"Fable - An RPG with Life"

Fable

Since the release of this game, and a significant time before, many have heard of Fable as the game that would define the next generation of RPG gaming for the best. Promised to be packed full of secrets, surprises, and new gameplay elements to attract the eye of gamers across the globe. With nearly 4 years of development, a developer who has previous jaw dropping titles, and plenty of ambition, Fable expectations were, from the beginning, extremely high. Without living in a world of could haves and supposed to's, I'm going to give this game as unbiased a score as possible, and not dabble in what others see as broken promises. This may not be the game that sells XBox consoles, or makes fanboys in every city and state, but this is a game that definitely demands our respect and attention. If you are looking for a detailed and lengthy review for one of the most anticipated games of all time, than your search is over.

The story begins as you, a young child, are sent out by your father to collect money by doing good deeds around your town, since it's your sisters birthday and you have neither a gift, nor money to get one. From the very start you can see where Big Blue Box was going with the idea of freedom. You see, not everything has to be done one certain way every single time, as most games are. You don't always have to be the good guy trying to make it in a world of bad guys. In one scenario, your young lad wonders into some business he shouldn't have, namely a man chatting up a woman who was not his wife. The man is, of course, worried his wife may discover his whereabouts due to the nosey little brat who watched his every evil move, so he will already face you with a dilemma: Will you take the money he offers you as a kickback, so that you don't tell about his cheating ways, or do you do the good thing, and alert his wife? You must keep in mind you need the money for your sister, but committing bad deeds will earn you a bad reputation. Maybe you'll take his money, and alert his wife? The call is all yours! This is one of the best gameplay elements to date, freedom to choose. Not every quest and action in this game has a choice, some things are relevant for you to take the good way out to continue the story, some are optional, but most of the time you will have to make your own decisions. Not just everything in the game where you have the option to choose is so minor as the cheating husband, which you will soon discover.

Well, soon enough you make enough money to buy your sister a gift, and present it to her. She thanks you, and you start home with her, but then all of a sudden something horrible happens. The town is being invaded by a large group of evil bandits! People are slaughtered left and right, and your sister and mother are to be taken hostage. From that point on you are saved by Maze, the leader of the Heroe's Guild, and he takes you under his wing just as a bandit makes his way to cut your throat like everyone else. This is where the story of how one night changed this boys life forever, you are now a part of the Guild, training your life away for the day that you may take revenge on those who wronged you, your village, and most important, your family...

The story is very cliched in some areas, and completely original in others. Expect some huge plot twists, and then some 'Well I kinda figured that...' emotions as you play through. In the main quest, you will soon see that the story to the entire world of Albion, the setting for everything in the game, is very complex. Surprises await you at many corners, whereas some corners you just sulk in boredom. The cutscenes are great, and the storybook scenes are a very nice touch. The best way to describe the story is, as the game is promptly called, a Fable. It's really hard to score such a title on its story, as many people have mixed emotions. Best left judging that yourself.

The graphics area is usually dead on, with a few areas of ugly scattered through, but those are very rare. The biggest issues with the graphics are glitches, and framerate. There is some notable slowdown when you run into very populated areas, or when lots of things are going on all at once, but this is few and far between. The glitches are also a rarity, but can sometimes boggle your mind with a game that spent so long in development. Once in awhile the textures for the ground will appear so low and you will actually walk through things like hills, but it's nothing a quick pause in the game can't fix, or just simply wait it out for a second. The details to your character, whether it be scars, tattoos, haircuts, or just admiring him is something to see. You can see the ripples in his muscles, gashes from battles across his face, or the shiny armor he just bought and had to try on. There are quite a few character models for the game, but these are usually only story important NPC's. Expect to see around 6 of the same models for an entire village full of people. Good news is, though, most villages have some varying to the way the villagers look. The spell and battle animations are a thing of real beauty! Never before has lightning, fireballs, or the swing of a blade looked so nice! In one rainy town the flicker of lightning will brighten the sky and all the surroundings to an almost blinding white, and it is definitely a sight to see. The developers really wanted to use the raw power the XBox has to offer, and it shows. Hats off to Big Blue Box in the graphics department!

As far as the sound goes,the very least I could say is it's decent, and probably better than that. There are some really nice tracks to accompany the games mood. The opening score by Danny Elfman is wonderful, and every other track really sets the tone for the area you're in. Walk into a graveyard and you don't hear music that Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck would dance around to at Disney World. Instead, you hear a very dreary, almost scary song kick in, and you know what lies ahead cannot possibly be good for you. While I was in the graveyards, you music itself would literally scare me into watching the surrounding very carefully! Likewise in towns a nice song would settle in and you knew you were home, safe from the horrors of battle. Also, battle music, although little selection, is done nicely. You know to drop the gloves and go at it when the music sets in. The clanging of blades hitting together has been done before, and I can't say much about them improving on that, but other things will have you in awe in front of your speakers. The booming of thunder, the thud of bodies dropping, and even the screams of villagers or war cries from bandits is done very well. Also, the British language this game is done in is not only excellent, but something about the accent altogether gives this game a storybook feeling. Every single word a NPC has to say in this game is spoken, from hello, to the comments on your armor, to the terror and trembling in their voices as they cower before you. The sound department earned my seal of approval.

The controls in this game are what's going to hurt it the most I would imagine. Not that the controls are horrible, they really aren't, but sometimes the placement can actually make your life harder than it already is. There is nothing worse than doing an escort mission, making it nearly there, and using auto target on what you thought was the next enemy, only to discover it was the trader you were escorting who just ate the wrong end of your sword. The auto targeting could definitely seek an improvement for the better, and the magic isn't much, if any better. Holding down the R trigger while auto aiming with the L trigger, pushing X and dodging rocks from a troll with the left thumbstick seriously takes some time to master. Likewise using magic and auto target while friendly folks are around usually results in a crispy to well done trader or two. Sneaking takes on a whole new meaning, as pushing down on the left thumbstick and moving with it at the same time is actually harder than it sounds. I won't completely bash the controls, as I said they aren't horrible, and other than those issues above are very simple and easy to use, they're just far from perfect. Hopefully if there's a sequel or this 1.5 I keep hearing about, the controls will be re-done in a more trader friendly way.

Now comes the lengthiest portion of my review, the gameplay element. I am very confident saying that although many things in Fable have been done before in other games, this is ONE game that manages to bring what 5 games separately still often can't bring to the table. Just about everything is possible, from marriage, to sex, divorces, to shedding the blood of the innocent is all here. Yes you can marry, but it's not nearly as simple as "You're my wife because I said so!" You actually have to win your lover or lovers over.Though this game is not as detailed in the art of relationships as the Sims, it still takes some time and effort on your part. Using your expressions such as flirting, posing, or showing off muscles helps you impress your potential bride, and things like farting, burping, swearing, or all around vulgarity will most likely drive her away. Want to win a town over? Go to the bar when it's packed and show off a cool trophy. Got a girl you thing would look nice in your new marital home? (Which is required to marry) Give her a box of chocolates and a rose! Eventually you'll have to man up to commitment, and buy her a ring. When you marry, your stuck with her. You can have sex with your wife, keep impressing her and showering her with gifts, or neglect and abuse her. Ignore her wishes and beat her up, and you'll soon discover she can do better than you, and divorce you just as quickly as she married you. Tired of your wife? Lead her into the wild and let the beasts of the wilderness take care of her, or simply do the job yourself!

Buying houses for your personal living or a new real estate business has been done too. The customization for your houses is small, all you can really do is upgrade the looks, which you have no control over, and hang trophies in them. If you don't see the point of having 4 houses in one village, that's fine, sell them or rent them to others, making money either way.

Weapons are another strong and weak point of this game. Weak because there aren't as many to choose from as you'd like, and only two categories, melee and ranged, to choose from. Also the variations aren't as large as you would think. You can have the same weapon made out of different metal for a stronger or weaker effect, but all in all it's the same weapon. Not to say that there isn't a good variety, plus whatever special weapons you can find, but there could have been more. The game shines though when you have the choice to augment the weapons to your liking, with stones that empower the weapon of choice with powers. This is a great way of saying 'My sword was great before, but look at it now!' Where magic is concerned, you will be very pleased. Out of only 16 spells, you'll more than likely find a few you absolutely must have.

Levelling up is also a good point, although not as detailed and conventional as most RPG's are. You can choose between three categories, Strength, Skill, and Will, and all these categories have more subcategories to choose between. If you want a very fast archer who is resistant to damage, Speed, Accuracy, and Toughness are what you want to invest your hard earned experience, but if you would like to be Merlin, you'll likely spend a good chunk of it in the Will area buying and beefing up spells. Levelling up can make you anything you want to be, whether it's an archer, warrior, or mage, and it does a great job of doing so.

The combat of this game takes another unconventional approach to RPG games and introduces more hack n' slash than anything. This certainly isn't your typical turn based fighter. Combat could have been a bit deeper, but it serves its purpose. You can use magic, shoot from a distance, or go gung-ho into the battle swords and axes flying. Melee is a bit disappointing, and the flourish option, or the move that hits hard with a button push when available, is melee attackings only saving grace. Melee consists of hit, block, or flourish, leaving lots to be desired in between. Lets talk about the enemies for a second. There is a good variety in them, and they are polished nicely. It's unfortunate that after saying that, I must add you'll fight the same enemy type many times over throughout the game, and the ones you enjoyed fighting, who took some skill and strategy fighting, are more scarce. None of the games many foes are overly tough, which makes some people question the game, not even the bosses. To top that off having 100 health potions and 9 resurrection vials means you should never see the "Game Over" screen anytime throughout your quest.

Alignment is something that has only been implemented into one other game I know of, and that game is Black & White, who Peter Molyneux, the brains behind Fable, was also in charge of. The alignment is very simple really, and needs no huge detailed explanations, you do good things your alignment goes good, evil deeds makes your character bad, simple right? Well now lets complicate and add depth to it, shall we? Wearing certain haircuts, tattoos, and clothes will affect your alignment, and also the way others react to you. Where dark plate armor and walk around covered in tattoos, and people will run from you out of fear, and you character will also morph to look evil, by balding and casting red eyes. Likewise, where bright armor and your player will attract many people with cheers and whistles, and a bright halo and white hair appear over your head to reflect how good of a guy you are. Yes I said it, people react to your player. Everything gives everyone an opinion of you. Slaughter people in a town and they'll learn to fear you, and run like hell at the site of your shadow, but if you go to the next town, help people out, and show off trophies from all the good things you've done, they'll rejoice at your arrival. This is one of the most beautiful things about Fable. The world doesn't revolve solely around you, but you are a major mart in it. Sometimes people notice you, sometimes they go on about there business completely oblivious to your presence. It's remarkable to have a child walk up to you and call you Mr. Ugly Face because of the ugly scar that runs down your face. Gameplay goes on and on, but for the sake of your boredom, we will just stop and say that the gameplay is a huge plus for everything involving Fable.

So when it's all said in done, Fable is without a doubt, a game every XBox owner should play, and play with pride. It makes owning a 'Box so much better, and gives you something to be proud of in your console. Sure, the game has its downfalls, but what game isn't without its own small faults? Though the game isn't incredibly long, and some things could use a polish, I would highly recommend a purchase if possible, and at the very least a rental for as long as you're allowed. This game brings ideas to the gaming industry that will hopefully set a few standards in the way games are made. Though the developers didn't make well on all their promises, the promised a great game and they delivered, and when you get down to it, isn't that what we all wanted?

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/28/04