Fable 3 wasn't really a game that was on my radar to be honest with you. I did play Fable 2 and enjoyed it but I wasn't really thinking RPG at this time. Thankfully my stepson told me he was getting the game so that gave me a good reason to pick this up and I'm glad I did. Lionhead Studios delivers a great role playing game even if it does have some issues.
Players take on the role of an offspring of the hero of Fable 2 in an effort to bring down their tyrant ruler brother named Logan. Fable, which is known for giving players choices, doesn't disappoint in that area this time around. You start by picking the sex of your character, what you are going to wear, and whether to spare your best friend or a group of protesters. And that's only the beginning. You will have many decisions to make throughout the game and they only get tougher as you get closer to the end where you have to weigh out saving the citizens or keeping your promises to said citizens.
The quests in the game, all of which usually have a good or evil choice at the end, are a blast. There are of course the go here, get this, come back, repeat quests to fill your time with but there are also some of the best RPG quests that I've ever done. One in particular, called The Game, has you shrunk down by three "D&D" players who use you to play through their game. Every stereotype you can think of for Dungeons & Dragons is used in the quest and it is hysterical. Players can literally spend hours on the sidequests, especially the ones like finding and shooting all the garden gnomes, finding all the flowers in a certain area, or finding all the rare books for the academy. Doing as many quests as you can will be beneficial to unlocking all of the available powers on the Road to Rule because each quest will give you guild seals. Those are what you essentially use to do all of your "leveling up". You spend the guild seals to open chests on the Road to Rule. You will get guild seals for fighting and doing nice gestures as well but quests earn them in greater quantity. It's definitely different but it works and it's actually pretty cool.
All is not perfect in Albion though. I mentioned earlier that the game is not without issues. I personally did not run into any and completed the game without a problem. There have, however, been many reports of glitches and my wife has had to restart her game as a result of one. From what I can tell a lot of these could have been resolved if you could have more than the one save slot or if there was a restart quest feature. Also content wise, be aware that players can marry multiple wives, have same sex marriages,visit prostitutes, contract std's, etc. None of this is necessary to complete the game but it is in there. I was fortunate enough to have my wife play the game so we got to marry each other over Xbox Live. For some people, even though you don't have to partake in those activities, the sexual content may be a deal breaker for picking this game up. On my playthrough, my character was completely "good" yet I didn't make any one villager like me enough to bring those things about.
Even with it's issues and glitches Fable 3 shines as a great role playing game experience. The co-op is great. Playing by yourself is a blast. Being the King was as stressful as it was fun as you hold the fate of Albion's citizens in your hands. Players can use this as a rental if you want to blast through the game without doing many side adventures. If you want to experience ever thing that Albion has to offer, buy this game. You will definitely get your 60 bucks worth.