Fable, aka "Project Ego" is an epic years in the making. Peter Molyneux promised us the quintessential RPG ex
Gameplay: Fable features a new system of advancement unheard of in previous RPG's. The idea that what you do effects who you are is a grand one and for the most part works well here. If you eat too much your character really will become fat and lazy. You will not be able to run far, and more than likely will puke if you over-exert yourself. However, if you spend your extra experience points towards the strength category, you will see a physically fit individual rise before you, capable of swinging enormous swords and handling any beast. This sort of general customization was nice, but the real fun part of Fable was the intricacies you could perform on your character. Getting a tattoo, depending on what kind and where you got it, could persuade many to either love or hate you, respect or fear you. There are advantages to every kind of emotion, but for the most part, keeping your character looking the way you are playing him is not that difficult. How good or evil your character becomes is determined by a point meter a la Knights of the Old Republic. If you go to the extremes you will see a huge change in your physical appearance. Become completely evil and behold a pasty white figure with red eyes and great horns protruding from his face, an aura of stench will envelope you and people will run screaming upon your arrival. Become holy and embody all that is right, and your skin will flourish with a natural tone, a halo will form over your head, and people will bow at the very sight of you. But how do you get to be evil or good without doing combat? One of the more ambitious design features of Fable is the virtual "social life" the game allows you to have. Want to get married? Find and court a lady, buy a house and shes yours. Get her divorce you and you will be given evil points. Little things like this add replay value to the game as every woman in Albion can be persuaded to join you, even the rich ones. The game is divided into zones. Molyneux promised a completely open ended world the likes of which had never been seen. Sadly, he lied. Each zone is somewhat small but has much going on in them. There are the standard RPG fare for enemies in each zone, enemies such as wasps and wolves abound. With tougher beings thrown around here and there for good measure, such as the rock golems. You level up in this game by experience points granted by the actions you perform. General experience is awarded for defeating enemies or discovering a new locale. The unique part about Fable are the Strength points, Skill points, and Will points. Defeat enemies with your sword or axe to gain strength, defeat them with magic to gain will. Selling your items or stealing successfully can grant you skill points. Each of these can be fully customized to help your character become unique. The experience points earned are multiplied by a "combat multiplier" Where if you kill an enemy while a certain number flashes on screen, you get your points earned multiplied by that number. This system works well. Fable doesn't quite fit the bill of an RPG, its combat is too fast paced. An action-rpg tag does this game justice. Everything plays entertaining enough, it just isn't what it could have been...
Graphics: The graphics in Fable are easily its highpoint. With a distinctly medieval style reminiscent of ancient Rome and Europe, it is easily recognizable and enjoyable. The character models look great. The boss characters especially. Men like TwinBlade are huge and hulking, their axes jagged and powerful, while characters like Jack of Blades are thin and creepy. The imagination behind this game is incredible, the Balverines are frightening and awsome at the same time. The Kraken and Arachanox are even better. Molyneux delivered on this aspect of the game. I would have really loved to see some more armor styles, as the plate armor you recieve at the end of the game is to easy to come by, but overall I have little gripes with the fashion available to my character. An amazing feature of the graphics are the appearence of scars, they really add a nice dimension of realism to this game. If you look into the distance you won't see much though, thats regrettable but easily attributed to the limitations of the system at the time. Fable is an extremely pretty game with its own unique art-style. you won't be disappointed here.
Sound: The music in this game all sounds medieval in tone. Composed by Russel Shaw, it does a good job of immersing you. The characters are all superbly well voiced. Each one has a distinct Cockney accent that will have most American players rolling with laughter, but might seem offensive to some who are actually living in London with this accent. The fighting is intense. Weapons striking armor has never sounded so good on the Xbox, you really believe you are fighting in a great battle.
Value: For what it promised to deliver, Fable was the supreme disappointment. It was in fact rated the disappointment of the year in 2004 by Gamespot. Molyneux promised gamers so much, and delivered very little of his original ideas to the game. Playing through Fable's 15-20 hour quest feels awfully fast. The game just doesn't last long enough. Many bought it to claim they had it, or with misinformation as their guide. I would like to think that they weren't COMPLETELY disappointed with the final product, but if you have done any reading on this game then you had an idea coming in of what to expect and this game just does not deliver. It does help to advance the WRPG genre in a few ways though, namely by providing a solid base and alternative method for character advancement not seen much in those days. The scope of the game is appreciated, it was just a victim of too many promises.
Tilt: I enjoyed Fable somewhat. It now collects dust in my collection, having never played through it more than once I can honestly tell you that I don't miss it. I was one who jumped on the train in this game's early stages. Project Ego was a dream of mine for over a year before its release. I bought the game anyway after hearing the lackluster reviews and had my fun with it. The game tried to be Morrowind with better graphics, instead I get a game sort of like KOTOR. While this is not entirely a bad thing, it just wasn't what I expected. These feelings of disappointment severely limited my enjoyment of this game. Would I suggest it to players as a must-buy? No, give it a rental. I'm almost positive you can see all there is to see here within a week.