Fable: The Lost Chapters

"Great potential, poor execution, passable result"

STORY: 6/10
The story's reasonably interesting, but far too linear. The big point of this game is that you can become good or evil, yet it has minimal effect on the story. Even the foulest of deeds will, at most, add "And you did this. I be angry/grateful." to some conversation later on. The only major point is a couple good or evil decisions at the final two boss battles (which are ridiculously easy) that decide which endings you'll see. Even if you've been absolutely good up to that point, you can choose the evil ending or vice versa. Also *spoilers*

At a couple points in the game, you have the option of killing major plot characters. If you don't, they simply vanish from the game. (Later you can kill even more who would stay otherwise.)

GRAPHICS: 8.5/10
The world and characters look really nice if your computer can run it at above average settings. Also, as you grow good or evil, you appearance changes (glowing eyes, horns, halo, etc.), but it's not too abrupt (apart from the horns). NPCs are well made, if overused (most of them look alike). Another nice touch is the scarring system. If a monster slashes you across the chest, it can leave a big gash, and these scars can look pretty cool, if you want them, or really annoying, if you don't.

SOUND: 10/10
Sound is spot on. Music, sound effects, they all fit. Some spell sounds can get a bit annoying, like that irritating squeak when using summon, but other than that, I have no complaints.

GAMEPLAY: 3/10
I have good news, and I have bad news. Let's start with the good. You can get your character to be a warrior, archer/thief, mage, or any combination of the three. Alo, you gain four types of experience, physical, used to become a better warrior, skill, used to become a better archer/thief, magic, used to become a better mage, and general, which can be used any way you see fit. Instead of levelling up, you use experience to buy stat increases to shift your character any-which-way. Also, there's the good and evil system. This isn't done exceptionally well, but you gotta love slaughtering whole villages, buying all there homes, then collecting rent off 'em when they respawn a couple days later.

Now, the bad news. This game is horribly unbalanced. It took me less than an hour to find three glitches that gave me all the money and skill experience I'd ever need. On top of that, potions are so accessible that you effectively have infinite health/mana, and even if you do die, you can carry up to nine Resurrection Phials which bring you back when you die. Problem three in this broken game. Spells. Some spells are simply ridiculous. Slow Time pretty much paralyzes all enemies while you beat the snot out of 'em. Enflame can deal huge damage over a huge area and knock baddies down, leaving you nigh untouchable as you burn 'em into oblivion. Worst of all, there's physical shield. This one turns HP damage into MP damage, and blocks stun/knockdown, so your attacks won't be interrupted. With the nearly endless supply of mana potions, it leaves you untouchable. On top of that, the battle system's pretty bland. Block. Roll. Cast. Strike. Block. Shoot. Bleh.

OVERALL: 6/10
It's a fun slaughter game, since your character becomes so ridiculously powerful that nothing's a challenge anymore. Other than that... Meh.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 02/08/06