Fable 3 | Xbox 360 Review.

 

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Lionhead Studios
Xbox 360 Review

When I first got my Xbox 360 I wasn't sure what to play and downloaded/bought a number of games one of which was Fable 3, people kept telling me it was rubbish and not worth playing but I really enjoyed the game as a whole, I ended up getting it back when it was free on Xbox Gold this was back in 2013 I think. I had never played any of the other Fable games so I started Fable 3 with no expectations, people did tell me to play the others first but I wanted to crack on and play something new (new to me that is). Fable 3 came out back in 2010 so I was very behind with the franchise but excited to get through the story especially when I found out that I could choose from a male or female protagonist, me being me went for the female as I wanted a woman to save Albion.

Fable 3, from what I know takes place 50 years after Fable 2 which is a big reason why I should have played the previous games, you play as a prince or princess whose older brother takes over the throne when your father dies. Logan (the elder brother who is now king) has changed since taking the throne, he has turned into someone his family no longer recognise and rumours have started about him one of which was that Logan had one of his people executed, even though this is only a reason people started to protest and your character decided to investigate what really happened. Logan being the cruel man he now gives his sibling a choice he can either have the protesters executed or the players love interest, I actually can't remember what I chose but I do remember fleeing my brother.

As I got into the game I realised how laggy and glitchy it could be but it didn't ruin the story for me, I liked that there were important choices which I had to make and they came with consequences, such as fixing the shelter or turning it into a brothel, I chose brothel due to the fact that it seemed like a far better and much more fun option and yes you can have sex in this game and catch STI's which is one of the most realistic things about the game. My character has a number of children that she adopted who live in a different home to her as I wasn't allowed to take them back to the castle with me, my legitimate child lives with me in the castle but most of the time I ignore her as she follows me around like a lost little lamb. the game has a sparky guideline which you follow to know where you're heading so it quite literally guides you throughout the whole game so you don't get lost along the way once you track the quest you're on.

Your character has a dog which stays by her side through the game, you can keep it as a collie or change it into a clockwork dog which isn't the best looking thing you could pick for a dog, Bowerstone Castle is where you originally escaped from but rule over once you manage to stop your brother, once executed you learn about the bigger threat to Albion, the darkness it's going to take hold of your kingdom within a year and it's your job to stop it, the darkness takes hold of your mentor and in order to stop it you have to kill him a choice which was hard to make. The fact you can make choices as King/Queen in this game made me want to carry on playing it, I felt a lot like I had free will to be good or a little evil towards my people.

I enjoy exploring the map and finding different types of enemies to fight against, the controls are pretty easy to use, I'm a big fan f the Xbox 360 controller I love the button placement and find it much more comfortable than a PS3/4 controller it's a big reason I got the 360 in the first place. The era in which the game takes place is described as the industrial era set in the eighteenth century, the outfits and weapons they used are pretty cool, I chose The Bloodstone Bludgeon as my main weapon of choice as it does 83 damage and it's my favourite one to use. Along with weapons you can use magical gauntlets which allow you to fire spells from your hands there are 4 to collect; Fireball, Shock, Ice Storm and Force push, they kind of remind me of Bioshock.

There is a room just for all your money and treasure you collect throughout the game, it's the most over top room I've ever seen but makes you feel very rich, you can transfer money which you collect whilst out and about to the treasury by bookkeeping and it shows you all the transactions you have made throughout the game, the room also shows you all the achievements you have collected and still have to collect to make it easier to check so you don't have to go into the main menu and look. To access the rooms to customise your character and check your money you just have to press the start button, it brings up the map which you can use to prompt the quest list or fast travel. In order to make more money in this game you can buy and rent out houses but as the landlord it's your job to repair them and keep the tenants happy, I bought everything on the map that I could pretty quickly once I finished the story and paying for the repairs was fairly easy with the amount of money I had collected. Keeping the tenants happy leaves a lasting impression on what they think of you and it will up their likeless if you carry on being polite and understanding towards them, they even give you gifts!

I was so surprised to learn that the voice actors were actors I knew in this game, Logan was voiced by Michael Fassbender, Jasper the butler is John Cleese, Stephen Fry is a villain named Reaver and there are many more names which may surprise you such as Simon Pegg, Ben Kingsley and Nicholas Hoult! I liked Fable 3 as a whole because I've not played the previous 2 I have nothing else to compare it to though, the story as kind of short but I enjoyed the gameplay and like that it's packed full of side quests to keep you busy once the story is finished, the graphics aren't the best but I don't see that as a problem, in all honesty, the storyline is easy to follow so I give this game 4/5 stars.