Fable

Fable is a first-rate RPG that will have fans of the genre more than happy

Fable was a long time coming, and designer Peter Molyneux promised a great deal for his “Project Ego” as the hype machine built up a full head of steam. Well, Fable is finally here. No, it does not quite live up to the hype of being an end-all RPG that the player can do literally anything in and play forever while developing a character as good or evil, but it is nonetheless a compelling experience that any real Xbox RPG fan is going to have to play.

Few would debate the genius of Peter Molyneux. If the man had done nothing else but Populous he would still be a giant in the industry. In Populous, Molyneux made us gods. We controlled entire worlds in every way possible. In Fable the world has shrunk a bit. You are god to only one person, but the choices the player makes as god will determine how life goes for one orphan boy.

At its heart, Fable is a rather plain, somewhat short, action RPG. What sets it apart is the building of the character through his life. Very early in the game there are no real choices. Every game starts out with the same dark-haired, Caucasoid, human boy in the village of Oakdale within the land of Albion and a bandit attack that leaves him orphaned, found by a member of the Hero Guild, and taught the use of weapons by said guild. There is no character generation at all. No choice of male or female. (My wife was pissed!) No race selection. I am supposing this was a conscious decision so all differing character attributes would be obtained as the game progresses – and character differentiation will happen.

One of the features that was most touted leading up to the release of Fable was its “alignment” system. At its most basic, an alignment between good and evil. Having your folks murdered or carried off by bandits can make for a pretty messed up childhood. Who could really blame you if you had a few violence issues, right? Or perhaps the experience has left you with a hyper-developed sense of justice and vengeance upon the wicked. The player gets to decide. And that decision will affect how the player’s avatar is reacted to. If the player has done many good deeds and protected the weak, crowds will applaud and sing his praises when he walks into a town, women will find him attractive and all will welcome him. If, on the other hand, the player has stolen, bullied and sacked a few villages, people will scatter when he comes into town and he will not be liked.

The actual physical appearance of the character will change too – fair to look upon if good, horned and foul if bad. The appearance of the character also changes based on the decisions the player makes in leveling up his character. There are three areas in which the player may level up his character: strength, skill and will. If the strength attributes of the character are highly developed, the character will appear strong and burly. If skills are concentrated on, the character will be quicker and appear more lithe. Will is the ability to use magic and building it up makes the character take on the appearance of one older and wiser than his years.

Leveling up is accomplished by engaging in combat. Both general experience points and area-specific experience points are gained during combat. If the player defeats an opponent with magic, points are awarded in both general and will areas. Once a player earns a sufficient number of experience points, he must return to the guild hall to actually use them to level up.

It is also at the guild hall where the player receives quests. A merchant may request an escort through some dangerous woods or a town may need some help. It is pretty conventional stuff really: go to point ‘A’, kill bad guys, protect, etc.

Combat is probably the most pedestrian aspect of the game. Weapons fall into melee, ranged and magic varieties. There is a fair assortment of melee weapons to be had, but an axe and sword of similar power really behave the same so one is as good as another. Most melee combat is simply pushing the X button a lot. A couple of blocks thrown in and the unblockable B button attack, when charged, rounds it out. It gets a bit repetitive. Ranged weapons are a little more complex. The left trigger locks onto an enemy, holding the X button pulls the bow (the longer the button is held the more damage is done), and releasing it sends the arrow on its way. Magic can be purely offensive or it can be used to augment a melee or ranged-weapon attack. Unlike so many games, Fable’s lock-on feature actually works rather well. The control scheme is very well thought out and makes excellent use of the Xbox S-controller.

In addition to going out there and working on the main quest, our hero can also do things like flirt with the girls, get married, play cards at the local tavern and just explore if he wants to. Of course one of the problems of the game is that the world is just not that expansive. You’ll see many of the same places a lot. That is not to be mistaken for saying the world is not deep. There are many people to talk to and interact with. The place is alive. There are many things to do. In a way it has Sims-like elements to it.

In areas of graphic and audio, Fable is triple-A all the way. Characters move and react well. The environment is alive with detail and movement. Sound is always appropriate for the situation and the voice acting (both cut scene and in-game dialogue) is well done.