Fable the Lost Chapters: A Review

When Lionhead Studios announced the original Fable I nearly jumped out the door to buy an Xbox just so I could play it. Being exlusively a PC Gamer for over a decade now clearly has it's advantages and disadvantages. With the original advertisement and brainstorming that was Fable, they were announcing to all of us that the entire world would change second by second and that everything you did would change (no matter how minutely) the world around you. Sounds pretty cool - in fact, when I think about it, that's the only reason I am into gaming. period. So it seemed like the perfect match.

The Graphics:

If you're really into World of Warcraft you'll probably find these graphics pleasing because they follow the same theme. They're a tad cartoony and tend to exagerate the pieces of armor that you equip, weapons, etc. This is by no means a bad thing - it's just there are basically two schools of thought. One would point out that gaming is supposed to make you feel like you're disconnected from reality, therefore your character is supposed to look outlandishly good. The other would say that having truly realistic graphics right down to the dirt and scratchmarks on a sword will pull the player in more. I for one side with the latter. That's why this game didn't score as high in the graphics department. It's not that they're bad - they're just not me. Like rap music. Still, the graphics are presented in a pleasing fashion, and can still be experienced on mid to low level PCs without losing too much. You do have to appreciate the movement and animation in the game. Everything looks crisp and fresh and for the most part it all meshes together pretty well. If you're not a graphical elitist most likely you won't have any qualms about this game's presentation.

The Gameplay:

So Fable is all about choices? I'll bite, and bite I did. There is truth to their claim, but after playing for a while I realized that the choices you make more closely resemble perks and sideshows. In other words the majority of them don't have very much to do with the game, if any. They're just things you can do to proclaim yourself incredibly evil or good just for the sake of being evil or good. Being good or evil does affect the outcome of the game in the long run, but that's just the problem. In a game that's main selling point is the ability of the player to make choices and affect the game in drastic ways, they fail to deliver. Nobody reacts in any big way to your slaughtering of townsfolk, or your stealing and that's a dissapointment. That being said, you'll still have a lot of fun hacking at bandits and blasting enemies with spells. Combat is very fluid, animations are great and the maps though fairly simple, are still very fun to explore. In conclusion, this game just plays out as a linear adventure as opposed to it's main selling point - a non linear action role playing game.

The Music:

Fable sounds great. The music does verge into the realm of cheesiness every great once in a while, but not all that often. Then again, you have to be into that sort of thing anyway to play the game. If I had to sum it up, I'd say the music matched the graphics. It's very boisterous and it calls your attention, unlike The Elder Scrolls Oblivion or any of the Final Fantasy Games. Come to think of it they could have implemented a few more orchestral tracks. It would help the game's image, and in turn, allow it to be taken a little bit more seriously by seasoned RPGers.

Overall:

Fable is not a bad game by any means. I played all the way through it and it held my attention. If you can get it anywhere for 20 bucks or so I'd say go for it. Odds are you'll have an alright time and some parts of the game are really enjoyable. It just didn't hit the mark for me - but your mark might be different than mine.

-T.C. Hearst