by Zac - September 27, 2004

If you followed the years of hype, you�re probably going to be disappointed with Fable. It�s not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination; it�s just not the genre defining title or the super-revolutionary epic it was supposed to be.

Starting Small

In Fable, you begin as a small boy who forgot to buy his sister a birthday present. After doing various deeds, good, evil, or both, to obtain enough money to buy your sibling something at the last minute, your town is ransacked and burned to the ground by bandits. Fortunately, the game doesn�t end early, and you�re saved by a mysterious wizard who brings you to the Heroes Guild. There, you learn the basic skills needed to become a � you guessed it � hero. After going through childhood and adolescence (a few hours at most), you graduate and are given the choice of either doing quests or exploring.

No matter what you choose, as soon as you leave the Guild building, it becomes evident that Fable is not the free-roaming Morrowind-esque RPG many expected it to be. The world of Albion is broken into a few dozen football-field sized areas, most of which have one or two paths which you cannot leave due to either natural obstacles or fences. Consequently, Albion is quite small, but I must admit that it didn�t feel small until the end of the game. Early on, the size of the world is unknown and your character isn�t strong enough to follow every werewolf occupied path, creating an intangible sense of space.

If instead of exploring, you decide to take a quest, you have a few options. Often, the same quest is playable from opposing sides. For example, I had the choice of either protecting a farm from raiders or being one of the raiders. After choosing either a good or an evil quest, you have the option to make boasts. Boasts are essentially bets. Examples including boasting that you can complete the quest without wearing protective gear, getting hit, or using weapons. If successful, boasts will add a little extra gold to your pocket and rapidly increase the rate in which you rise to fame in the Fable world.

Unfortunately, fame is somewhat inconsequential. Aside from simply having people cheer you, the biggest effect of increased positive renown is the way which potential husbands and wives treat you. By the end of the game, if you�re a respectable looking person, you merely have to speak to someone for them to fall in love with you. Even men will fall head-over-heels in love if they see you flex your muscles. There are entire towns of people who would gladly hop in the sack with my character if they had the chance, though you can only do the dirty deed with those you are married to (the screen goes black and you hear some moaning).

Speaking of marriage, it�s a fairly costly affair, with one or two exceptions, and typically isn�t worth the effort. Most potential partners are poor, so their dowries are pretty small. Likewise, you have to buy a marital home, which costs thousands, and if you want it to look nice, you need to spend about $10,000 on renovations. As a feature it�s unnecessary, superficial, and almost entirely pointless. It should�ve been fleshed out or scrapped altogether. Currently, it�s worth about 5 minutes of amusement. The only upside is that if you�re divorced and your ex leaves, you can rent out the home and get some extra income. Players can put together a small fortune if they own enough property. And if you�re so inclined, you can kill other landlords, buy their homes, and rent them out. I practically own an entire town.

And this is really where the sandbox element of Fable comes to play. The world of Albion revolves around you and reacts to you. Your actions have noticeable and often immediate effects on the game world. Kill a lot of traders? Help out bandits? Merchants won�t be getting many shipments, won�t have a lot to sell you, and their prices will go up. Kill enough innocents and after awhile people will simply run away from you. But maybe you�re not comfortable with murder. If you want the nice ax at the store but don�t want to hack up the shopkeeper to get it, get the merchant to follow you into the woods. Then get him drunk, leave him, and go back to his now unoccupied store. There�s a temporary five finger discount. But don�t get caught by nearby patrolling guards or you�ll be fined. And if you�re caught making trouble frequently, you�ll be kicked out of town and hated by the populace. Your wife might even leave you.

But towns and townsfolk aren�t the only people that react to your actions, you react to your actions. In Fable, your character�s appearance changes with his morality. Noble and honest characters will eventually end up with a halo, while malevolent characters will sprout horns and will be surrounded by a mist. Neutral characters typically look normal.

Ethics aren�t the only influence on his appearance. Faded battle scars may practically cover your character by the time you�re done with the game, with optional tattoos and different hairstyles to add a personal touch. In addition, your character will age, though extraordinarily quickly. I went from 18 to 50 in around 12 hours. Eventually your character may begin to go bald, and the frequent use of magic causes your character to age even more quickly, though giving tribute to the gods can temporarily reverse the aging process.

It�s fortunate that Fable can easily distract you with side-quests, sandbox elements, exploration, and treasure hunts because the main quest is surprisingly short. I�d estimate that if you really rushed through, you could beat the game in as little as eight hours. I took my time and it only took me eleven. The story simply lacks major plot-extending twists and as a game Fable is generally very easy. Health potions are a dime a dozen, most enemies are either stupid or run on patterns, and even some fairly low level magical spells all but cripple your enemies. Consequently, even with all the extra quests and items, Fable tops out at somewhere between 20 and 25 hours.

Hack up a Werewolf, and look good doing it.

Visually, Fable generally looks very good. The fantasy-themed artistic design effectively creates a wonderful atmosphere. Partially influenced by the English country-side, Albion has a look which suggests a deep and interesting history. With the remnants of some great stone buildings, old and run-down roads through the woods, and a huge artistic emphasis on creating mystical aspect to nature, Fable has a surreal beauty that is rarely found in most videogames.

Unfortunately, the characters aren�t quite as impressive as the environments. While you look great and your enemies look good, the generic merchants and townsfolk are pretty plain. Some of the close-ups of characters reveal pretty bland textures and unimpressive faces.

"It's chicken chaser!"

Fable�s audio is good but not great. Some superb classical themed orchestral music, composed by Danny Elfman, plays in the background and switches style and tone when the situation changes, but there�s a lack of variation in the voice acting. What�s there is nice; well delivered dialogue and some pretty diverse voices (mostly British, but a cockney East Londoner doesn�t sound like someone from Liverpool), but there simply aren�t enough phrases for characters to deliver. Going through villages is almost an annoyance after awhile. The generic filler characters spew the same lines constantly, and if you have a bad nickname (such as Chicken Chaser), the problem is compounded. Fortunately, you can buy new nicknames for the masses to yell when you walk by. "Arseface" is my favorite, though there are serious nicknames for people who are not as juvenile as myself.

The Bottom Line

While Fable is not quite the revolutionary game it was supposed to be, it�s undeniably fun and has enough quirky moments to keep it memorable. The biggest problem is not the experience, but the brevity of the experience. $50 is a lot of money for 20 hours, so some people may want to wait until Fable becomes a platinum hit and drops to 20 bucks.