Fable III

It took a long while indeed to finally review Fable III for PC. Why? Because it took them an extra 6 months to port them, I assume. Was it worth the wait? Unfortunately, I have to say no.

I’m a PC gamer, so I only play PC games obviously. Maybe the occasionally iPhone game or heck even a Wii game. Heck, I regret buying the latter console system sometimes, if it wasn’t for Guitar Hero III. The one thing I hate about games is how some are made solely for PCs while other for specific consoles. It means you’re missing out on an experience.

When Fable came out it was made for Xbox and PC, and a bit later it was expanded under the name Fable: The Lost Chapters. It was innovative, fun and new. You played a hero or the meanest bastard alive, while people cheered you on as Chicken Chaser. I loved it. It was cheesy, yes, the combat wasn’t really that great, but it was fun. When Fable II came out, I was disappointed. It would only exist for the Xbox. So now they came out with Fable III and was glad, it would be back to a PC game, but you missed a part of the story if you didn’t own an Xbox.

So Fable III finally came out (6 months after the Xbox release) and yes, I was disappointed. So what’s the plot? You, the Hero, has to flee the castle because his/her evil king/brother is basically, y’know, evil and needs to be overthrown. So you’re gathering allies to overthrow him and then you can become King or Queen. Of course, the game doesn’t stop there. You made countless of promises to your allies and will you keep them or not? The money you will spend on them will make it so that you have not much money to protect your citizens from the Big bad.

The set-up to the game could have been worse, but it’s not just that. The choices after you gain the crown are interesting. Keep your promise or break it? But does it really have bad consequences? Sure, the people will think of you as another tyrant, but they’re free. Or be nice, spend all your money and they’ll die since you didn’t have the funds to protect them.

The quests were…. well horrific. Don’t get me wrong, some quests were great. Such as the Dungeons & Dragons game, or rather RPG within an RPG was great. But others were a waste of time. Looking for gnomes that were insulting my shoes? The relationship quests? Boring.

The humor was funny at times, but it didn’t take it through the entire game. Maybe the humor was in the interaction with the characters, but I didn’t see it. Which brings me to interaction and hand holding. Yes, you read that right, hand holding. Want to experience married life with your spouse, grab her/his hand to the bed. Need to bring in a criminal? Drag him by the hand to the constable. All I needed was a skipping emote and it would be perfect. It was too silly to name at times.

You level up by going to the Road of Rule and there you can open chests. I like that system, it’s a new way of doing your leveling. But as soon as you got the pistol or gun, you really had no need for a sword or magic. Just shoot the bastards, it’s your most powerful weapon. Spells not so much, unless I’m mistaken.

The voice acting was superb. John Cleese as your butler, Simon Pegg, Stephen Fry, Bernard Hill as Sir Walter (somehow I imagined him saying DEAAAAATHHHH, must be my LOTR fascination), Zoë Wanamaker, and many many more. Same with music, absolutely no grievances with that.

One option I haven’t tried out yet and that is co-op. Apparently you can join other players’ worlds and join their quests. You can even date, marry other players, share the loot and houses. It’s a nice bonus, but doesn’t contribute anything to the game or story whatsoever.

If I had to give a score for this game, I would take all these things into account. Also, the times I want to replay the game or even finish would be added. I felt little to no connection to the characters and whatever moral choice I did before I took the crown, it was all undone in a few decisions anyway.

I rate this 6/10 in the end, and even then I find this a high score.