Great action in a beautifully realised fantasy world.
The games main feature is its rich combat. Special moves are unlocked as you add points to the skills tree on levelling up. I use an Xbox 360 wireless controller. The left trigger brings up your shield; the right trigger enables your special moves which you select with YBAX buttons (you choose which special move to assign to each button). Although you get a greater range of special moves easily available if you use the keyboard (keys 1-9). Pressing the right analogue stick in centres the action when you are in combat or zooms in the view a little when not in combat. You can also centre your view at any time by pressing the right analogue stick in when using your shield. The right bumper button puts you in stealth and if you have added points to the stealth element in the skills tree you can carry out a devastating attack from behind. The action is fast and the enemy characters are detailed and have the rag doll effect on death. The special effects coming off your weapons and whilst using magic are very nice. And when your Fateweaver bar is full you can carry out a devestating attack which you would normally reserve for those tricky fights.
This game is all about the action and levelling up to add to your abilities. You can at any time reset your abilities for a fee by visiting a Fateweaver. So if you pick up a powerful weapon you can re-tailor your abilities to get the most out of it.
There are many side quests available through NPC's which are easily accessible through the Quest menu and you can quick travel to places already visited. The greatest disappointment about the game is the story isn't epic and there are no grand cut scenes to watch. What cut scenes there are, use in game graphics and the NPC's and your own character are very cardboard and lack personality. If the story was better and the characters and cut scenes were up to the standard of Fable 2 or 3 for instance I would have given this game a 10. As it is here are my scores:
Combat 10 - Fun, addictive and varied.
Environment Graphics 9 - Cartoony, organic, varied and fantastical.
Character Graphics 6 - Dated, stiff and lack personality.
Sound 9 - Some nice detailed sound i.e. insect noises and combat effects
Story 4 - No epic story here, more like a single player World of Warcraft
Overall Score = 7.6
Conclusion: Better combat action that Fable 2/3 but much weaker story. However if you're an action RPG fan, like the cartoony fantasy style with addictive combat, you will like this game and may even love it. I'm finding it more fun than Skyrim.