Fable III PC Review
Fable III PC Review
Review - posted by VentilatorOfDoom on Mon 6 June 2011, 19:10:50
Tags: Lionhead StudiosIn case you have wondered about the joys which come with playing the PC version of Lionhead's Fable III, Gamebanshee provide a 5-page review. It's 5 pages so I assume it's good.
It’s very clear right off the bat that Fable III is a game designed with accessibility in mind, but its accessibility has come at an obvious cost. Almost every feature of the game has been made to be easier to use, depth has been stripped down to the bare essentials, and even the story seems to take a back seat, with the plot being linear, underwhelming, predictable and anti-climactic. Despite all of those problems, Fable III manages to be a lot of fun at times, and I did not regret my time playing it, even after a good 40 or so hours play through most of it. Maybe it's Fable III's enthralling, beautiful world, or the well-written dialogue, or simply the feeling of rising up from the gutters (less literally in Fable III's case) in order to become a living legend, but Fable III is, in spite of its flaws, still an enjoyable game, which is why it’s so frustrating to see fall flat on its face in more than a few places. For every good idea there is a bad one, and there are so many places where it fails to utilise its full potential. While this is par for the course for the Fable franchise, and admittedly the franchise has always been pretty ambitious, these failings have been consistent for years now, with few signs of improvement, and I don’t think Lionhead can get away with making yet another Fable game with all the same flaws, even if those flaws are the result of a genuine intent to improve.
I can recommend Fable III, but with a very big “but” attached to it, and with the advisement that you may want to wait for a lower price if you’re still on the fence. While there’s more than your money’s worth in Fable III, the numerous design issues and over-simplified mechanics simply can’t be ignored by even the most forgiving fans. It's the worst Fable game, no question, but that doesn't mean it's an outright bad one, just underwhelming, and maybe a little out of steam after all these years. It's fairly inevitable that there will be a Fable IV at this point, so hopefully when it does come, it will finally remedy so many of these problems that have come to a head in Fable III, while preserving those very same things that make the franchise iconic and enjoyable.
Spotted at: Gamebanshee
It’s very clear right off the bat that Fable III is a game designed with accessibility in mind, but its accessibility has come at an obvious cost. Almost every feature of the game has been made to be easier to use, depth has been stripped down to the bare essentials, and even the story seems to take a back seat, with the plot being linear, underwhelming, predictable and anti-climactic. Despite all of those problems, Fable III manages to be a lot of fun at times, and I did not regret my time playing it, even after a good 40 or so hours play through most of it. Maybe it's Fable III's enthralling, beautiful world, or the well-written dialogue, or simply the feeling of rising up from the gutters (less literally in Fable III's case) in order to become a living legend, but Fable III is, in spite of its flaws, still an enjoyable game, which is why it’s so frustrating to see fall flat on its face in more than a few places. For every good idea there is a bad one, and there are so many places where it fails to utilise its full potential. While this is par for the course for the Fable franchise, and admittedly the franchise has always been pretty ambitious, these failings have been consistent for years now, with few signs of improvement, and I don’t think Lionhead can get away with making yet another Fable game with all the same flaws, even if those flaws are the result of a genuine intent to improve.
I can recommend Fable III, but with a very big “but” attached to it, and with the advisement that you may want to wait for a lower price if you’re still on the fence. While there’s more than your money’s worth in Fable III, the numerous design issues and over-simplified mechanics simply can’t be ignored by even the most forgiving fans. It's the worst Fable game, no question, but that doesn't mean it's an outright bad one, just underwhelming, and maybe a little out of steam after all these years. It's fairly inevitable that there will be a Fable IV at this point, so hopefully when it does come, it will finally remedy so many of these problems that have come to a head in Fable III, while preserving those very same things that make the franchise iconic and enjoyable.
