Fable's 3rd installment does excellent work at incorporating new features without stepping on it's predecessors success.
the game boasts plenty of new and altered features, however while many of them offer a new or at least a fresh take on standard and practical game features, some of them take away key components that once added to the game's freedom and open-ended feel.
The Visuals:
Beautiful and fully realized landscapes and vast environments are everywhere around you. Albion looks more stunting and well-rendered than ever and the character models are more diverse, colorful and sharper than in previous installments to the game.
Gameplay:
Fable 3 has a bulk of gameplay that has nothing to do with the main story arch, but provides a ton of fun in the real of "Sims-like" entertainment. From buying, selling and remodeling houses, getting married and raising a family to deciding what you want to wear as you cut down hundreds of hollow-men (Albion zombies), you never have nothing to do in this game.
The Combat lacks any real challenge, but ultimately remains fun and simple with just the use of pressing single colored face buttons to initiate either melee, ranged or will attacks, and holding it to charge. Enemies are never too hard unless you are playing in another hero's game who has progressed farther.
Fable 3 shines in it's amount of exploration into the world of Albion with tons of chests, numerous dig spots and dive points, many hunting quests like gnomes, books and flowers, as well as fable favorites like the silver keys and demon doors.
The characters in fable are still just as shallow as on previous visits to Albion, but the do offer more funny lines than in the other 2 games and you won't hear the same line from 5 villagers in 1 pass through town. Your expressions were always a fun and a great way to interact with the villagers you meet. It is unfortunate that this feature was streamlined to the point that it now feels empty and takes away any of the player's choice in how they interact with the townsfolk.
The main cast does a great job of supporting your Hero's role, and the hero is now voiced when playing through the main story missions.
The dog makes his way back into the game, but without any story support your most loyal companion now has less impact and overall you don't feel any emotional connection to him. Your dog also seems to have more trouble navigating the more open world of Albion leading to some minor frustration while treasure hunting.
The main story plays about as a significant role as it did in the first role, but does not offer as much as the overall amount of just developing your world, character and his/her inventory.
New Features:
One of the newer features is a very creative way of utilizing you pause menu, now known as the Sanctuary. Your Sanctuary serves as a kind of in-game living menu, similar to, but more involved, than the weapon and armor system in AC2 in Ezio's manor.
The Road to Rule is a nice visual addition to your progress that also complements your new overhauled Sanctuary.
Overall the game is a vast improvement on past endeavors and does a great job of growing and evolving the franchise as a whole. It also boasts a host of new features (while not all of them a positive addition) without separating itself from other games in the Fable line.
I would highly recommend this game to anyone who is looking for a game with casual adventure and combat, high on exploration, filled with customization and treasure and light on story. Fable 3 is not without it's fair share of bugs, but it offers up so much that it's easy to put up with. So if you're looking for a game with plenty to do and takes itself lightly, then you've found it in Fable 3.