I tend to have somewhat mixed feelings about the Fable franchise. As a PC gamer I’ve only been able to properly play the first and third instalments, and both of these have given me moments of elation and exasperation.
Fable III came out for the PC in May 2011, almost a year after it did on the Xbox 360. Set fifty years after the events of the previous game, you are the prince/ss of Albion, your father having left your kingdom in the questionable hands of your older brother Logan following his death. When the game begins he is shown to be an outright tyrant, cold-bloodedly ordering protestors (and/or even your childhood sweetheart) killed and generally behaving in a manner befitting an antagonist. However, as the story progresses it turns that he was only acting out of necessity; his seemingly cruel decisions were made in order to ultimately save the kingdom from a far larger threat (and let’s face it: having to make such difficult decisions in order to protect your people from that would change anyone for the worse).
Like all Fable games, Fable III did some things well and some things not so well. The PC version (which is, of course, the version I played) has pretty poorly optimised controls, and while they’re not too bad overall having hold down the confirm button for every little decision can get a tad annoying. Additionally missions can get a little repetitive (especially if you plan on cultivating relationships with anyone), and I’ve been glitched into a corner by irregularly respawning mobs – and subsequently had no choice but to let them kill me – more than once.
The real brick wall moment of Fable III (although, as I hope to suggest, this is not necessarily a bad thing), however, is when you depose Logan and have to face up to the cold hard reality of ruling a kingdom in danger. You have a series of increasingly difficult decisions to make, and always choosing in favour of your citizens’ immediate wellbeing, while making them happy, could spell their doom in the long term. The latter also puts you seriously out of pocket, and with in-game time passing irregularly it can be quite tricky to rustle up the required funds unless you’re willing to indulge in some serious lute playing/pie baking/blacksmithing (not that there’s that much difference between all the job mini games). However, maybe pushing such a complex series of moral choices on a player – and thus forcing them to think long and hard about them – is, from both a narrative and a roleplaying perspective, a good thing.
That said, I did enjoy Fable III for the most part, so perhaps it’s fair to say that all the little niggles were eclipsed by the experience as a whole. Let’s hope that upcoming threequel Gears of War 3 will be the same.
January 13, 2012
