Disappointing video games: Fable III

Have you ever spent months waiting for a game, to finally get your hands on it and realise that it just wasn’t worth it? Or was there ever a title you played that was so buggy, with a story so awful and gameplay so bad that it has been one of the worst you’ve played? This is exactly what we’ll be talking about in our new series: disappointing video games.

We all know what it’s like when you finally get your hands on that game you’ve been waiting an eternity for or one that has so much hype around it, only to find that all the excitement was wasted on something terrible. Following on from our easter eggs series, over the coming month we here at 1001-Up.com will be telling you about some of the most disappointing releases we’ve played. Last week Tim selected Black & White 2 as his choice and next up is Kim.

About the game

Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a huge Peter Molyneux fan and have been for a quite a long time now. Back in March I wrote an article on this and gave my reasons behind my admiration, so I won’t bore you everyone by gushing again here. But what I will say is that this developer has had a massive influence on my gaming history and if it wasn’t for him, I may not be writing for this site today – or indeed playing video games at all.

After a friend introduced me to Fable in 2004 I was hooked; we spent the next week ploughing through the title, trying to find every side-mission, figure out how to get through all the demon doors and meeting as many residents of Albion as possible. The thing that fascinated me most about the game was the sense of character development as it was the first time I’d seen anything with a real alignment mechanic. You know everyone has those gaming moments they’ll never forget? Well, this Fable plays a big part in mine.

Needless to say I was madly excited for Fable II, and just the same for Fable III – I even took days off of work to play both titles upon their releases. I couldn’t wait to be sucked into the Hero’s world once again and do battle with the forces of evil… but upon finishing the most recent instalment in the series, I wasn’t sure whether I should have bothered.

How did it disappoint?

The basic premise of Fable III is a simple one: you are the offspring of the Hero in Fable II and your older brother, king of Albion, rules with an iron fist. People are suffering on all fronts and hoping for a revolution to overthrow him and restore balance and, playing as either the Prince or Princess, it’s your job to set out to build an alliance that will eventually seize the crown. There’s an awesome moral dilemma at the start of the game that will have you agonising over which option to choose and this makes for a great introduction.

But then things go downhill, and one of my main disappointments with the title is the switch in gameplay styles halfway through. You begin of by adventuring through the kingdom and gathering allies, then in the second part you become ruler – which sounds great but unfortunately isn’t. The moral choices come to you rather than you seeking them out so the excitement of exploration is gone, and most of these centre around whether you’ve earned enough money to keep promises to better the lives of your citizens. You’ll find yourself spending hours serving drinks at the tavern or playing a lute in the town centre (quite beneath a King or Queen) just to make sure you’ve got enough gold in the treasury to keep everyone happy.

When you’re handed these choices it feels as if there’s a ticking clock over your head and you’re therefore under some pressure to do right by your citizens – but there are actually no deadlines at all. Your progress hinges on deciding to proceed to the next day in the timeline and so there’s absolutely nothing to stop you from only doing this when you’re ready. You have complete control over the passage of time meaning that the mechanic here is essentially pointless and adds nothing to the game.

Next to come under fire is the magic system. Why shoot my gun or wield my sword when I can just blow everyone up with a spell? Magic is hugely overpowered in Fable III and the charged area effect will pretty much ensure you win any fight. While there are no new spells since the second instalment in the series, they’re all as unbalanced as they previously were; Vortex and Force Push are almost useless, while Fireball and Shock should really be renamed to ‘Kill Everything’. Top this off with the fact that you now the power to combine magic, and you can even electrocute and burn your enemies at the same time – they don’t stand a chance.

Let’s just blow everything up!

I don’t want to give any spoilers here but my biggest disappointment with Fable III was perhaps the ending. First it comes about rather abruptly and is quite short; second, the trouble I went through working myself to the bone, just to give my subjects what they wanted, didn’t seem to have any real effect (other than maybe getting a lot of them killed… oops); and third, the final battle through the streets of Albion wasn’t particularly a challenge. Finally, there were plenty of questions left unanswered and – while I understand that this is necessary in order to leave an air of mystery and an opening for a sequel – there were just too many things left unexplained for my liking.

Even Peter Molyneux himself admitted that the title wasn’t what it wanted to be, saying in an interview with Develop back in February: “I think Fable II was a step in the right direction. I think Fable III was a trainwreck.” After loving the series so much but then playing through both Fable III and Fable: The Journey (probably one of the worst releases I’ve ever endured), I have to say I’m very worried about Fable Legends. Due out in Autumn this year, I’ll probably try it out through sheer loyalty to the franchise; but will the glory days of the first two instalments ever be reached again?

With critics saying that it forgets everything that made Fable so great in the first place, I’m not so sure.

So, there you have Kim’s choice for most disappointing video game. Do you agree or have you played a title that’s even worse? Let us know what you think in the comments below!