I've been looking forward to TFU 2 and Fable 3 for a while now.  I never played Fable 1, but I had a riot playing Fable 2, I spent hours on that game and loved every minute - despite it's annoyances and irritations.  The same can be said for the Force Unleashed, I played through the first one several times... It was arguably the most fun Jedi game I've played - and definately the best story.  It wasn't perfect, as I stated in my review, clunky, inaccurate controls, linear levels and poor level design at times could make the game choresome occasionally.
 
Now that Fable 3 is out - a lot of people seem to be slating it.  It sounds like a classic case of Peter Molyneux promising something amazing - then releasing something pretty good, but not all it was supposed to be.  There are some positive reviews too - it strikes me that if an unknown developer had released it without a word - it would probably be acclaimed  as a great game.  I suppose that's maybe why good independant title like 'Limbo' get such attention - the moral of the story, "Don't shout about how amazing your game is going to be, unless it really is, REALLY amazing..."
 
But of course that wouldn't sell pre-orders.
 
I played through the demo of The Force Unleashed 2 and it brought back fond memories.  That part 1 was a cracking game.... I really wanted to continue playing... However at the same time, similar obvious shortcomings are still present - even in the opening demo sequence.  I want ot play on, but as much for the story as for the gameplay.  Whether I would want to play on after 30 minutes of Fable 3... I don't know, the story in Fable 2 I didn't find that engaging - it was the gameplay that drew me in.
 
So do I still buy either of these titles?  Put them on my christmas list and keep hacking away at Tropico 3 - then dropping back to Left 4 Dead for some wholesale zombie slaughter when the mood takes me?  I really don't know...
 
Ultimately I question whether games should claim to be great, it may sell pre-orders and help the company financially, but I don't think it does the art-form much good.  It certainly doesn't do reputations much good.  I suppose there is no perfect game, there are some very good ones - but even then... If you look at the highest scoring aggregate games of all time - there are some titles there which don't really stand up to modern games in terms of graphics and sound.  If you can ignore these factors though - these games are still fun to play.
 
The conclusion is that, ultimately gameplay should come first and foremost.  Games are the artform, so game play, game mechanics are the art.  Gameplay is the painting, story, graphics, sound... They're just the frame.  A bad painting is a bad painting however nice a frame you put it in.  A game can only be judged on it's gameplay - anything else is just the icing on the cake.
 
Some people might not consider games to be an art form.  In some respects it's far easier to see them as a business model.  Look at EA games, churn out a new Fifa every year - redraw the graphics, add a couple of nice features - slap the current year onto the title and hey presto - watch the money roll in.  It hardly takes brilliant inspiration does it?  I mean yeah, these are good games and fun - but you can't really describe them as art.
 
Take Fable and the Force Unleashed though, they have a lot of short-comings, all of the Fable series and both of The Force Unleashed, but they have a story, they have nice environments and clever design, they are innovative in some degree - the designers actually tried to innovative in concieving them.   They're surely art at a certain level?  But then isn't gameplay king?  Games are for gameplay right?
 
I suppose if you are trying to paint a masterpiece - there's a lot more to go wrong.  I sometimes suspect some of these games are hindered by lack of time and budget, and because they are commercial and require commercial success to keep the developers working to develop more games and the company afloat.
 
You might think I'm over analysing here, but the fact is games have changed.  When I was a kid, you bought a game on a cassette for £3 that was written in the bedroom of some spotty nerd over the course of a few weeks... Now they are multi-million dollar productions, often hundreds of people end contributing to games.  Games as a media are gaining respectability and only by striving to improve the quality of our media all the time can that respect by gained and maintained.
 
But back on topic, are The Force Unleashed 2 and Fable 3 actually worth getting ?  :P