Fable: The Lost Chapters

"Grand Theft Auto--RPG style!"

Fable was one of the most highly anticipated Xbox games to ever come out. Apparently it was in development for years and years, gloating that it would be the best, most open-ended RPG ever. From what I hear, it was great, but not quite the masterpiece Lionhead said it would be. As you can probably tell, I've never played the original Fable, only the Platinum Hits version, which was dubbed "The Lost Chapters." To help make up for it's faults before, TLC has added loads of new goodies for anyone wanting to give Fable a second chance (or in many cases, a first chance). Believe it or not, this review is not going to be based on how good or bad Fable was. I have never played the original.

STORY:
You begin your story as a young boy in the quaint village of Oakvale. Your father tells you to go buy your sister a birthday present, chocolates preferably. When you can spare the three gold pieces to buy some, you bring them to her, only to witness your entire village being raided by bandits, among other unknown forces. Oakvale in flames, you find your father dead and your mother and sister nowhere to be found. A strange man, Maze, walks up to you and takes you to the Hero's Guild, where he and the Guildmaster raise you for the next many years to become, well, a hero.

From that point on, you will grow older, get stronger, and maybe become the most powerful being in the world. You must take on quests requested by the people of Albion, and choose whether you will do good or evil. Everything you do has a consequence... Will you help the soldiers block the bandits from entering the village, or will you aid the bandits and kill all the soldiers? It's your choice, Hero.

But what about yourself? You have personal problems too. What has become of your sister and mother? Why does Maze favor you so much over all the other heroes? Your own personal story will keep you intrigued to keep playing through TLC. There is a lot going on regarding story in TLC, and it is done very nicely. It will be a bloody tale of love, evil, betrayal, and utter shock. Fantastic.
STORY: 9.5/10

GRAPHICS:
The world of Albion is huge. There are lots of people, places and things spread throughout it. Albion itself looks brilliant, with beautiful towns, forests, mountains, and seas to admire. The ripple effects on water look amazing, as does the shading on the ground regarding houses, trees, etc. Albion is definitely one of the most beautiful looking worlds out there. I can't get even handle it, dude.

The people also look great, especially yourself. The cookie-cutter NPCs may not please many players, but remember... they're NPCs. The Hero looks the best, though. You can immediately notice when you change clothes/armor, or when you get a new haircut or tattoo. Since he also ages, when he gets older you'll start noticing his greying hair, battle scars, and wrinkling skin, which is really neat.

I had one huge problem though: with all this detail in Albion, occasionally bad framerate is inevitable. It was far too obvious not to notice as you run through a town, seeing the Hero go into slo-mo. Even when there wasn't a lot going on, framerate could get messed up. It got pretty annoying when it happened, but I guess it's understandable because of all the incredible detail they put into TLC.
GRAPHICS: 9/10

SOUNDS:
Well there is no doubt that the music in TLC is fantab-a-lous. The music is fully orchestral, and it sounds great. At times I wanted to just stay in certain areas so the music could keep playing.

The voices are also very well-done, though the British accents kind of bugged me. Okay, just because this is a fantasy game doesn't mean that the characters HAVE to be British. Are they IN England? No, they're in a fantastical world called Albion. Why do people do this? Sure, British accents are sexy, but... Okay, yeah. That's reason enough.

One thing that really bothered me was the constant yelling of the villagers, specifically when you were a "good" hero. Sure, it's great being famous, but I can only stand hearing 20 people yelling "YAYYYYY!!!" at me 24/7 for so long. At least when you're evil or really ugly people stay away from you.

As for the sound effects, they sounded nice too. Bowstrings stretching, swords clashing, footsteps, and water trickling all sounded very nice. This would be great in surround sound.
SOUNDS: 8.5/10

GAMEPLAY:
The world of Albion is yours to explore. There are so many things to do here, it can get overwhelming at times. First and foremost is the Heroes Guild, where you build your strength and get your quests. To receive a new Quest Card, you go to the center room in the guild and see what there is for you to do. A silver quest means it's optional, and a gold quest means it's required to advance through Fable's story. Something that's really clever is your option to boast to Albion's people, declaring how you will perform the task at hand before you begin. For example, you can say that you will do the entire quest naked, and if you win the bet, you get additional cash. It's not necessary, especially because money isn't the biggest deal in TLC, but it never hurts to take a little chance.

When you're actually on your quest, you will most likely be asked to kill a lot of monsters/people. But they don't just ask you to “kill everything you see!” Most of the time it's something like “protect the village from bandits,” or “help out the guards” or “escort the young boy out of the cave.” A problem I had was that it was pretty much impossible to die—you had so many healing items and resurrection vials that you could go all out without fear. The only way you would fail a mission is if, say, the person you're escorting dies or you fail at something else. But I never ONCE got a game over.

To fight, you can use magic, a short-ranged weapon, or your bow and arrows. To fight short-ranged, you pretty much just press the A button, and occasionally you'll have an “extra-strong” attack. It's really shallow, but come on… beating down tons of people with your huge hammer? Can't go wrong there.

The bow is to be used for enemies that are at a distance. You hold the attack button to charge up, and when you feel it's ready, you release. The damage dealt is much higher than with a short-ranged weapon, but remember that it takes longer to use. Again, not much depth here at all, but it's pretty sweet nonetheless.

Magic has the most variety. You can attack enemies with it or aid yourself. I especially loved slowing down time, then beating the hell out of everyone with lightning-speed with one of my weapons. Other cool spells include fireballs, familiars, and the ability to possess your enemies to fight alongside you.

When you're not fighting, you're probably shopping for… whatever it is you heroes shop for—new hairstyles, clothing, tattoos, etc. Something awesome about Fable is that people will have different reactions based on how you dress and what you look like. So say you go shirtless, but are covered in tattoos with a hideous haircut… people will probably be disgusted with you. But say you wear some fancy clothing and have a nice clean shave, who knows? Maybe someone will fall in love with you! Yes, you can get married in Fable, and will be able to own a house (or houses… if you want multiple wives). Additionally, you don't have to marry a woman; you can marry a dude if you're into that. Oh, and impress your wife enough, and you might even get laid! You studly man, you. Oh speaking of which, sorry ladies… you can't be a “heroin” in this game. Only a hero. Hope you're cool with that.

Another big factor of TLC is time. You age in this game, whether you like it or not. Levelling up, going to sleep, and using magic all make you older. It actually happens much faster than you realize, and before you know it you're wrinkly and grey. Not that anything's wrong with that, it just may happen sooner than you want.

Besides your age and attire, always remember: you are what you eat. Or drink. Anyway, since eating food replenishes your health, you may be using it a lot. Meat has protein and fat, so eat a lot of it and you'll get pretty heavy. Eat carrots, and you'll be looking pretty good. Drink a lot of beer, and not only will your vision be incredibly blurred (drunkass!), but you'll also get yourself a nice beer belly.

And don't forget that you can be good or evil in this game. This will also change your appearance—if you're an “I love everyone!” hero, you'll have pretty eyes and may even get a halo above your head. If you're an “I HATE everyone!” hero, you'll have darker skin and could eventually grow devil horns on your head. These are all based on how you act. Want to kill your wife? Go for it! Want to escort the merchant through the scary forest? Awww, that's so sweet of you. Go ahead and fart in front of all the villagers, or pose for the paparazzi. Just remember that every little choice you make has a consequence.

As you can see, the world of Albion really IS yours. Do whatever you want, whenever you want. Be good, be evil, kill chickens, stand up against the guards, walk around in your birthday suit, go fishing, dig up graves, get wasted, get laid, get rich, get punished, etc. etc. and etc. Do whatever the HELL you want. That is what makes Fable: The Lost Chapters so amazing. Though the combat can be too shallow and the game is way too easy, TLC will provide you an incredible experience. You are the story, you make your decisions, you control the world around you. You are you—not Link, not Cloud, you are your own person. The options are limitless.
GAMEPLAY: 9/10

LASTING APPEAL:
Basically, you make this game as long as you want. Go ahead and only do the gold quests, beating the game within only a few hours. Or go ahead and milk out every last little drop of this game, which could last dozens of hours. Once again, it's completely up to you.

Something added in TLC is a huge event after the last battle, which is pretty sweet (though I'm not sure it's worth it for anyone who's already played the original).
LASTING APPEAL: 10/10

OVERALL:
Fable: The Lost Chapters, while not without its faults, is just short of revolutionary. A beautiful game both to play, listen to, and look at, TLC is one game that everyone should consider. Your story (or stories… you'll probably replay this many times) and how you progress through it will be an experience you will remember for a long time to come.
OVERALL: 9/10

Thanks for reading =)

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/04/06