Fable is no Fairy Tale!
Written: Sep 15 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Immersive game world, incredible details, massive choices
Cons: No female player character, voices hard to hear
The Bottom Line: Fun, easy to learn, great choices, groundbreaking graphics/gameplay, ABSOLUTE must have!
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| ravynwolfe's Full Review: Secret of Evermore for Super Nintendo (SNES) |
Fable is an incredible game for the Xbox just released yesterday ( September 14, 2004) and I was lucky enough to get to play right from the start. All the excitement surrounding this game was well placed. I’m not usually a console player, my cup of tea is in PC gaming but when I found out about Fable a year ago and that it was made by none other than Peter Molyneux of “Black and White” (see my review) fame I HAD to have it. Frankly I am in awe of this game! I played well into the night, much later than I should have for I am dragging my behind today.... THAT is the sign of a good game! I’ll try not to spoil the game for those who haven’t played yet.
Story:
The story is simple enough, or so we think. You are a young boy who must grow up quickly because of a family tragedy which effects your entire town. You learn the ways of the Hero and you grow and learn. The game gives you just enough story in just enough ways that you begin to form your opinion early on which path you’d like to take. It keeps you glued to the screen with it’s little teasers and bits of info here and there, VERY well written and very believable.
~~~Semi-spoiler~~
Your fun in the game starts when you’re very young, perhaps 10 or so. You’re a regular little boy in a simple quiet and peaceful village. Your father sends you on an errand to pick up your little sister outside of town. Because it’s her birthday you’re supposed to do some nice deeds for the people in town to earn one gold coin for each deed, and you can buy a gift for your sister. You are then faced with choice after choice, do you steal a farmer’s produce? Do you break into some one’s property and smash up their things or quietly stand guard like you promised to do? Do you tell on the cheating man or keep his secret and earn a gold coin? Do you kick the chickens that are SO begging to be kicked???? Choose wisely because word spreads quickly in this little town!
Each deed you do as a child and then an adult, either good or evil will earn you points in one direction or the other. Kick the chickens and you get evil points, find the lost teddy and return it to her owner and you get good points. Each choice will then effect the world around you, how NPC (non-player characters) treat you and will forever change your appearance. If you’re good you become handsome and charming and earn new social actions that will please those around you. If you are evil you will darken, your skin will crack and you may even get horns! People fear the evil ones and will treat you badly and give you terrible prices on items so BEWARE if you take this path. I of course, am completely evil, muwahahaha! I’m very proud of my “sneer” and “Middle Finger” gestures I’ve earned from being evil.
Gameplay / Learning Curve:
The learning curve is pretty short, even for someone who is not familiar with the Xbox controller (such as myself!) I’m used to keeping my hands horizontal using a keyboard and mouse, Fable requires use of the Xbox controllers forcing your hands into the vertical position. This is uncomfortable for me, but I got used to it pretty quick. For someone who is familiar with the controls of a console game this will be a breeze!
The controls are intuitive, I guessed right away how to move about without needing a tutorial on it. Movement is smooth and the controls are sensitive to every touch. The camera angles are a bit awkward, but I blame that on my lack of Xbox experience.
When fighting I tend to be a button masher so while I hone my skills I’m getting sore fingers, but each hour I play I get more and more efficient. I have newfound respect for those who can do the tricky moves in console games!
The in-game tutorial is a huge plus, you are able to learn at your own pace. You’re given the option to repeat any lessons you’d like to practice and also a chance to just wander around the training grounds before you venture off into the world. The tutorial continues even into the real world beyond the Guild’s gates, and that’s a good thing! There is so much to learn and so much to take in it’s nice to know you don’t have to learn it all in the first five minutes.
Quests are the meat and potatoes to Fable. You can pick and choose which you’d like to do. To even further customize your game experience you can choose to go the evil path or the good path right from the start of the game. For instance one of my missions was to help the people in the Orchard. I could either help the villagers protect their belongings OR I could choose to help the bandits steal the belongings!
There are required quests and actions that will take you through the game and there are side quests that simply enrich the playtime for you. You can play casino games and gamble, you can drink in the pubs and you can sit and do nothing but belch at passing people while prancing around in your underpants if that’s what makes you happy. I have had a great time slaying innocent peddlers while they travel from town to town. Take the side quests if you’d like to have some fun and don’t mind the game lasting longer or go all the way through and finish all the required quests and storylines without stopping to smell the roses (or slay the villagers!) Some of the side quests give you powerful rewards.... so I feel it is well worth the time to do some if not all.
A unique part of Fable is the ability to Boast. You accept a quest, then go outside the guild and stand on a platform. You are then able to boast in many ways how you’ll do in the quest. People will listen to you and if you succeed in your boast you earn more money, renown and respect/fear. For instance you can tell everyone you will do the quest without getting hurt, or you’ll do it completely naked! If you succeed you get the extra money and reputation on top of the basic reward for the quest.
Leveling up is a little different in Fable than other RPG games I”ve played. They’ve taken the usual “Kill-Ding (level up)- train-repeat” and modified it a bit. Now you get to kill, but you earn points towards different things. If you use magic you get ‘Will” points, if you use Melee you get a whole other kind of point and so-on. Then when you train up at the guild you get to choose where to spend all those points. Do you get new spells? Will you choose to improve your accuracy with the bow? Will you learn to beat the snot out of your enemies with a sword? How about sneaky skills, do you want to learn to be a thief? It’s all up to you!
Reputation will follow you everywhere you go. People will know your name, they will recognize you and they will comment on your past exploits. In the beginning I was called “Chicken Chaser” and I was harassed by the villagers I met. Of course my response to that was to fart in their direction or flip them the bird (fart is a basic command you have right from the start but I had to EARN the Bird!) After a while of hearing of my success and my adventures I was no longer teased, I could afford to buy a new title, I have been shown respect.... and fear. Of course I do have big horns coming out of my forehead....
Social behaviors are learned and earned, as I mentioned above I can now flip the bird anytime I like. I have also earned the ability to flirt. I’ve tried flirting with both men and women, while I am fully dressed or standing in my undies. You can eventually give gifts to people, romance them, get married and as I hear HAVE SEX! I haven’t gotten that far yet but it is possible to do.
The maps are ok, they show the basic info you need but that’s about all. They mark where you need to go with a gold spot, mark some friendly NPCs and some hostile ones. You can see where you’ve been and kind of get the feel for the environment. I am used to more detail in my maps though and I depend on them quite a bit so it’s tricky for me to get around.
Combat is intricate, well choreographed and FUN. You don’t just hit a button and auto attack. You have to aim, swing the sword, do flourish moves, block and parry. You must draw your bow back and HOLD to increase power, aim carefully but also balance accuracy with speed. You must power up your spells, hold the fireball in your hand longer and get MORE damage from it. The combat moves were well thought out and executed perfectly.
Keeping Score?
It isn’t a “score” in the traditional sense of the word as much as tracking your life. You are building a life story for all to hear about. All of your actions are carefully recorded, villagers will either respect, fear or laugh at you. They keep track of how many bandits you’ve killed, how many foes you’ve defeated, how many quests you’ve completed, how much money you’ve earned and spent, how much XP (experience points) you’ve gained and even some funny things like how many villagers you’ve killed, how far you’ve kicked the chickens, how many times you’ve puked, how many drinks you’ve had. You can get married, divorced, have sex and it will all be recorded. You can be straight or gay and it will also be recorded. Your life is truly and open book!
Graphics:
The graphics in Fable are stunning. The trees look like trees not paper cutouts. The leaves fall to the ground gentle as you pass. You see each grain of sand as you walk the path home. Every blood splatter, every arrow vane even the shine on your sword seems real. As I became more and more evil last night I started to lose my hair! I had a bald spot on the top of my head and as I ran, what little hair I had left on the sides of my head would bounce up and down with each step I took. You evolve and change physically to reflect your actions and the graphics keep up! Monsters are scary right down to the drool dripping from their mouths.
Audio:
The sound track is great. It has just enough presence to make you feel more “in” the game but not too intrusive. The voices are realistic and the acting has feeling. I recognize a lot of the voices and sound effects from Black and White and it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. Music matches the mood of the game, so combat music is pumping and exciting, wandering through the peaceful forest gives you sweet lilting music and in the pub you hear lively bands playing.
Who it’s for:
Fable is not for children, though I let my kids watch some of it. I would say the best age is 17 and over. It has adult themes and can be really scary for little kids. It has some blood, and it is fairly violent if you choose to play that way.
The Bad:
No matter how perfect and amazing a game is, there will always be bad points. The biggest point for me is the lack of a female character. I am a gamer chick and proud of it, yet I have no representation in this game. Fable is obviously geared toward the male players. I do consider this a bad point, I prefer to play female characters..... but it’s not bad enough to keep me from playing! It does hurt my enjoyment of the game a bit because the people in the game react to me as if I am a man. To better enjoy Fable and feel immersed in the world of Albion I would prefer a female equivalent.
Second bad point is the level of sounds. I can’t hear what the people are saying! I’ve turned down the music and cranked up the voices but still cannot hear them a lot of the time. A small flaw, but irritating none-the-less.
Final Thoughts:
The bottom line here is that Fable is all about choices. Just like in real life you have to make choices and those choices effect the world around you. They change the world, they change YOU and they change the people you interact with. Tattoos, haircuts and how you dress (or not dress) all effect the game. You must choose wisely because you must live with the consequences! There is so much I’d love to cover but I don’t want to ruin it all for you.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
ravynwolfe
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Member: Optycal
Location: Washington
Reviews written: 89
Trusted by: 28 members
About Me:
Mother of 3 homeschooled girls, author, dog breeder. http://www.almostnakedpups.com
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