Again, GS doesn't know how to review a game. Have been playing almost non-stop and it's THAT good, more after the jump.
After seeing the score GS gave this game I immediately felt the need to do a review just to bash whoever made this poor excuse of a review. But I took a deep breath, read all of the review first and now I'm ready to give it a proper, informed, truthful, bashing.
First of all, the graphics are stunning, probably the only thing I can agree with from the whole review. They really made a significant improvement from Fable II, not just the texture quality but also the general look and feel of the whole experience through Albion, since TV doesn't have smell the artistic department did an impressive job of giving the gamer such an immersive experience that sometimes I can swear all my senses are active in the game.
Fable III puts you as the son of the former Hero you played in Fable II. I think the intro/tutorial bit is extremely well done. Lovely cinematics with the usual "this is how you move, swing a sword, use spells" teaching make for a great way to start your voyage into Fable III (especially if you haven't played the previous games).
Jasper is amazing, John Cleese is of course superb in the voice acting, but more than that, you can see that Peter Molyneux's claims that it was the most intensive A.I. character ever done in Fable are not unfounded. I found myself spending copious amounts of time trying to have conversations with him just so I could hear another one of his witty remarks.
Recovering the "control room", with the map travel system, clothing area, armory, etc was in my opinion a great idea, it was one of the good things Fable I had that was "lost" in Fable II. I also think the new skill acquisition system is more streamline (that doesn't mean worst or "dumbed down") than in Fable II but in the end that's what a lot of people (including me) want, some things shouldn't be that troublesome, or shouldn't take a lot of the focus from what is truly important, the game experience. This applies to the new dog in Fable III, I see nothing wrong with what they've done. The dog is a side-kick, they removed the injury part, ok… I probably wouldn't have but it's not a game breaker. And I still think there is some bonding with the dog, you can interact with him as much as you could in Fable II and I quite enjoy the new animations a lot more.
The combat system is designed to be fun and logical, and it is! It's easy to get a hold of really quick (no point in having an exaggerated learning curve in a game that has as a selling point the fun experience) , and it has better animations and more fluid movements. I see nothing wrong with the combat system, it didn't bother me one bit, I started having so much fun that it didn't strike me as odd in any way. And I think that's the best compliment you can give a game, is when it's so fun and addictive that you know it has flaws and bugs but they quickly fade away due to the sheer enjoyment of the global game experience.
Now on to the technical problems. I'm sorry but if you go strolling with someone holding his/her hand and you drive them into a wall they're going to stay stuck in the wall, that's not a design flaw... it's realism, I find it silly that the reviewer has that as negative point, what's next? A "bug" where killing someone who's following you makes them stop following you? Silly dead people, clearly a technical problem (sarcasm off).
There is nothing wrong with the dog, he behaves like he did in Fable II. And if you played Fable II you should know that he just needs a quick readjustment (didn't you see the whistle action Mr. Reviewer?) and he quickly finds the right spot to dig. Also not once has a character got stuck in the ground, not once have they got stuck on ledges. And my game doesn't get boringly slow in the mini-games as well. I don't know what was wrong with your disc (or maybe it's your x-box) but mine doesn't behave like that. Maybe it's simply that, my view isn't as exaggerated as yours.
To sum it up, this game in technical terms isn't worse, and doesn't have more problems than Fable II had. The overall gaming experience is still very "Fablish", from the moment you start playing until the moment you finish it, you'll be sucked in and laugh your @$$ off. No more can be asked of a Fable game.
By that logic if Fable II was worth an 8.5 there's no reason, none at all that Fable III should get any less. I give it a 9.5. But as I stated in the beginning I am a big fan of the game. Nonetheless GS scoring is way wrong on this one. Just see the other critics and users scores and you'll agree with me.
Poor job GameSpot… Poor job indeed.