player has almost no heads-up display (HUD).
There’s no health bar for the player to see. There are only visual indicators for low health.
The screen will eventually start to become darker with red around the edges. Health potions and food pop up to use on the bottom left corner when the player is low on health.
Fable III is a brilliant addition to the Fable franchise. Its unique style of non-player character interactions makes it one of the most interesting games to play if you like a game that is open and adventurous. New players as well as those who are familiar with the previous two games will be thrilled with it and all it has to offer.