By Tim Schmelter

Austin360

September 29, 2004

Overview: If video games have come far enough to have their own celebrities, Peter Molyneux certainly qualifies. The mind behind 2001's popular and puzzling god-game, 'Black & White', Molyneux is more auteur than game designer. Discussions of Peter Molyneux' games inevitably involve words like "innovative" and "high-concept".

Fable Platform(s): Xbox Company: Microsoft Type/Genre: Action ESRB Rating: M (Mature -- Violence, sexual themes) • Official Site • Arcade360 Index

Innovative? Maybe.

High-concept? Possibly.

Successful? Well, mostly.

You play 'Fable' as the nameless Hero, as he wanders the world of Albion, continually beset by various menaces from bandits to giant wasps to werewolf-like creatures called "balverines." There's nothing in Albion that will take an experienced gamer by surprise.

Except perhaps that certain of the characters—the Hero among them—appear to be wearing mohawks. 'Fable' allows you to customize your characters' appearance via methods both direct—haircuts, tattoos, and clothing—and indirect. Want a Hero of the tanned, muscular variety? Use your heavy sword and adventure in the sunlight. Prefer a slimmer, paler character? Venture out only at night, and rely on bow and arrow. Do lots of good deeds, and your Hero sports a shining halo and butterflies; evil rewards you with horns and buzzing insects.

As much fun as it is to customize your character, though, the real pleasure in 'Fable' comes from watching the game's NPCs react to your Hero. As you watch him progress from a spindly nobody to the most famous person in Albion, the villagers, traders, and even enemies you meet react first with scorn, and later with fear or adulation as the situation warrants. You'll see townsfolk cheering you or children taunting you. Women will either congregate around you or laugh in your face. Become fearsome enough, and you may even hear some of the villagers psyching themselves up to talk to you.

The system has its flaws, certainly, but it's about as close as most of us are ever likely to come to feeling like a celebrity.

Now, if only they had thought to include a "Sign Autograph" feature.

Modes: Single player only.

Game Play: For all of its simulation elements, 'Fable' is still at heart a role-playing game, and therefore has the usual assortment of quests and tasks for you to complete. Unfortunately, if any area of the game falls short, it's right here. For the most part, quests are traditional "kill the bad guy/protect the good guy" affairs. Things twist up a bit if you play as an evil character (you'll be asked to protect the bad guy and kill the good guy), but they're pretty small variations on standard RPG themes. In a nice touch, however, 'Fable' allows you to vary the quests by making "boasts," as in "I will complete this quest without any weapons or aggressive magic," or "I will complete this quest naked." Boasts are essentially wagers on the outcome of the quest, and you are rewarded with extra gold if successful.

But the most interesting part of the game isn't in the side quests, the limited combat system (one normal attack, one special attack, one block), the magic system or even the well-told but unoriginal main storyline. Instead, you'll find yourself drawn over and over again to experimenting with different ways of making the NPCs react to your Hero. The game encourages experimentation, even to the point of making some of your quests attempt to influence NPC behavior. For example, you may choose to court and marry one of the assorted ladies (or gentlemen, for those so inclined) found throughout the game. How easy it is to woo and win the hand of your beloved depends upon factors including your renown, attractiveness and generosity.

Interactions with NPCs can be traditional and direct (giving a pretty lady a rose, or slaying a trader, for example), or they can be social, through the use of the game's "expressions." Expressions allow you to cause your Hero to laugh at, sneer at, flirt with, or even flip off others in the game. It's a very fun and well-thought out feature, and it sets 'Fable' well apart from the RPG crowd.

Technical Presentation: The game's graphics lend it a feeling of a storybook come to somewhat startling life. Characters in the game have slightly exaggerated features, giving the game a distinctive visual presentation without appearing cartoony. "Fable's" world shines with diffuse lighting and saturated colors. Sunlight filters through trees, brilliant red leaves float gently to the forest floor, grasses sway in the breeze. A few dips in framerate and graphical anomalies mar the presentation somewhat, but overall the game looks, appropriately, fantastic.

A main theme by Danny Elfman introduces the game's audio, and for better or worse, it's with you the rest of your way through the game. Luckily, the music never gets in the way, and there are a number of different thematic variations for each of Albion's areas. The game's audio highlight, though, is its voice cast. While there's not a lot of variation in either the character models or the voice talent used to portray 'Fable's' NPC characters, the dialogue is witty, well-acted and in various cases either hilarious or charming. The number of different vocal responses that NPCs have to your character is quite large overall. However, since you'll typically play your Hero as either good or evil, you can expect to hear certain phrases repeated quite often.

Ease of Use: The basic movement and combat control scheme is familiar and easy to understand. The magic system takes a bit of time to get used to, if only because the controls make it all too easy to scroll through your spell list when you thought you were selecting a spell to cast. Harder to get used to is the fact that nearly every action in the game will affect your character's alignment and reputation and therefore his status amongst the people of Albion. Other games pay no special attention to you as you wander the streets picking up stray items or opening containers. 'Fable', on the other hand, rewards or penalizes you (depending on your point of view) by considering such acquisition theft, and adjusting your Hero's alignment and reputation accordingly.

Nice Surprise: The game's social interactions are the most thoroughly developed of any RPG we've seen to date. Expect to spend a few hours just wandering around Albion's villages making friends, kicking chickens and farting at people.

Enraging Quirk: Why would a game that places such a high premium on customization and variability feature one quest that requires you to sneak past guards to infiltrate a bandit camp, using a rather stiffly-implemented stealth mechanic. No combat, no expressions, just sneaking. Our advice: wait until dark.

The other major disappointment is that you cannot interact in any deeply meaningful way with any of the characters. The superficial interactions are very entertaining, but they lack a depth of emotion and characterization found in games like 'Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.'

Tip: If you are a magic user, the "Enflame" spell is probably your best friend in the world, since it is an area-effect spell that only damages hostile creatures. Why it doesn't singe your allies as well is difficult to say, but hey, that's why it's called "magic."

Bottom Line: Although its quests are typical RPG fare and the NPC interactions aren't deep or meaningful, 'Fable' has enough magic to give this story a happy ending.