When the Kinect is sober enough to reveal the better parts of The Journey, magic can definitely happen. But even if Fable The Journey worked flawlessly, it wouldn’t be the most exciting or daring game to ever come about.

We absolutely loved Fable III.   Scoring an impressive 89%, the game featured familiar Fable threads of becoming the hero, making morality choices that affect the world, and ultimately becoming the all-powerful ruler of Albion.

In theory, Fable: The Journey offers up a new way to experience Lionhead's long-running role-playing series. The Kinect-only experience allows you to cast spells with one hand, grapple enemies with another, and duck and weave out of the way of projectiles by leaning.

Caring for your horse; A streamlined Fable experience; When it works; it's fun

Uneven controls; Tedious gameplay; Ugly cutscenes

The Journey begins like pretty much every Fable game. Our hero, Gabriel, is introduced as a downtrodden youngster who never dreamed of wielding power or saving the world. He's then quickly swept up into a quest to fulfill his true destiny and keep Albion from ruination.

+ Lengthy adventure that stays true to the; + Fun tossing Hobbes and blasting them with fireballs

? Will the ability to fart on unsuspecting citizens be DLC

Are you a fan of the Fable franchise Did you hear about Fable: The Journey and rush out to pre-order it or consider buying it upon release Did you think to yourself, "How bad can it be, it's still Fable even if it only supports the Kinect

Innovative Kinect gameplay style; Theresa's backstory is explained

Theresa's backstory is explained; Repetitive combat; Upgrading is a joke; Constant tutorial messages if you do something wrong; Absolutely no replay value; Tags

Of course, there's much more to Fable: The Journey than caring for your horse. This is an on-rails adventure in which you continually travel toward the Spire, where your ultimate fate awaits you at the end of your journey.

Strong relationship building; Well-realized Kinect controls; Smart pacing gives you ample time to rest; Beautiful visual design

Motion controls don't always register properly

Using Kinect to conjure spells, Lionhead's latest provides a beguiling guided tour of fantasy land Albion. It also has one of the best video game horses since Agro.

The arrow is buried deep in the horse's side. You wave your arms while uttering soothing words, trying to calm the frightened animal. Once the horse is docile, you approach your four-legged friend slowly, careful not to upset her, and then rest your hand gingerly on the protruding arrow.

Strong relationship building; Well-realized Kinect controls; Smart pacing gives you ample time to rest; Beautiful visual design

Motion controls don't always register properly

Motion control cannot be recalled. It cannot be uninvented. But, like the fake plastic guitars of the past, the stereoscopic 3D of the future and all those other tech gimmicks that sizzle in and fizzle out, it will in time be removed from our video games.

When was the last time you stopped to admire the scenery? In an effort to constantly stimulate us on a second-by-second basis, most games don't give us the chance to sit back, take stock and simply enjoy being in an entirely different world. At its best, Fable: The Journey does exactly that.

Albion finally feels like a fleshed-out game world; Exquisite presentation and characterisation; Steering Seren and enjoying the scenery is wonderful (when you're allowed

Horrible, genuinely painful Kinect targeting during combat, Lazy experience orb system kills immersion.., ..; as does numerous obtrusive tooltips, awful flow-breaking tutorials and embarrassing gestures, Stolid, unsatisfying and insipid action detracts from the beautiful scenery