Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Almost, but not quite"

Fable and Fable 2 were onto something good. The formula didn't need to be changed for the third game; it just needed a new story line. The story line of the Hero's child is a good one, but the game is bogged down by small annoyances all the way through. There are constant lag issues that are mitigated but not eliminated by installing the game to the hard drive. User interface layouts are complicated by excessive menu options, especially when dealing with the real estate components in the world. The absence of a menu is irritating and time consuming since the player cannot simply select weapons, outfits, or basic character info from a conventional start/select menu system. The games insistence upon playing LIVE is overemphasized since this is a single player RPG, but you can't obtain all the achievements without playing LIVE. The game is still fun, but for someone who has played the previous games, this game will feel like a step back rather than forward.