Fable III - Video Game Voiceover

http://segmentnext.com/2010/10/22/fable-iii-guide-to-characters/

Fable returns with another adventure in which players will witness tyranny, poverty and injustice plague their land. They will have to stand up for a change, lead a revolution for a change, for peace. The game will force you to choose a side, how far you can go for the crown of Albion.

You will play as a child of your hero in Fable II. There are lot of characters that will be featured from the previous Fable games, and there are also new characters that you will meet in your adventure. Following is the breakdown of few famous characters that will be featured from previous games, and few that are new to series.

Fable III Characters Guide
Theresa
The character is acted by Zoe Wanamaker. Theresa had no idea of her powers as she had spent a quiet life in her childhood in Oakvale. She was the daughter of Brom and Scarlet Robe. The only clue she had of her powers were the strange dreams she used to have from time to time.

When Oakvale was raided she was captured by the Jack of Blades. Tortured, Her eyes were cut out. She was thrown in the middle of a forest to die a miserable death. Twinblade, a bandit leader eventually found her and after that she was raised by him and his bandits. Twinblade himself had a lot of knowledge so he discovered the powers, Theresa was capable of.

He made her the 2IC of his bandit. She slowly discovered her powers and could kill anyone who stood in her opposition. In Fable III’s trailer we see her lower portion of the robe standing next to a crown and saying “A child on who the fate of Albion will depend one day, as will the fate of Aurora” .

Stephen Fry – Reaver
The Famous Albion marksman is a ex-pirate. He has the power of eternal youth, which he got from the Shadow Court. He is blessed with skills and known for capturing a ship by shooting its captain from a great distance. One hell of a selfish man, betrays the Hero twice.

He is not patient at all, and self loving person. He doesn’t like anything bad against his appearance and has killed a painter for making his self-painting wrong.

In Fable III the trailers have shown that he is still in search of fortune, for that he is thinking of destroying a little of Albion area and establish his factories.</p>

John Cleese – Jasper
A butler who works for a Royal Family in the latest installment of Fable. He is under the power of King Logan and works for him but sooner he will Join the player’s side and become his loyal ally. He will be helping the player on his wardrobe.

Michael Fassbender – Logan

Logan is the King of Albion. He takes over the power from his father/mother’s death. He appeared to the people of Albion as he has took over for his own means. He has no intention of a better state.

Nicholas Hoult – Elliot

If the hero is a female character then Elliot will be her childhood friend who will help her in many ways. Although according to some resources it is said that the player will have a choice in the game to sacrifice him for somebody else.

Barry Hatch – Jonathan Ross
There is not much information about him on what role he is having on. But it is expected that he’ll work for a industry as the screenshot of him shows that he is wearing the shirt of Reaver Industries.

Bernard Hill – Sir Walter Beck
He is Player’s mentor. The player will be taught everything by him. The combat skills and the hard decisions to make. He is a confirmed character of the game. It is also estimated that he will die in the story as there is a track in Fable 3 named “Death of Walter”.

Simon Pegg – Ben Finn
He is the soldier of Major Swift and ally to the character. Few words by Pegg for him “man who wants to do the right thing but is constantly sucked back into criminality”.

Sir Ben Kingsley – Sabine
Sabine – The King of Mist Peak is a new character to the Fable series. In the trailer he is shown with some other people including a bald lady, Major Swift and Jasper.

Captain Saker
He is also a new character in the game, a captain who is a leader of a group of mercenaries.

Fable III will be released on October 26, 2010 in the North America and October 29, 2010 in the Europe. It is expected to be released in March, 2011 for PC, late but hey, atleast we are getting it.

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2010/10/fable-iii-first-impressions/

GeekDad Parents, Kids and the Stuff We Obsess About

Fable III First Impressions

* By Paul Govan Email Author
* October 26, 2010 |
* 12:01 am |

I’ve already written a thing or two about Fable III from a family perspective, but having played the full game the last few days I wanted to share my thoughts for the family gamer. Not just those of us used to playing games like this, but how our partners, parents and in-laws may fair should they take up Peter Moylneux’s latest invitation to casual gamers to visit Albion for themselves.

The thing to realize is that this still very much looks and plays like a hardcore videogame – to my eyes anyway. But for those gaming mums and dads that persevere for more than a few hours, beneath that veneer is a much more interesting experience with as much to say about life as any book, film or play.

It’s when players discover that world for themselves that things really click. Fable III still only provides a limited number of ways into the game, but a slicker interface and less fussing with role play mathematics makes this the most likely game in the series to be picked up by family gamers I know.

Here’s my thoughts so far on the Fable III experience:

Fable III addresses all walks of life and dodges no bullets. Once you’ve got through the opening hours it’s a place that’s hard to stay away from. But I wonder how many casual gamers will make it that far and get to the good stuff.

Fable III takes the previous game’s successes and looks to broaden them into a tale about human relationships and commitments. In doing so Lionhead have pulled in many Hollywood glitterati to voice their characters – Michael Fassbender, Ben Kingsley, Zoë Wanamaker, Bernard Hill, John Cleese, Simon Pegg, and Stephen Fry all add their dulcet tones and knowing winks to the fabric of the game.

It’s a move to further ingratiate the Fable experience to a wider audience, drawing in curious onlookers as well as friends and families placed in front of the game by excited enthusiasts.

It feels similar to Halo’s adoption of worthy TV shorts that addressed the bloody issues of war and the traumatic after effects. It undoubtedly adds weight and gravitas to how Fable III is perceived, but for me it muddies the water of what is an engaging experience in its own right.

Fable III is a tale that leads the player on a dance through themes of taxation, monarchy, politics and rebellion – each laced with personal concerns and commitments. What becomes quickly evident is that this is a journey to ruling rather than winning.

On the surface things proceed along traditional videogame lines and because of this you make quick decisions as you go. But underneath the workings of this action adventure ticks another engine, silently noting each decision, each commitment and each action you take.

Fable III has the same undercurrent of consequence as the previous game, only now it has created a setting to play them out at large. The first portion of the game can seem slow going, and is a substantial ask of any player – never mind the casual first-timer. But this road to kingship is merely the setup for the game proper.

It’s only once you get to reign that the full extent of your decisions really start to hit home. Like Fable II, your moral and ethical actions are depicted through your appearance – but now you feel the burn of commitments made, or betrayals too easily forgotten as they come back to haunt you.

For players coming from Fable II, the familiarity of the world of Albion only adds to the ease with which they initially move through it. At first it seems that not much has changed but side by side they would see that Fable III offers a cleaner sharper rendition of the fantasy than before.

As well as visual improvements, the place is more alive with humanity. From your doggy companion to the characters you meet everyone is an individual. Returning on a quest from another land, I instantly recognized the recipient from just the way they walked. Running through villages, you start to pick out particular individuals as much from their movements and expressions as the clothes they are wearing or icons above their heads.

The interface as a whole is also less in your face. Any stats and readouts tuck themselves away until needed, and the whole menu system has been replaced by a central Sanctuary where players enter rooms rather than pick items on lists. This works as much for the speed with which it pops up as for the more intuitive interactions it offers.

As the gamey-ness of the experience recedes what you are left with is a world you want to spend time in. That was true of the previous game too, but here you are aware that greater care is needed in the choices you make – the connection between decisions and consequences is now part of the fabric of the place.

For me this was a double edged sword though. The rich world, engaging interactions and all star cast made it feel frustrating to be so hamstrung in the opening hours. I know I should be used to this as a gamer, but I had hoped for more brevity in Fable III when in fact I found game play dragging its feet as I strained to get to the good stuff.

For all their dressing it up for casual players, this is still very much a hardcore videogame and I couldn’t imagine many non-gamer grownups I know really get past the opening hours. At the same time though, any that do invest themselves even a little in Albion will find an experience as surprising as any film or book.

Lionhead still has a trump card to play though in the shape of their enhanced co-operative game play. Rather than simply taking someone along for a ride as in Fable II, players can now genuinely adventure side by side – earning experience, interacting with locals and completing missions. Co-op team mates can share quests where the loot is split two ways, or even get married with full cinematic weddings, and share bank accounts with each other.

This experience enables friends and family to try the game for themselves without the daunting task of sitting in front of the console alone. For those that try this it will eradicate many of the barriers to entry and incentivize their own adventure.

I’ve still a whole lot more of Fable III to get through, and in some ways feel like I’ve only just scratched the surface. But this is perhaps the genius of the game – there is simply so much to do.

While the best bits are likely only to be fully appreciated by the more committed gamers of this world, there are enough roads into the experience now for many more people to sample its delights.

I’ve so far managed to resist my Fable III pursuits falling into the spreadsheet like game play – I admittedly enjoyed – of the previous game. But I still can’t quite escape the glee at the heart of all this fun that is an ambitiously realized world that lives and breathes even when you aren’t there. And this, more than Hollywood stars, improved visuals or action sequences, is what I keep coming back for.

Wired: Proper co-op and action sequences.

Tired: Takes time to get to the real goods.

Fable III on Xbox 360 ($54.89 Amazon)/#ixzz13R7hbrhA

http://www.torontosun.com/tech/games/2010/10/28/15862286.html

Friday, October 29, 2010

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Fable III tells a good story

By Chris Vandergaag, Special to QMI Agency

Last Updated: October 28, 2010 11:07am

Don't forget to stop and loot the corpses, while traversing the gamescape with Side Mission Chris.

Fable III (Oct. 26; Xbox 360; Microsoft Game Studios; rated mature) has all the basic trappings of fantasy/roleplaying games. You collect gold, unlock abilities, raise your level, help strangers, free kingdoms from the shackles of tyranny. Are you worn-out on dungeons, magic and swordplay? Too bad; Fable has them in spades. But it’s also brimming with personality and has a unique charm that sets it apart from other fantasy RPGs.

Set at the dawn of the industrial revolution—think factories and muskets, in addition to swords and sorcery—the game features an incredible cinematic introduction sequence which I don’t want to spoil here—but I will say that it made me feel real human empathy for a computer-generated chicken. This sequence perfectly sets the tone for Fable III, a game that deals with the tragic, the suspenseful, the political and the magical, as well as being pretty darn funny.

Don’t get me wrong—it’s not Shakespeare. But the intro, especially, does a nice job of setting a mood quickly, and inspiring confidence that you’ll enjoy the ride.

You play a prince, leading an uprising against your brother, the evil king, who looks an awful lot like Harry Flynn from Uncharted 2. And look at that; British actor Michael Fassbender provided voice work (and presumably mo-cap) for both characters.

Given its release hot on the heels of another big-ticket RPG, Fallout: New Vegas, the drawing of parallels was inevitable, in reviewing Fable III. And fair enough; both games are likely on the radar screens of the same gamers right about now. So, a couple of quick comparisons:

Fable III is by far, the nicer-looking of the two games. There’s a warmth to its visual style, an aliveness which makes gameplay an uplifting experience; I haven’t used the word ‘uplifting’ in a game review since Super Mario Galaxy 2, for what it’s worth.

Yes, Fallout features inspiring art direction, particularly in its recreation of alternate-reality 1950s Vegas, but it’s anything but warm.

Where Fallout is an open-world thoroughbred, Fable III is a mixed breed; while it allows some freedom of exploration, it generally prescribes exactly what needs to be done next – there’s even a glittery trail of light to guide you there, at all times. Fable II felt more wide-open; the franchise has taken a deliberate turn towards “scripted experience.”

Sure, you’re free to stop and play “Lute Hero” for extra gold, or pad your chicken-kicking statistics. Usually, though, you’ve got just one quest line to follow, and you’re pretty much bound by the narrative. Not to say this is not a bad thing; to a greater extent, though, Fable III is an RPG that wants to be played in a linear fashion.

It’s also incredibly funny. Fallout is known for satirical riffing on the prevalent cultural attitudes of Americans during the early Atomic Age, and is packed with those nuggets of dark humour you might expect to find in dystopian fiction, but Fable features a completely different comedic approach, more on the surface. It’s no less hilarious, though. Sometimes crude, sometimes obscure, other times decidedly British, its writers have woven jokes into nearly every interaction, and they hit the mark more than they miss.

Incidentally, Fable III is also heavy on top-tier talent; its voice cast includes names like Ben Kingsley, Stephen Fry and John Cleese.

In a sequence early on, your butler Jasper, voiced by Cleese, provides running commentary as you explore your surroundings.

I walked past my dog (by the way your canine companion is endearing, as well as useful, leading you to buried treasures, and helping you fight baddies) and Jasper said, completely deadpan:

“Man’s best friend, they say; I was never quite sure whether they meant after all human friends were considered, or before.”

And if you have any remaining questions regarding how seriously the game takes itself, consider this: playing the entire game in a chicken outfit is an option.

More scripted and streamlined than previous Fable games, and more linear than Fallout New Vegas, October’s other big RPG, Fable III holds the player’s hand a little more than I would have liked. But it transcends this shortcoming and still provides, at the end of the day, a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

8.5 out of 10

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/oct/29/fable-3-star-cast

Fable 3's star cast shine in game's latest instalment

New game in award-winning series features voice actors including John Cleese, Stephen Fry and Simon Pegg

* Naomi Alderman
* guardian.co.uk, Friday 29 October 2010 19.02 BST

Fable 3 screenshot Fable 3 contains an all-star cast including John Cleese, Simon Pegg and Stephen Fry. Photograph: AP/Microsoft

If a movie had been released today with an all-star British cast – John Cleese, Ben Kingsley, Stephen Fry, Simon Pegg, Skins star Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Wanamaker and even a cameo from Jonathan Ross – if it were the third in a money-spinning, Bafta-winning series, if it were being heralded as a triumph by most reviewers, one might expect it to be the lead story in most review pages and arts programmes.

Fable III is funny and engaging and is sure to turn a healthy profit for its British creators Lionhead Studios. But it isn't a movie, it's a game, and even though gaming is now financially the biggest entertainment industry in the world, it still isn't really on the cultural map.

Lionhead CEO Peter Molyneux may hope to change that with the stellar cast – movie stars have been lending their voices to games for a while, but the Fable III lineup is particularly impressive. Of course, in artistic terms, the question is whether, having employed this star cast, the game gives them dialogue which uses their skills. While game graphics and music have progressed in leaps and bounds – there's even an Ivor Novello award for game soundtracks these days – writing tends to be rather neglected, with writers brought in after the important game decisions have been made to "wrap a story round it".

There's some evidence of this in Fable III. Having employed Cleese and Wanamaker, they're used to voice what are effectively menus, with dialogue such as: "You've amassed enough money to buy a house. Houses are excellent investments." It's to Cleese's credit that he managed to make that line sound passably interesting, but I wish he and some of the others had been used more imaginatively. And unlike a movie, games don't tend to put all their star power in the first few minutes: it's a good few hours' gameplay before you get to Fry or Ross.

Much of the casting is good – Michael Fassbender brings a steely realism to what might have been an over-the-top evil ruler Logan, while Naomie Harris's rebel leader Page is measured and believable and games-voicing veteran Sean Pertwee delivers a superb performance as a mercenary soldier.

The game is occasionally puzzling – why, in an industrial-era game, does the hero spend the first section wearing furs and carrying a hammer or sword? – but it hangs together in a good-humoured and often charming way. It reminded me most of 1987 classic The Princess Bride – often nonsensical, but sometimes laugh-out-loud funny.

And of course, games aren't movies. Fable III might not make The Review Show, but given the enormous sales of the previous episode, Molyneux is unlikely to mourn that too deeply.

Naomi Alderman is the Guardian's games columnist and the author of Disobedience and The Lessons

http://www.t3.com/news/fable-iii-bugs-prompt-lionhead-to-set-up-a-reporting-page?=50551

Fable III bugs prompt Lionhead to set up a reporting page

Posted by Devina Divecha on Wed 3 Nov 2010

Don't fret if you get a corrupted save game. Start a new one. And report it to Lionhead.

Fable III's Lionhead has set up a bug reporting page if any users are encountering problems with the popular role-playing game.

On Lionhead's blog, they've acknowledged that some people are facing technical issues. The blog says: "That's bound to happen of course with a game the size of Fable, our poor testers worked flat out but if something slips through the nets, then don't panic!"
Related links

* Fable III review
* Fable III Kingmaker app to launch for iPhone and Android
* Xbox Kinect vs PlayStation Move
* Xbox 360 Slim review with video


If you indeed are facing any kind of technical glitch, Lionhead has made it easier with the reporting page. All you need to do is describe your issue, type of Xbox console you're using and other details they need to help with the problem.

The blog indicates that the page is being monitored on a daily basis and the testing and development teams are working towards releasing a patch in their next update.

However, there's no clear date on when the next update will be. The blog says, "There is no ETA on this, seeing as the process of game development is a slow, long and lonely one, so please bear with us. I hope to be able to update you in the near future."

Till then, all you can do, the blog says, is to start a new game if you come up against a corrupt save game.

Fable III is a RPG released for the Xbox 360 in October 2010. Voice talents in the game include Michael Fassbender, Stephen Fry and Simon Pegg. Fable III is set decades after the scenario in Fable II in the continent of Albion, where the player, through a series of events, leads a revolution to rule the lands. The game topped the UK gaming chart in its initial weekend.


What are your thoughts on Fable III? Pop over to our Twitter and Facebook feeds and tell us. Keep tuned in for regular updates in gaming and the tech world.


Source: Lionhead

http://www.gaminglives.com/2010/11/03/fable-3-review/

Fable 3 – Review
Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010
by Mark S


Title Fable 3
Developer Lionhead Studios
Publisher Microsoft Game Studios
Platform Xbox 360, Windows PC (tbc)
Genre Action RPG, Sandbox, Life Simulation
Release Date October 29, 2010

And so our story begins… again. It’s been two years since Lionhead Studios released the acclaimed action RPG Fable II, and the franchise has cemented Lionhead as one of the UK’s best known development companies and this success is continued with Fable III.

Fable III is set fifty years after the adventures of Fable II, with the player taking on the role of the son or daughter of the former king of Albion and hero of Bowerstone. You are the prince or princess and your older brother Logan, voiced by Michael Fassbender, the current king. Unfortunately for the people of Albion your brother is a bit of a git, a tyrannical ruler so the kingdom is in disrepair, and its people oppressed. You must lead the revolt; its time for a change and for the good of Albion you must take the throne and so the player and Sir Walter Beck, voiced by the fantastic Bernard Hill set off on an adventure to discover the powers of a hero and gather allies in the war against Logan.

This is a game of two halves and, as Lionhead have mentioned, the first half involves you gathering allies to support your revolt. In doing so, you will travel across Albion, fight for the people and learn more about your father and the inherited hero abilities you have while the second half involves ruling Albion in any way you see fit. You have to protect the kingdom but to do so will require sacrifice, a sacrifice from you as the player or from your people which could lead you down the dark path to being the tyrant your brother was.

Fable has always been about the player’s moral choices, however with Fable III the number of choices feels like it has been cut back. This is perhaps due to the way the story works, after all a revolt against a tyrannical king should be a righteous quest and so naturally your choices are usually on the side of good. Leading the revolt, I found my choices were positive; it felt right when looking at my progression that a prince trying to take down his evil brother should be good. However, when in power, you start to see why Logan is so evil. You are told that Albion needs protection and the easiest way to do that is to make the morally darker choice.

The storyline can seem very linear at times; while you are given the freedom to explore from very early on in the game, side quests don’t become available until you complete stages of the main story quests. On my first play through I wanted to be king and I rushed through the game, missing side missions. I remember promises from Molyneux of ruling Albion, deciding to order troops to areas to quell rebellions or defend against invading armies and, sadly, a lot of that is missing from the second half of the game. Instead, the second half involves two quests and a lot of sitting on the throne listening to people speak and then pressing a button. Unfortunately the best part of the games story arc is the revolt, and being the king is just boring.





However, Fable III does make up for the short story line with a number of very well produced and also incredibly funny side quests. For example, and I’ll give you a spoiler warning here, a side mission called “The Game” which involves playing a nice role playing tabletop game with some powerful but incredibly geeky mages and, this being Fable, there is a little twist in that you are the model in this game, shrunk down and placed on the table and asked to save the cardboard cut out princess.

Little gems like this are scattered through out Fable III and it’s just a shame that if you don’t want to, you really don’t have to go looking for them. If you happen to get the game, make sure you do the side missions and you won’t be disappointed.

The cast of Fable III, as with the previous game, is impressive. As mentioned before, Lionhead is one of the best known development companies in the UK and with that comes a list of stars from TV and film that look to get involved in their major projects and this time around is no different. Joining Bernard Hill and Michael Fassbender is an all star cast – Zoë Wanamaker returns as Theresa alongside greats such as Sir Ben Kingsley, Simon Pegg, John Cleese and Stephen Fry. The big names bring an extra dimension to the overall delivery of the story with Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross both play a particularly evil part in the game I found very funny.

New to the Fable series, is a fully voiced protagonist. Lionhead have said that they felt they’d taken the silent character as far as they could, that to add to the game they would have to voice the character and they have done a reasonable job, although I feel that they have possibly held back. Your character is voiced, but you will find that they rarely say anything. In emotional sections of the story where you have to choose between your childhood sweetheart and the deaths of protesters, the character should say more than just a few sentences. Sadly I think the player character falls flat in this game, not due to the lack of a good voice actor but the writing itself being lacking but hopefully they will improve on this in any further Fable games. Overall, the quality of the sound in Fable III is as you would expect from the developers. The soundtrack is filled with the similar sounding fantasy tracks as the previous game, combat sounds are sharp and the voice over work from the villagers is varied and often very funny.

Lionhead have had two years to improve the visual quality for Fable III and in some aspects they have. In the first ten minutes you walk out into a huge cavern system and the visuals are stunningly detailed. The areas are now vast and richly detailed with various animals running and flying around and little details like the inclusion of rabbits running around do help the player to feel a lot more immersed in the game. The visual effects of all of the spells have been updated and improved, although this is much more apparent when the new spell weaving feature is involved, mixing effects.

There are areas, however, that don’t seem to have been improved. While characters like Walter Beck and Logan are fantastic looking, it feels like little detail was paid to the villagers who populate the areas you visit most so while they are improved over the previous game, as you would expect, there are a number of bugs. During cut scenes, for example, lip syncing seems to be iffy and the villagers faces don’t seem to animate very well at all. I have also noticed a number of missing textures in some of the dungeons, although I’m told by friends that they have not noticed them. There have also been, and again this may just be me, a few cases where the fame rate drops and it feels like you are running through treacle.

While the issues do detract from the overall experience, at least for me who tends to notice everything, I stand by what I’ve said – the visuals in Fable III are impressive and when you step out into Misty Peak for the first time and look down on the world you will be blown away.

Fable III has a number of new features such as the new “improved” menu system. In Fable II the menu system always seemed a little clunky and slow to respond and, in response to this, Lionhead have done away with the classic pause menu system and replaced it with The Sanctuary – a series of rooms comprising the Armoury, the Wardrobe, the Treasury and the LIVE room.





In the central room you find a map table, also a new feature, that shows all of world in beautifully made miniature. This table map allows the player to see the various areas of the world and gives a break down of quests and collectable in each of those areas allowing the player to use this map to fast travel and buy structures, shops and houses, in order to build their financial empire. As an improvement to the previous system I think it really works; it also shows a commitment from the developers, who have clearly listened to the feedback from the previous game and done well to improve.

There are some issues however. If you want to build an empire and amass a fortune, this will involve buying, renting out and repairing the houses and shops throughout Albion and beyond. Strangely there is no way to browse quickly between buildings and there is no “repair all” button, so when you have an area like Brightwall Village and there are twenty buildings, you have to click on each individually to repair them. Sure it sounds like a little issue, but if you are like me and have bought every building in the game, you spend an age repairing stuff.

Combat has also been overhauled, receiving an update and polish with the addition of the finisher system, which seems to replace counter attacks. Sometimes in combat you will do an insta kill and, depending on your weapon, it will start a brilliant little animation. For example when fighting Hobbes, the little gremlin looking creatures, you may kill one by punting them through the air or when using a pistol you throw the pistol in the air, side step the enemy, catch it and shoot them in the face. Combat without the finisher system would start to get a little dull after a while, but when you see one of the finishers I dare you not to smile.

Weapons now evolve as you progress through the game. You are given four base weapons, sword, hammer, pistol and a rifle and these weapons evolve and change shape as you play. If you regularly use a fire spell then the weapon will eventually get a flaming aura; use combat magic often and your weapons will develop a more arcane look, ultimately becoming wooden. It’s a very impressive system and between my two play throughs the weapons looked vastly different based on my combat style and moral standing. My only issue with the system is that I couldn’t manually set how my sword looked.

Finally, as Peter Molyneux has said many times, a key feature in Fable is the player’s interaction with characters in the game and in previous games this was achieved with the emote wheel system that allowed the player to choose from a very large list of actions. In Fable III, however, this system is gone completely and is replaced with a more direct one to one version. Walking up to a villager in the game and pressing A will put you into the emote/action system and a random positive and negative action will float in the screen. To make friends in Fable III you will have to speak to people individually and then complete friend quests. These friend quests, from what I’ve seen, involve two things: going to a spot and digging something up or delivering something to someone. This system adds some side quests to the over all game but they become tedious to the point where I stopped bothering trying to impress villagers. I honestly hated the system in the previous game, where you would end up having everyone in the town love you when you were talking to your wife, but the new system is not an improvement at all. Its simplified and takes a lot of the fun out of what was an interesting feature.

Pros

* A cast of some of the best names in British film and TV.
* Improved combat mechanics and the addition of the finisher system brings an extra level of fun to smashing enemies.
* Weapon evolution creates a unique look and feel to weapons based on what you do in combat and through out the game.
* The menu system is improved and is an innovation in games that I could see being done else where.
* Side missions deliver injections of fun to a main story that is, otherwise, just a little too short.

Cons

* The main storyline is a little one sided. Most of the weight is in revolt half of the game and because of this the game feels very short.
* The lack of the emote wheel really limits interaction in co-op and with characters in game.
* Player character is now voiced, but says hardly anything so adds hardly anything to the story telling.
* Lack of difficulty option, meaning the game can be far to easy.

Summary

Lionhead deliver another excellent edition of Fable. The game may have minor issues, but overall it is an improvement over previous games and that is all you can ask from a sequel. The environmental visuals are stunning and while there are some texture issues, they are minor. The story line is strong, and keeps the player interested through the first half at least. Sadly it does fall down a bit and the King half of the game feels a little tacked on. Lionhead have added innovation with the weapon evolution and improved on previous mistakes with the menu system. Still, overall its a very good game.

If you enjoyed the series and the works of Lionhead, you have probably already bought this game, but if you have never played a Fable game and you want to play a well executed action RPG then you need to get Fable III. Fable III may have its flaws but over all, its well worth the price of admission.

http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/the-effect-of-stars-on-video-games

The effect of stars on video games

Ben East

Last Updated: Nov 7, 2010

The story is a classic fantasy tale of a young, would-be hero on a quest to save the people from a tyrannical king - the twist being the nefarious ruler is his own older brother. It stars the A-list talents of Ben Kingsley, Simon Pegg, Stephen Fry, Zoe Wanamaker and John Cleese. So it would seem rather surprising that last week's big release isn't enjoying the kind of breathless Oscar talk that currently surrounds Mike Leigh's direction in Another Year or Julianne Moore's performance in The Kids Are All Right. But there's a particularly good reason for that. Fable III isn't a film at all. It's a new videogame for the Xbox360.

Of course, actors have been lending their voices to computer games for years. Kiefer Sutherland has featured in the all-conquering Call of Duty series and Samuel L Jackson was a particularly fine piece of casting in the controversial gangster game Grand Theft Auto. But Fable III is different. It raises the bar so high - the list also includes Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult and 28 Days Later's Naomie Harris - that the producers have even found room for amusing cameos from the likes of Jonathan Ross.

But although hearing Cleese's butler character utter the first words in Fable III undeniably brings a smile to the face, the sheer starriness of the "cast" is, in the end, a smokescreen. Apparently, there are more than 47 hours of speech in the game, which immediately suggests that this is an exercise in speaking lines rather than proper acting. One could naturally level that accusation at cartoons and animations too, but Tom Hanks' turn as Woody in Toy Story is full of depth and charisma - and a few visual clues. In Fable III, it's possible to not even realise Kingsley is King Sabine - and that's not just because the lip-synching is terrible. So what was the point in asking him to do it in the first place?

The real reason is clear: Fable III's makers clearly believe Kingsley et al lend their game a much-needed gravitas. I once edited a popular videogame magazine, and it was always amusing how obsessed the industry was with earning its place on the cultural map. There were constant campaigns to have Tomb Raider taken seriously and pored over in the same way an arthouse film might be in broadsheet newspapers. As soon as the figures stacked up, the games companies were boasting that they were driving a bigger industry than movies or music. No one ever seemed to mention the obvious reason: games cost five or six times as much as a trip to the movies.

To this day, the ultimate accolade is to have your game described as "cinematic". But films aren't worried about sounding like music. Books, most of the time, don't want to compete with art. They all exist in their own cultural space, developed over decades and sometimes centuries. And so should video games. There's a very real sense that games producers have become so sophisticated in their aims, they've forgotten to have fun along the way. FIFA 11, for example, is the best looking, and possibly most realistic football game I've ever experienced. It's also for the most part incredibly boring because, like the real professional game, it's very difficult to score.

So, because of their very nature, games will always struggle to have the lasting cultural significance of great literature or cinema. The backstory in Fable III might be adept, but scratch below the surface and it's a game where you have to unlock doors, mix potions, solve puzzles and fight the end-of-level baddies. Nothing wrong with that - it's the immersive, entertaining experience we buy an Xbox, PlayStation or Wii for. It's telling, though, that the films adapted from computer games - Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider - are almost without exception appalling. And that's because games, in the end, are not driven by narrative but by problem solving.

Games, indeed, are games and should remain so. Which is not to say that the developers of Fable III shouldn't be congratulated for their ambition in gathering together such an impressive array of actors to "star" in their game. But until the likes of Martin Scorsese or Leigh somehow harness an Xbox360 to tell a story that works as a game - which, let's face it, is never going to happen - being shown how to use an ancient sword by Cleese is a nice gimmick, but nothing more.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/36350/Side-reveals-Lionhead-commission


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Side reveals Lionhead commission
by Stuart Richardson

UK production services firm reveals contribution to Fable studio work

Side, the London-based production services firm, has announced that it was commissioned by Lionhead to perform all casting, direction and voice recording on the recent Fable III.

Side has said that it recorded over 470,000 words of dialogue over five months for use in the game, working with actors like Sir Ben Kingsley, John Cleese, Stephen Fry, Michael Fassbender, Zoe Wanamaker, Bernard Hill, Simon Pegg and Naomie Harris.

“Fable III was fulfilling, challenging and creative to work on,” said Side lead voice director Kate Saxon.

“I had a dream cast to work with and these lead performances were supported by talented actors who together filled the Fable landscape with vivacity and colour.”

http://www.nwcn.com/news/entertainment/The-Gaming-Guru-review-of-iFable-IIIi-108871099.html

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The Gaming Guru review of Fable III

by TRACY-MARK GORGAS / Special contributor to NWCN.com

NWCN.com

Posted on November 18, 2010 at 2:41 PM

Updated today at 2:41 PM

Today I am reviewing Fable III. Will you be good or evil? Is your faithful dog back? Is the horrible pause menu back? Well let's get to the review.

Story

You are the brother (or sister your choice) to Logan, the King of Albion. The world of Albion is starting to ease into the industrial revolution. Under Logan’s rule things have not been all well; he has been very stern, oppressive and tyrannical. You meet your fiancé one morning in the royal garden. He/she informs you that there is a rumor going around that your brother has had a worker shot for reasons unclear (it’s hinted at later that the worker may have been just helping one of the children that also work in the factories).

You both go into the castle to reassure the royal staff that things are fine (or that they should get to work and ignore the rumors). Your mentor, Sir Walter Beck, arrives and takes you off to weapons training. During most of this he comments on how your brother has changed in the last four years. He also confirms that the rumor of the worker shooting is true.

During this protestors arrive at the castle, protesting the shooting. Walter leaves to try to talk sense into you brother over the matter. Your fiancé arrives and suggests that the both of you eavesdrop on the meeting. Listening in you find out that your brother is not only not listening to Walter, but order that the leaders of the protest be shot and anyone in the crowd that attempts to take their place.

Having heard enough you confront your brother over the matter. Realizing he needs to “teach you a lesson” he has you and your fiancé seized and taken to the throne room. Upon arrival you see that the leaders of the protest are also being held there by the guard. Your brother states that as king, he will not have his order questioned and that those that question him are traitors, such as you. He realizes that you have grown up and that now you should know the kinds of decisions he has to make. The choice he gives you is who shall be executed for treason: your fiancé or the leaders of the protest.

Here I will stop so as to not give away any spoilers. I will briefly give you a quick overview of the rest. You have to gather together the people of Albion to lead a revolution against your brother. After you remove him from power you find out the reasons for his sudden change in rule, reasons which now you, as king, must face and deal with. Will you deal with them the same way your brother did or will you take a different path?

Controls and Gameplay

The controls are pretty much the same as they were for Fable II with the focus being to simplify everything more than what Fable II was. To that end the horrible and sometimes confusing pause menu is gone. In its place is the very ingenious Sanctuary.

The Sanctuary is basically a menu that your character can walk around in. The main room has an interactive map, access to game options (sound levels, brightness, etc.), overview of your stats, overview of your dog’s stats, and gift reception. Off this main room are rooms for weapons, clothing, trophies/achievements/treasure, and online/co-op management. Each room is so much easier to work with than the inventory management system Fable II had.

The interactive map in the main room is very helpful. It allows you to fast travel to various areas see all of your available quests, and purchase homes and businesses and maintain them.

The gameplay is much the same also from Fable II. A third person action/adventure game with RPG elements, but now with some light management simulation elements added. These come in mostly when you have become king with you having to make decisions that affect the kingdom and manage the kingdom’s treasury. Also maintaining all the homes you bought makes for an added layer of money management.

Co-op play got a huge makeover also. Now when you play in co-op mode you are not just some helper character, you are the same hero character you are in your own game complete with all your dog, weapons, and spells. Also the camera is not locked in one position; you can move it around and see things. They have also added the ability to form “corporations” where you share profits from homes and businesses you buy. And as if that wasn’t enough you can in game marry and have kids with your co-op partner.

Graphics and Sound

At first Fable III to me didn’t seem much improved over Fable II; style-wise it’s very much the same. As I played though I started to notice that it is more detailed. It looks very nice, but it does have some problems. Some things pop in long after the area has loaded or certain items will suddenly clear up. Another graphical problem is sudden drops in frame rates which in turn make the game slow down to a crawl. Thankfully those don’t last too long.

The audio for the game is great. The only problem I found is in big crowds where there is just too many people talking at once. Speaking of people talking, the voice cast is very good. They brought in John Cleese, Ben Kingsley, Simon Pegg, Naomie Harris, Bernard Hill, Zoë Wanamaker, Michael Fassbender, and Stephen Fry (who returns as Reaver), just a AAA cast that do their parts well.

Overall

I have enjoyed the Fable series and looked forward to Fable III. Now that I’ve played it, well it’s sort of a mixed message of enjoyment.

First off I do like that they have streamlined a lot of things with the game, especially the pause menu. The Sanctuary is such a great solution, it makes it part of the game. That said, I do wish there was a way of choosing which food is offered in combat on the quick menu. I know I’m carrying something better than a blueberry pie, but I can’t get at it. Another thing I miss is the interaction wheel from Fable II. In Fable III when you interact with people you get three choices, one nice, one mean, and one in the middle. The problem is I know there are more than two nice interactions, but all I ever see is “dance” or “pat-a-cake” which becomes old pretty quick.

The home management system, while bringing a bit of realism to the game also becomes a bit of a pain in the neck after a while. If you don’t keep repairs up on homes they will eventually go to “0%” quality and then you do not collect any rent from them. The problem is when you own a lot of homes it take a bit of time to go to each one (even in the interactive map) and fix each one up. It kind of takes you and the fun out of the game.

Fable III does excel at exploration and adventure. There are all sorts of nooks and crannies to explore and the game helps encourage this with various items you need to find that are scattered across the world such as keys, books and gnomes. The combat in the game follows what was built on in Fable II, one button push for each of the three types (melee, ranged, and spell casting) and flourishes. When you level up the enemies sort of level up with you which keeps them challenging and not just something you can mow over after a certain point.

As much as I love Fable III the biggest problem is the bugs and glitches. Besides the previously mentioned pop-in and frame rate problems I’ve had the game freeze while accessing the interactive map, one quest has become unusable, and the biggest, the silent Jasper bug. John Cleese is the voice of Jasper, your personal butler/assistant. When I started the game everything was fine and Jasper was talkative, he had great lines and great humor, but at some point he fell silent. This is a huge disappointment as I’m sure I missing some great lines. I can’t even select him for help anymore in my Sanctuary; he just stands there with a blank expression, silent.

I really do hope Lionhead Studios, the developers, get these bugs fixed, especially the silent Jasper bug. As a fan of John Cleese I want to hear his work he did for the game, which I’m sure, cost Lionhead a pretty penny to have him in the game.

Despite the bugs I am still enjoying Fable III, as such though it does take a hit in the scoring, getting 3 out of 5. Once the bugs are fixed, that score could go up, but for now it’s just terrible for a game that has such a good following.

Fable III is rated M for Mature for Blood, Language, Sexual Content, Use of Alcohol, Violence. It is available now exclusively for the Xbox 360.

http://www.geeks.co.uk/29104-fable-3-story-begins

Fable 3: And so our story begins
It's like you’re meeting celebrities; Simon Pegg, Stephen Fry, Jonathon Ross...

From the beginning you are given the choice of either Prince or Princess (yes that’s right, we begin at the end – you’re already royalty). After this first choice we are woken, rather abruptly by our butler, voiced by Mr. John Cleese. Who then gladly sends you on your way to your lover, with your dog at your heels.

Needless to say, things go bad and your brother disowns you after he does something stupid, and you run away from the castle with your butler and your mentor, Sir Walter (Bernard Hill). You are the son/daughter of Albion’s last Hero King – your character from Fable 2 – and as such you are swiftly given the ‘fabled’ (forgive the pun) Guild Seal. This seal allows you to hear voices, communicate and teleport to and from places. And then you are taken away by Sir Walter to try and make friends with the people of Albion, do quests, and create a new regime to overthrow your brother’s tyrannical rule.

Fable1 300x169 Fable 3: And so our story begins

This is storytelling taken to the next level. As always, the Fable story much like 1 and 2, is wonderfully told. The morality system in this version is also much better than the other two. Oh there are no halos or devil horns in this one. Instead, your weapons resemble your moral upbringing. They evolve; yes evolve, to however you use them and to who you use them on. Turn evil and get your weapon dripping with the blood of innocents, go good and it shines with holy angelic light. And not only that; in the final sequence, to show your true form of moral standing, you are given wings – not useful flying wings, but a cool appendage to your good or bad self.

The characters you meet are completely relatable, if a bit more heroic than normal people, and it’s like you’re meeting celebrities; with the voices of people like Bernard Hill, John Cleese, Zoe Wanamaker, Simon Pegg, Jason Manford, Stephen Fry, Jonathon Ross, Michael Fassbender, Sean Pertwee, Ben Kingsley (who plays a Welshman), and many more. So with a high spec and high brow movie cast willing to put their name to it, you can just expect the script, plot and storytelling to be as good as any film.

Fable2 300x168 Fable 3: And so our story begins

So apart from the general story and the voice acting being great, there are a few new features: such as ‘Lute Hero’ – it’s like Guitar Hero but playing GreenSleeves. You get the usual job of Blacksmith as well as the new Pie Making role. There’s an entirely new continent to explore in the second half of the game. Instead of collecting experience, you collect followers. And there aren’t any menus this time round – you’re given, instead, new places with which you can interact and select your goodies.

Though I will say this, with all the praise I have given it, there are some flaws. The range of enemies you get to fight is quite limited. You get the usual Hobbes, Hollowmen, Bandits, and Balvarines, with some new creatures to fight later on – and of course you can broaden this range by turning safety off and killing the villagers – though with all those usuals, it seems that when the game doesn’t know what to throw at you, you always seem to get Hollowmen.

Also, it can be glitchy at times, and your dog isn’t really as helpful as Molyneux tells us – and yes there’s an achievement for listening to your him and digging up 50 dig spots.

The difficulty of the game, isn’t really that challenging either; but it is fun, there’s no doubt about that. And there’s a sense of pride when you do become King/Queen half-way through the game (yes that’s right, half-way).

But don’t let this review hinder your progress young hero – it’s fun, there’s no doubt about that.

Rating:
By: AjaxtheGreatest
Published: Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Posted in: Gaming >> Gaming, Reviews
Best Price: PC World £36.99
Developer: Lionhead Studios
Publisher: Microsoft
Homepage: lionhead.com/Fable/FableIII
Format: Xbox 360, Windows
Certificate: 16
Release Date: Out now
Starring: Bernard Hill, John Cleese, Zoe Wanamaker, Simon Pegg, Jason Manford, Stephen Fry, Jonathon Ross, Michael Fassbender, Sean Pertwee, Ben Kingsley

http://www.thebuzzmedia.com/fable-iii-xbox-360-review/

Fable III (Xbox 360) Review
by J Patrick Ohlde on November 24, 2010

Summary [8.0 out of 10]

The newest installment in the Fable series is back, this time putting you in the role of a prince or princess who must overthrow your older brother who is a despotic tyrant ruling the kingdom with an iron fist. With improvements to the gesture system, a new menu system and improved relationship mechanics Fable III picks up right where the series left off with more of what we’ve come to expect from the series. The added political system and revamped morality changes things up in the later half of the game but things feel business as usual for the series. If you like previous Fable games and want more of the same with some extra mechanics thrown in then you will like Fable III. If you hate the previous games in the series then you aren’t going to find anything here to change your mind.

Introduction

Fable has always been a strange franchise built on broken promises and solid gameplay. Peter Molyneux is well known for announcing things that the games will do and then have to strip away features upon release. Fable games as promised would be really epic but what we get are good games with more realistic feature sets. Unfortunately at part III the series is starting to feel a little long in the tooth. Fable III is good at what it does but it doesn’t do enough new things to be truly great.
The Great

* Graphics: It still has the same style the series is known for but the fidelity and design are much better this time around. Not only does it look prettier in general but character models look a lot better than Fable II. It was nice to be able to run around as a character that doesn’t look like he hit every branch on the way down out of the fat and ugly tree.

* Writing: The dialogue is the best of the series and is often very funny. Side quest dialogue in particular is great and is often very inside and self-referential with characters discussing reasons for game play decisions in philosophical terms and complaining about issues with past Fable games. It is really amusing and clever and makes otherwise repetitive missions feel fun and amusing.

* Controls: The simple control scheme from Fable II returns with a single button each for melee, magic and ranged attacks leaving the A button for action commands and evasion. It seems like this would feel overly simplified and boring but adding context and directional commands and you get surprisingly deep and intuitive controls that make you feel in tune with the game and not feel like you are fighting the controls as well as the enemies.

* Voice Acting: The voice cast, which includes John Cleese, Simon Pegg, Michael Fassbender, Ben Kingsly, Naomi Harris and Stephen Fry, is top notch and makes that good dialogue I mentioned sound even better. The game isn’t overly serious but the inclusion of great voice work elevates the already good material into something even better.

* Flourishes: The flourishes aren’t new but they are very cool this time around. These are essentially critical hits in combat and lead to your character completely owning the enemy. In the past it has been made up of beheadings and other such limb removal but here we have really creative and badass ways for your character to dispatch the enemies. These were a joy to watch and made a surprising difference in spicing up the combat.

The Good

* Story: There isn’t a central plot so much as a series of events that you have to deal with. The first half of the game follows an entirely different line than the second half. This seems like it would feel uneven and distracting but it flows together organically and feels natural. The story isn’t going to win any awards but it feels more satisfying than the more obvious twists and developments found in previous entries.

* Combat: As mentioned above in the controls, the combat feels very good and offers up enough options and variety to keep it interesting all the way through the game. With the new weapon upgrade system, you feel like you are always improving and always a badass. Part of this is uneven difficulty but for the most part the combat is well balanced and exciting.

* UI: Instead of a static menu system, when you pause you go to the hero’s sanctuary in which you can manage your costumes, weapons, gifts, hair styles, save games, your dog and just about every thing that needs to be managed. At first I thought it would be a pain in the ass but it makes a nice break from game play and is much more interesting to manage than static and boring menus.

* Gesture System: There is no gesture wheel any more and everything is based on button presses. Holding down the buttons will maximize the gesture and the gestures themselves are more reasonable than some in previous entries. The removal of the wheel means that you are much less likely to fart at a girl you are trying to chat up.

* Moral Balancing: The moral decisions in the game are still pretty black and white in terms of doing good or bad things but the consequences have much more far reaching implications and make the decisions much more difficult than a binary good or bad option. It turns out this Fable world is one of gray and you have to manage that by mixing black and white together. This starts off early when you have to choose between the life of a group of people and your best friend and never really gets any easier. This is a welcome change from the typical morality systems even if it has its own problems as mentioned below.

* Replay: There is a lot to do in Fable III and you can’t do it all in one run through. Luckily, the gameplay is fun enough to go back through multiple times to see alternate outcomes. In a way, the morality system makes it a bit like gambling. You want to try just one more approach and see how well it pans out.

The Bad

* Repetitive Quests: There really isn’t much new under the sun as far as quests are concerned and they are getting predictable. I was playing along at one point and said to myself ‘Isn’t it time for a Balvarine mission or two?’ and sure enough I found myself smack dab in the middle of them. Not only were the quests just more of the same for the series they were more of the same for the game itself. The side quest are pretty much the same thing over and over. The writing helps this a bit but the quests really need to have more to them.

* Not Enough Innovation: The latter half political material is a big change for the series and some tweaks were made to gestures and the online experience but there really isn’t nearly enough new here. Fable II had some major jumps from the first one but what we get here is more of a hop. It is still generally successful but it is roughly as successful as the last game and there isn’t enough to differentiate the two.

* Over-Simplified Political Structure: While I praised the moral implications of the political system above I did find it a little frustrating that the game seems to be telling the player that in order to do good things you have to spend tons of money and let a bunch of them die. I get that social programs cost money but given that there is an artificial conflict and time frame set up by design, the conceit doesn’t really work and ignores the nuance of the political process for something more simplistic. What is funny about that is that it also helps create a more complex moral structure but I think the whole thing is a double edged sword. More time should have been spent here to allow for a deeper experience.

* Lame Ending Boss Fight: The final boss fight is pretty quick and pretty easy especially when put next to other major fights in the game. The lack of an real consequence for death makes it a bit of a cake walk. I shouldn’t complain too much though because at least there actually WAS one this time around.

Conclusion [8.0 out of 10]

Fable III is a good solid game if you like this sort of experience. If you have enjoyed the previous entries you should enjoy this one. If you haven’t you probably won’t like this one either. There isn’t a lot of innovation this time around but what there is delivers well enough. There is plenty to do and fun to be had but nothing here is going to redefine action RPGs for years to come. It is just a pretty good game.

http://www.dogatemywookie.co.uk/2011/01/31/fable-iii-xbox-360-review-2/

Fable III | Xbox 360 Review
By Snipey on 31 January 2011 in REVIEWS, Video Games with No Comments

Written by Paldy

Released in October 2010, I got this for Christmas, and finished playing the main storyline in about 2 weeks.

Fable III follows on about 50 years after Fable II where it is still set on Albion. You first meet Logan who is the older brother of the hero from Fable II who died and left the kingdom to him. Apparently, according to a few passing comments during the game by some characters, Logan has turned into a bit of a bad egg. Something that happens early in the game makes you; your mentor (Sir Walter Beck) and your servant (Jasper) escape the castle. As you progress through the game you start gathering allies so that you can start a revolution against Logan. The allies come from a different variety of backgrounds. You also discover that there is another force to contend with that plans to exterminate all life in Albion. The “Evil Force” has already exterminated Aurora, and Albion will be next if you can’t build an army to defend it. It is this reason that the “truth” is revealed as to why Logan has been turning in to a bit of a bad egg as he needs to keep the money to build an army against this “Evil Force”.

Once you have gone through the game and gathered your allies and lead a revolution, you become the King or Queen, also while you were gathering these allies you made promises to them so that they would join your revolution, and it is now when you decide whether to keep or break those promises and either at an expense to the treasury or to raise money for the treasury which also helps build your army to defend against the “Evil Force”. Basically, the crux of it without trying to give too much away is that the money you have in your treasury equates to the number of Albion citizens that will get killed when the “Evil Force” attacks, which I consequently realised just a little too late into the game, lets just say, immediately before I had to fight the “Evil Force”.

The Hobbes have returned and are even bigger, badder, and have the same dress sense as Trinny and Suzannah

That is roughly the main storyline, which compared to Fable II is better, its not just one straight storyline, as when you think you’ve completed the Road to Rule, you then find you have more to do. There are side quests throughout the whole game, which are normally picked up when you spend a bit of time “emotionally” with the citizens of Albion, which for me was a tedious task as they have changed that system quite heavily, and in my opinion, not for the better. The expressions are random, you first see the ‘Interact’ option, and then it gives you the available expressions for you to use with that particular person until a “Relationship Quest” appears, and then you go and run off and do as they ask so that they will be your friend or even more. The issue I have with this new “Expression Touch” system is that you have to press more buttons to use it, and I found it to be rather slow; press A to interact, press and hold X, Y or B for the expression, and then press B to back out from the expression menu. You have to go through this process at least 3 or 4 times to get to the “Relationship Quest”. And for me, it certainly got boring after a while.

They have also added a new feature called the “Dynamic Touch” system; this allows you to hold hands with someone, which is handy (‘scuse the pun) as some quests will require you to use that function.

Another new feature of the game which I liked a lot was the removal of the menus which was replaced by the “Sanctuary”. It is an interactive pause menu which is made up of different rooms which replaces the menus from Fable II. Makes it quicker to pop out of the main game in the middle of something to go and change outfits, weapons, open your gifts, etc, and then it will just return you where you left off.

Your bundle of joy, the perfect entry in the 'Kid Tossing Competition' held in Bowerstone

Other new features of the game are:

Judgements: Once you become the King or Queen of Albion you will have to pass judgments which will either favour you as a ruler or not.

Weapon morphing: Depending on whether you are a goodie or a baddie and how you use your weapon, it will change accordingly.

Dog: more breed options.

Extreme morphing: Without giving too much away again, this will be an expression to show how good or bad you are.

Co-Op:

There is an approved camera for co-op, which I haven’t seen, yet as I’m waiting for Snipey to get off AC: Brotherhood.

You can marry your friends and have a baby with them in the co-op option.

You can use your custom character and dog.

Overall, I can’t knock Fable III; I did enjoy playing it, and if I took my time and not ploughed through the main storyline so quickly I probably would have more to say. If you like your Fable games, which I do, then this is certainly one to pick up. I probably will go back into it and just muck about with the side quests and explore some more, but the game is somewhat completed for me now. I award Fable III 4 stars, it could be less but for a small detail on the “Expression Touch” system, it seems a bit mean to knock off ½ a star.

Rating: ★★★★☆

And on a final note, listen out for the following people while you’re playing the game:

John Cleese – Jasper

Michael Fassbender (Inglorious Bastards) – Logan

Stephen Fry – Reaver

Naomie Harris (Ninja Assassin) – Page

Bernard Hill (LOTR) – Sir Walter Beck

Nicholas Hoult (Clash of the Titans, About A Boy) – Elliot

Ben Kingsley (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) – Sabine

Simon Pegg (Paul, HGTTG) – Ben Finn

Sean Pertwee (Equilibrium) – Saker

Zoë Wanamaker (My Family; Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone) – Theresa

Jonathan Ross – Barry Hatch

http://sonicg33k.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/to-be-a-hero-why-i-love-fable-3/

To be a hero – Why I love Fable 3.
Posted on February 28, 2011 by sonicg33k

Of all the genres I enjoy I have always loved fantasy the most. Magic, swords, mystical creatures, I can’t get enough. Theres something about the escapism that just blows me away. I know the Fable 3 game has been out for a while but a recent play totally sparked my love again.

When I first saw Fable it was watching my then other half play it and I really liked the idea of it. The fact you could decide how you wanted your character to be really interested me. It was the first time I’d really seen a game that your hero didn’t have to be a cookie cutter do-gooder. I didn’t have an Xbox of my own at the time but by the time Fable 2 came out I was really excited to play this game.

Obviously since the original Fable was for the original Xbox, Fable 2 basically had a free rein to create an almost completely new game and that’s what they did. Lovely new landscape, weapons but still keeping links to the original game that those kind of picky fans would want to grab hold of such as the village names and a few characters. Needless to say, I loved it. I lost so many hours of my life to that game having more than one character (One pure good, one pure evil and one I just ran around doing anything I wanted on.) Sure the storyline wasn’t the strongest in the world but to be honest, almost all the games I’ve been in love with have been the same.

Fast forward to Fable 3 coming out and I was beside myself with excitement to see what they had done. I wasn’t disappointed.

The story for Fable 3 is that you play the child of the hero you created in Fable 2 (Your “Mother” or “Father” depending on your main save) and Albion has gone through an industrial revolution which straight away I loved, it’s only right that the world moves along as time does and also even though they changed the landscape of the game and the different areas they kept recognisable areas such as Bowerstone Market, Bowerstone Lake etc but also adding in new villages such as Brightwall. The whole landscape has evolved along with the times and the people and that is the smart thing to do. I would have been pretty burned had they just made a whole new landscape. Maybe I am turning into one of “those” fans!

The character and the sanctuary was another part of the game I loved. Instead of the clumsy pause screen instead your character was taken to a safe room that you could do all sorts in and if you got lost John Cleese was there to guide you (Something else I’ll go into!) I loved the weapon customisation. Instead of just having loads and loads of weapons, you could pick one weapon and depending on your actions it would change its look. At one point my fantastic Hammer turned into a giant Axe…I didn’t mind, it still looked badass.

One of the best things about Fable 3? The cast. As soon as Jasper the Butler opened his mouth and I squealed “It’s John Cleese!” I was going to be totally hooked. Lionhead studios is a very British institution so in grand tradition it was British talent that they brought in to voice the cast.

John Cleese starts off the show as your trusty butler Jasper and will comment every time you change your outfit (“You’re dressed as a chicken…what..what are you going to do dressed as a chicken?”)

You get Naomie Harris (of 28 Days Later) as Page, Simon Pegg as Ben Finn, Nicholas Hoult as your love interest if you choose a female character, Bernard Hill as your mentor Walter, Michael Fassbender as King Logan and once again Zoë Wannamaker voices Thressa. You even have small parts from Jason Manford as Jammy (The luckiest soldier in the army, over 100 bullet wounds and still standing!) and Jonathan Ross as Reever’s butler. The lisp gave it away.

However the real two stars for me have to be Stephen Fry as Reever, hamming it up in spectacular evil camp fashion and Sir Ben Kingsley as Sabine with quite possibly the most fantastic Welsh accent I’ve ever heard.

I’m fully aware that the game had its flaws and that there were plenty of people more than willing to point it out (Isn’t there always…) but I’ve never been that type of gamer. I HATE the kind of gamers that are around today, that have been created by achievement points and will only play certain games to have it on their played list and to get the achievements.

I love Fable 3, flaws and all and I’m happy to be the kind of gamer that will play out of love for the game.

http://gaming-video-game-reviews.chailit.com/fable-3-review-things-to-know-before-you-buy-fable-3.html

Fable 3 Review – Things to know before you buy Fable 3
April 2nd, 2011 | Author: gaming

It's just a matter of months before the eagerly awaited with third game in the series Fable hits the shelves, and fans of the series (and the genre as well) are all committed to Molyneux their hands on a copy of the non-linear Peter's role-playing masterpiece. Before you copy it to your nearest game store rush to buy, there are some facts about the game, you need to know in advance.

Before you buy Fable 3, you must know iteven bigger and better than the first two together. The game will be a powerhouse cast of actors voice. Zoe Wanamaker, is Stephen Fry return to reprise their roles. There is also the presence of the dreadful Michael Fassbender, who gives his voice a character named Logan. Is this you will not be surprised they do, then here's an Oscar winner Ben Kingsley, the voice of the king. The story, on the other side, instead of half a century after the events of the secondFable. The setting is still in Albion, and is currently owned and terrorized by the evil tyrant Logan. The main character who is the brother of Logan, he must do everything to his evil plan to set brother and justice in the country.

There is no doubt that playing well in the market. It is obvious that the developers have listened to 'request fans and integrates new aspects of the game. It is ideal to book and buy a copy of Fable 3 in order toEnter a magical world.

http://www.gamingtarget.com/article.php?artid=12396

Fable III PC Review: It ain’t easy being king, especially on Windows

FINAL SCORES

7.0
Visuals

7.0
Audio

8.0
Gameplay

7.0
Features

7.0
Replay

6.0

INFO BOX

more screens
PLATFORM:
PC
PUBLISHER:
Microsoft
DEVELOPER:
Lionhead Studios
GENRE: RPG
PLAYERS: 1
RELEASE DATE:
May 17, 2011

IN THE SERIES

Fable III

Fable II

Fable

Fable: The Lost Chapters

Fable: The Lost Chapters

More in this Series
Written by Alex Roth on May 25, 2011
Fable 3 Review: Heavy hangs the head that wears Albion’s crown

Once upon a time in a mystical era, Xbox RPGs were rare. Gamers lamented as if with one voice, and Microsoft cried out for a hero. Thus came the man Peter Molyneux. He stood upon the hilltop, and the people whispered of his works: Dungeon Keeper and Black & White, games singular in both ambition and originality. “I shall make kings of you all,” spoke Molyneux, “rulers of the land Albion, which you will form as does the potter form clay.” The people rejoiced, and long Molyneux toiled whilst the people’s hopes grew. The blessed day came, and Fable was brought unto them. Thankful though they were for the swords and sorcery they desired, some saw Fable to be short of all that was heralded. Such thoughts were locked away, as beggars could not be choosers in such lean times. Still the people looked upon their hero Molyneux and pondered, “Do I know thee?”


Now Molyneux faces a more crowded battlefield. Xbox RPGs are plentiful; Mass Effect is a flagship series, while Dragon Age and Fallout 3 provide nearly endless exploration. Six months ago Fable III faced its stalwart competition and garnered a positive response. Now it comes to PC, a platform even more inundated with role-playing and fantasy titles. Can the charisma that made it a console hit be translated for Windows?

Whatever the platform, you can’t separate the artist from the work. Molyneux is a big name, like Tim Schafer and Will Wright. Fable has taught us he’s closer to the former: a weirdo auteur who brings sharp wit, a unique tone, and a liberal disposition to his work, rather than revolutionary gameplay. Fable III is no exception; it’s strange, funny, and not afraid to go blue or get dark. You’ll make life or death decisions one minute, and run around in a chicken costume the next. If you’ve been charmed by Fable in the past, expect to be won over once more.



This time, Molyneux seems to be taking people’s familiarity with the series for granted. Fable III is a direct sequel to Fable II; those who didn’t play it might feel dropped into the middle of things. As prince of the newly industrialized Albion, you’ve seen pollution, child labor, and economic instability come to your land. The people suffer under the heel of your brother the king. Your ultimate goal will be to usurp his throne, and set about ruling the kingdom however you see fit. Will you usher in the age of the benevolent monarch, or become the next tyrant in line? This is Fable’s morality system at its most engrossing, since every choice affects your entire digital citizenry.

Fable III is lucky to have these gripping decisions, because it’s core mechanics are merely up to snuff. Combat is built around quick strikes, charged flourishes, and blocks. It’s completely real-time, and strong animation gives it a nice physicality, but it’s too simplistic. Though the mouse’s scroll wheel makes it easy to switch between melee, magic, and guns, there are no branching combos that combine them. However you choose to attack, it’ll be based on preference, not strategy. This isn’t the kind of stat crunch game that will have you trying new builds or searching for the enemy’s elemental weaknesses.



Fable III is also more “on-rails” than most modern RPGs. A glowing breadcrumb trail leads you from quest to quest. Your dog (who’s badly underused) will divert you to buried treasure, and you’ll repel the occasional bandit attack, but Fable III still lacks spontaneity. There are no wide-open spaces to simply wander. A second play through with completely different morality choices just means choosing left instead of right at clearly marked forks in the road. Even if you revisit quests you previously skipped, you’re still Dorothy following that yellow brick road. On the other hand, if you find open-world RPGs like the Elder Scrolls too languid, Fable’s structured, old school approach might be your thing.

Sadly, Fable III is also old school where it hurts: in the graphics department. Despite some glorious pre-rendered cinematics, the game looks decidedly last gen. Character models are detailed but woefully under-animated, which is a shame because they’re so well voiced. It really hamstrings the storytelling; it’s as though John Cleese, Simon Pegg, Ben Kingsley, and Michael Fassbender have lent their voices to a low rent puppet show. Interacting with the common people of Albion is even worse. There’s no incidental dialogue, just grating Sims-style babble.

Even more annoying are the game’s technical issues. Every glitch that plagued Fable III’s initial Xbox release is back full force on the PC. Wide exteriors make for sluggish frame rates, essential characters disappear, forcing you to load a save, and the aforementioned golden trail often takes you in circles. While you can be confident these issues will be patched like they were on the Xbox, early adopters should hold off. You waited six months for them to port the game, why not give them a week or two to bring it up to code?

Bottom Line
So it came to pass that Molyneux’s latest epic was brought unto Windows. Though it was a port lacking in polish, with graphics below those of the modern age, the people embraced it as a rarity. Gritty but immature, dark yet not steeped in the occult, it stood out amongst the science fiction and horror-fantasy that dominated the marketplace. And whilst some held greater anticipation for Molyneux’s Project Milo than the next chapter of Fable, they knew that the work of a mind so strange could be only a blessing, nary a curse.