Fable III has you take on the throne to become the ruler of Albion.
Fable 3 is a game I can honestly say I did not follow until September at most. I had never even tried the other Fable games so buying late into the series is quite a difficult case to judge against the other two titles. I did pick up a copy of Fable 2 and played through it before I picked up this one. And let me put it this way, I have not been so addicted to a game in a long time. Fable 3 is one of those games that you pick up and do not want to put down. I have had to force myself numerous times to put down the controller. Why? Because the game is just so much fun.
The game has you start either as a prince or princess. From there it shows your life as royalty; you have never walked outside of the castle. You don't know of the desperate situation that the people in Albion face. All you know is the comfort and tranquility of the peaceful halls of the castle.
That changes. Suddenly a crowd of peasants come to the castle and demand to speak to Logan, you brother, the King of Albion. His cruelty has driven the people to a state of frenzy. And it is here that you realize his true intentions. It suddenly comes down to a choice. Do you save your best friend whom you have known for so long? Or do you take the lives of the peasants to keep him/her alive? It's from here that you are whisked away into the game.
As far as it goes, the game is gorgeous. The amount of detail and colour that pops out at you is very pretty and very lovely to look at. Simply walking through the countryside is an adventure itself as you can find new and hidden places. The map itself is just as big if not bigger than the size of Fable 2.
Gameplay is really great if you like a more simplified version of Fable's combat system. The casting of spells is used by a gauntlet that is placed on your hand and with it you can summon ice, fire, and even a vortex to destroy your enemies. It's quite impressive and definitely easier than having to switch between spells like in 2. The sword fighting is really great; holding down the X button allows the hero to charge up the attack and perform a devastating blow to the enemy. Often it's slowed down to give it a full effect which is quite awesome. The ranged weapons are great too, shooting an enemy with a pistol or rifle is quite awesome. Holding down the left trigger allows you to scope in as well, making it a bit friendlier in terms of aiming. While GameSpot criticized the game for being too easy, and in a sense it is, the gameplay is still a lot of fun and definitely is a highlight of the game.
While Fable 3 is quite exceptional in terms of gameplay and visuals, the interaction with NPC characters has been dumbed down a lot. Instead of being able to select many different options on the screen for interaction, you are only allowed to choose the options that hover around when you talk to NPCs. It's still fun but it has lost a lot of the joy that the game originally had. Instead of being able to impress large scores of people at once, you are only able to impress one NPC character at a time. It allows for a more intimate type of relationship, but also is a lot more difficult to make friends as it consumes a lot more time. Holding hands with the person is another new feature. Instead of simply telling the NPC to follow, you can hold his/her hand and take them wherever you want to go, even to bed. Levelling up your friendship status with NPCs takes a lot more time. Once you have reached a limit on the Neutral barrier, they will ask you to do a request, usually a delivery, to seal their friendship. Once you upgrade the status bar to full on Friendship, he/she will ask you to take them out on a date. It's there that you can kiss, hug, or dance with the NPC and build up your Love status. Of course you can marry characters and have children along with many other features to the game.
A massive downfall to the game is the frame rate. While travelling through either villages or the countryside, the game can sometimes move slow as it loads the pixels of the surrounding environment. It happens every so often but it can be quite annoying after awhile. The menu system has been changed to a sort of in game sanctuary and in honesty, it loads twice as fast which is nice. Another nice feature of the game is the fact that you can eventually rule Albion as King or Queen. From there you can choose whether you would like to become a greedy and malicious ruler or defend those who have lost everything. A nice touch to the game as it makes one feel superior.
All in all Fable 3 is an excellent game and in honesty it is deserving of a higher mark than GameSpot gave it. Yes the gameplay is completely dumbed down and there is not as much interaction with NPC characters. But the game is still just as addicting to play. Gorgeous visuals and awesome fighting sequences make it an experience you shouldn't miss out on.