Fable III

Promises are often difficult to keep. Peter Molyneux of Lionhead Studios knows this better than most; he is notorious for making too many promises about future games which he has been unable to deliver on. Molyneux retains his grand ambitions for the latest entry into the series, but has avoided rampant speculation. Can a Fable game finally live up to expectations?

Fable III follows the same template as the previous entries; it’s a single-player-oriented romp through a fictionalised version of Britain in the 1800s called Albion. Throughout the player’s travels, they will have to hack, blast, and zap their way through numerous beasties and baddies which stand in their way. However, unlike similar games, the Fable series strives for simplicity. Swinging a sword takes a tap of the ‘X’ button, while guns and magic are mapped to ‘Y’ and ‘B’ respectively. This makes the game highly accessible for newcomers, though those expecting more strategy will be disappointed.

This quest for streamlining extends to the menu. When the player pauses the game, rather than being greeted by a tedious list, they are teleported to a room containing a 3D representation of Albion. From here, they can enter other rooms, such as a dressing room and an armoury. This visual representation is as slick and fast as a traditional menu, and far more intuitive to navigate.

The story itself is again a simplistic affair. The protagonist is the Prince (or Princess) of Albion who leaves the castle to mount a rebellion against the tyrant King. This involves making promises to the various peoples of Albion in exchange for their support. Impressively, once the player does take the throne, the game does not simply end; the player is forced to choose whether to keep the promises they made on their way there or not. Due to an excellent plot point which I won’t spoil, the game makes it very difficult for the player to keep every promise. After all, what’s the point of being popular if…no, I don’t want to give away too much.

Unfortunately, Fable III does have its share of issues. For example, being the monarch allows the player control over parts of Albion, but only in pre-determined ways. Oddly, the emphasis on choice highlights how little the player really has. Another concern is Fable III’s wealth of glitches. For example, the butler in my game became silent halfway through; even now he won’t say a word. This is the least of other players’ worries: there have been numerous reports of game-breaking bugs and crashes.

Lionhead is a British developer, and it shows. Fable III displays a quaint ‘Britishness’ throughout, from the art style to the voice cast which includes such greats as John Cleese and Stephen Fry. Due in part to this, Fable III consistently manages to be more than the sum of its parts. Did it live up to expectations? Well, I truthfully had great fun playing it, and what more can you ask of a video game?

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