Fable

As long as the XBox has been on the gaming scene, Peter Molyneux’s vaunted uber-RPG has been one of the most hotly debated and anticipated titles for the console.  The game has gone through multiple name changes, beginning with “Project Ego” and ending with its current title, Fable.  Much like names for the game have come and gone, so have some of its coolest features, like competition with other heroes throughout the game (while this is still here to a degree, it is really more of a story element than a gameplay one), the mass crowds following your hero and a couple other key points.  In fact, in many ways, Fable is a pretty straightforward action RPG.  However, the extra elements that the developers were able to deliver are excellent, and Fable certainly ranks as one of the best games on the XBox.

Fable puts you in the shoes of a young boy whose father is killed and mother and sister are kidnapped by a band of rogue bandits.  You are then whisked away to the Heroes’ Guild, where your character is trained in the elements of combat and magic, in order to mold you into a hero capable of avenging your family.  After this point, the story is completely up to you.  You can create your hero however you see fit, either making him the savior of the world, a horrible tyrant, or a number of choices in between.

Creating and developing your character depends on a variety of factors.  For example, your preferred method of combat will have effects on your character’s attributes and physical appearance. If you complete missions by using brute force, attacking enemies profusely with blunt or edged weapons, then your character will be more of a barbarian type who is powerful and skilled at taking enemies out in close range.  Your character will also appear more beefy, with big huge muscles and will be able to wield heavy weapons like greatswords.  If you take on a lot of physical damage and are constantly hit by enemies, then you will receive battle scars on your body and face.  On the other end of the spectrum, if you use a lot of magic, then your character will become decrepit and will age quickly, unable to perform arduous physical combat, yet very adept in spellcasting.
 

The main concept behind Fable is creating a hero and having him interact with the world at large.  As you complete missions and defeat enemies, you will gain renown points.  These will increase your infamy and give you a reputation throughout the land.  This has a great effect on how people perceive you; as you become famous, people will cheer you on when you enter an area, they will remember your title, women will fall in love with you.  In order to gain more renown and money in missions, you can also choose to Boast, which will impose a handicap on your character that will raise the stakes, making the mission more difficult, but will also increase your reward.  These handicaps include completing a mission naked, finish a mission without being hit and so on.  Morality also plays a key role in this, as the more good deeds you perform, you will be seen as a true hero (and your character will physically appear as such) and people will respect you (however, the concept of children emulating your hairstyles as you become famous was dropped during development).  In turn, if you are an evil character performing evil deeds, then people will fear you and likely try to not get on your bad side.  In fact, you will appear quite devilish the worse you act, sprouting horns and bloodshot eyes.

The combat system is pretty simple to grasp, but tough to master.  You can equip a melee weapon like a sword and a longbow or crossbow and switch between them by using the Black and White buttons.  The targeting system is easy to understand, although oftentimes you are surrounded by hordes of enemies, making it unnecessary and even detrimental to use the single-foe targeting method.  Blocking and rolling are also performed by using the Y button.  If you can string together a series of attacks without being hit by enemies, then you can build up your combat multiplier, which allows you to perform unblockable special attacks. 

Aside from performing missions, there are many other methods of gameplay that you can do.  Once you get a fishing pole, you can go throughout the land and fish, which is a good way to find secret items like keys as well as get fish, which are a good means of sustenance for regaining health points.  You can also flirt with women, and even take on wives and buy real estate.  In order to appear attractive to women, you can go to a barber and get a haircut and facial hair trim or go to a tattoo artist and get either face or body tattoos.  It is also often necessary to shower women with gifts like chocolates or precious jewels in order to get them to fall in love with you.

As I stated earlier, some of what appeared to be Fable’s coolest features have disappeared in the game’s development.  The competitive gameplay element between your character and other heroes throughout the land is missing.  There are no longer other heroes in the area vying to complete your missions before you can, although there are some competition missions in which you must face off against a rival from your training days at the Heroes’ Guild.  In addition, you cannot amass a huge following regardless of how famous you become, while you can get certain people to follow you depending on how persuasive you are.

The graphics in Fable are fantastic.  The level of artistry and attention to detail is excellent, as the huge world of Albion is fully realized.  The villages and environments each have their own unique sense of atmosphere.  The character models have a great cartoony look to them; yet maintain a high level of maturity and individuality.  The lighting effects add a lot to the game’s fantasy aesthetic, as glowing fairies, explosive magic and burning fires add to the game’s look.  The lighting is done using a bloom technique similar to that in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, which looks great.  The framerates are pretty stable, although there are a few bouts of slowdown when the onscreen action gets too intense.

The sound effects also sport a high degree of polish.  The British voice acting is very well done, and there is a ton of written dialogue that will change depending on how you raise your character.  The music is fantastic and does an excellent job of setting the overall mood of the game.  The rich, orchestral soundtrack features a song by Danny Elfman of Beetlejuice, Batman and the Simpsons fame.

Fable is a great RPG game. While some of the mission elements are a little more straightforward than most of us were hoping, and the competitive edge of other heroes throughout the land is all but gone, the final result is still a deep and engaging action RPG that any XBox gamer should be proud to own.

Gameplay: 9.5
Granted, many of Fable’s hot announced features have fallen by the wayside, but that doesn’t mean that what is here is not gold.  The character development features are fantastic.  You can control nearly all aspects of your character’s development, and thusly how the outside world perceives him.  Much like in other RPG’s where morality comes into play (Knights of the Old Republic comes to mind) your characters good and evil actions will have an effect on how he looks, how people will react to him when he enters a village, and many other factors.  Your character also has an unnatural amount of things that you can do outside of the main quest, as in perform side quests in order to build your reputation, which in turn allows you to have more people recognize you and more ladies will fawn over you (allowing you to marry them if you choose).

Leveling up is a snap once you get the hang of it.  You collect experience points and can distribute them as you see fit at the Heroes’ Guild, although you will gain special distribution points for using either a lot of magic, archery or melee combat that will allow you to level up in those areas, resulting in a definite change in your character’s physical appearance.

The combat system is simple to understand and grasp, but tough to master.  Switching between magic, ranged and melee combat is done quickly on the fly and feels very fluid, and blocking and rolling is simple to perform.

All in all, there is a lot to love in Fable’s gameplay.

Graphics: 9.3
Fable’s world of Albion is a beautiful fully realized work of art.  The environments are lush and full of incredible detail, and the level of artistry in the environments and characters would not seem out of place in a high-budget animated feature film.  The lighting effects use a bloom system similar to Prince of Persia: Sands of Time or Deus Ex: Invisible War, resulting in an excellent level of lighting ambience and fantastic spell effects.  The only problems were a few bouts of slowdown in an otherwise smooth framerate.

Sound: 9.2
The sound effects are great, with fine voice acting and a rich musical score, including the title theme composed by Danny Elfman of Hollywood fame.  There is a ton of recorded voice effects as well, although some phrases are noticeably repetitive.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
If you blow through the main quest without doing any side quests (which should take you about 10-15 hours), then you probably will find Fable to be a walk in the park.  However, if you explore the real meat of the game (the side quests and alternative methods of gameplay), then this will increase both your time playing Fable as well as the challenge level by a bunch. 

Concept: 9.4 
While a lot of the initial concepts optioned in Fable’s development are MIA, the features that Molyneux and crew were actually able to pull off are great.  The game is pretty light on story elements, but that shouldn't prevent anyone from having a great time.

Overall: 9.4
Okay, so Fable isn’t quite the “best RPG of all time” as Peter Molyneux initially stated it would be, but it’s still a fantastic game that will undoubtedly impress any XBox gamer.  You shouldn’t go into Fable expecting the overall depth of a game like Morrowind, but if you approach Fable with an open mind, then you should love it the way that I do.