Fable 3 Xbox Review

Fable 3 is a definite improvement on Fable 2. If you played Fable 2, you begin as your previous character's child, hoping to start a revolution to free Albion from the tyrannical reign of your not-so-kind brother. You begin with your dog and a few trusted friends. In addition to the new helpers, you'll also find Garth and Teresa from Fable 2.

Controls and Inventory

As someone who prefers RPGs (role-playing games) to first-person shooters, I can't stand games that involve complex camera controls and difficulty in reaching inventory items and weapons. While Fable 2 was relatively easy in this regard compared to other games, Fable 3 simplified it further by making everything visual. To change weapons or clothing, you can go to your sanctuary at almost any time.

During a fight, you have to worry about half as many buttons as you did in Fable 2. This allows me to concentrate on Fable 3's story and combat rather than the moves I'm making during a fight.

There, you can check on stats (belonging to you and your dog), give or receive gifts from other players, activate bonus items and travel instantly to any unlocked area on a map.

Aesthetic

Fable 3 has moved from a medieval town environment to a steampunk industrial aesthetic. The beginning of the game includes gears, monorails, top hats and more, while some of the clothing remains closer to what we'd recognize as colonial. The starting female also has a much larger bosom, and it heaves-which is a bit distracting when you're playing a female and you want to look at another NPC such as your dog.

Some of the characters' hands also look very large in comparison to their bodies. When playing a male, the first female NPC you meet has extremely large man-hands. It's another distraction that should be fixed.

It's difficult getting used to the steampunk environment because it looks like the industrial era was ushered in too soon. The game designers do an excellent job of it, however, thoroughly utilizing an industrial workers' rights platform to justify a revolution against your jerky brother.

RP Quests

Many of the quests include roleplay-centric actions, such as donning an outfit of the different gender or sorting out mysteries for ghosts. These are things I enjoyed about Fable 2 and I'm glad to see they've made it into Fable 3.

Two-Player Modes

The Fable games are highly social and interactive, and many players were frustrated with the lack of truly social actions in Fable 2. While it was easy to interact with villagers, interactions with other players real-time were incredibly limited. The developers fixed this completely in Fable 3, offering two types of co-op modes.

The couch co-op allows two Xbox Live players to interact on an adventure. The players must follow one player's storyline. They may enter a business partnership to split experience and gold, and treasure finds produce more to compensate for the second player. The side character can pick up a great deal of money and experience in this type of setting, though the story-based achievements are withheld until the player experiences his or her own story. While couch mode is limiting, it's a great way to introduce a new gamer to the Xbox Live system.

The two-player mode (two players interacting on separate consoles) allows for more interaction. Each player is in his or her own tale, but one can assist the other. Both modes allow for actions like hugging, kissing and marriage.

Mature Rating

Fable 3 has a mature rating because the characters can have sex. There's also slight profanity and violence in the game. While I have not played through the entire game and no one can predict the social advances of other players, a teen or mature pre-teen could play through this game in couch mode with an adult to avoid most of the lewd commentary and sexual situations.

Downloadable Content (DLC)

Much of the DLC is available with purchase of the game. Even though you input your codes and download the items, they do not become available until they are unlocked in the game. Do not re-purchase or re-download the DLC-you already have it, it just takes time to unlock it.

DLC includes a Boxer dog, tattoos, weapons and highlander outfits.

I highly recommend Fable 3, especially if you like games like "Sims 3" and "Dungeons and Dragons." It's like a choose-your-own-adventure novel for adults.