Gamespot's Fable Review..... 8.6

**Xbox Owner** · 09-02-2004

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/rpg/fable/index.html

**xbox is so COOL** · 09-02-2004

**CRAYMAN** · 09-02-2004

Hey, that's a good review! An 8.6 rating, but it was the best written of the three I've read.

**X-Factor** · 09-02-2004

IGN - 9.3
GameSpot - 8.6
GMR Magazine - 8.0
TeamXBOX - 9.1
AOL Games - 8.6

I don't know about you guys, but so far, these are pretty underwhelming scores.

**Soundscape** · 09-02-2004

Actually, archery may not seem altogether practical in Fable. It can be plenty effective, but since you'll be fighting most foes single-handedly, and most of them will quickly close the distance between you, toe-to-toe combat proficiency will seem like the obvious first choice. A few flying enemies will require you to put your unlimited arrows to good use, though.

But this is easy enough to get used to, and worth getting used to sooner rather than later since magic helps make Fable's frequent battles pretty easy, for better or worse.

Yet all these foes can be defeated handily in groups using the same types of tactics.

The combat isn't really a challenge once you inevitably figure out a few key tricks. Items that quickly or instantly restore your health will be available in copious supply, letting you recover your energies in a pinch, even in the midst of battle. You'll also probably end up hoarding numerous "resurrection phials," which automatically restore all your health should you be struck down.

Of course, you won't be fighting hordes of foes while you're still training at the Heroes' Guild. After the training is complete, you're invited (rather awkwardly, via an onscreen prompt) to continue onto your hero's adulthood, the time during which the vast majority of Fable takes place. You can get through the younger years in about an hour, and the rest of the story is fairly brief and will take you 10 hours or less--that's if you ignore a few available side quests, though these don't pad the game's length too much further.

Ironically, though, there isn't necessarily a clear incentive to play through the entire game over from scratch once you've finished it the first time.

Fable's storyline, which is punctuated by an elegant sequence of paintings showing your hero's latest exploits, is mostly linear and starts slowly once you get past the childhood prologue. Past the halfway point, it actually becomes fairly involving, since its few key characters become relatively fleshed out. However, the hero himself remains silent during all the proceedings, and all the moral decisions you've made have little effect on what happens or how it happens. The game does have multiple endings depending on your morality and ultimate decisions you make, but each version of the epilogue is very brief, and it's fairly easy to see the numerous different alternatives without having to play through the game from the beginning. This is partly because your character's morality can be reversed just by visiting one of two different locations in the game, respectively devoted to a good and an evil god.

All you need do is pay a hefty donation and your evil or good deeds will be negated--and, toward the end of the game, you should have plenty of money to spend. The inclusion of these temples seems somehow unfortunate, as they can undermine the deliberate process by means of which your character's nature normally emerges. Furthermore, the fact that you may continue exploring the game's world of Albion even after you've finished the storyline means that you'll be able to see most of what Fable has to offer without having to restart

Part of the appeal of role-playing games that purport to let you live by the consequences of your actions is that they offer significant replay value. However, that's not necessarily true of Fable

Ultimately, there really isn't much to character interaction in Fable.

The penalty for a failed boast isn't severe, but if you fail the quest altogether...you have no choice but to restart that quest and keep trying until you succeed. It's strangely disorienting to be required to restart a simple side quest from the beginning when Fable is presumably a game about living with the consequences of your actions

Again, though, the game isn't hard

That's great, but for what it's worth, the game doesn't entirely succeed at making you feel like you are the hero. The epic premise doesn't quite translate into an epic experience. This is mostly because the form and structure of the gameworld feel contrived. Fable consists of a sequence of relatively small, winding, interconnected maps, separated by noticeably lengthy loading times. The hero himself has no personality (and never speaks, except for a few short, gruff phrases when you make him emote), and the game's cookie-cutter non-player characters, while often amusing, don't come across as lifelike

here are the things that stand out to me in that review. and going by this, i'm definitely going to pass on fable. i think alot of people are going to be dissapointed in the game.

**X-Factor** · 09-02-2004

I'm disappointed they took out all the cool features. Also, from what I've read, the game is a lot shorter than first thought, and too easy.

**Soundscape** · 09-02-2004

and not as realistic or immersive as they had it cracked up to be....too bad.

**Wolfgame** · 09-02-2004

I've honestly never been that pumped for this game, people have built it up as the HALO of RPGS and now that it hasn't delivered there will be alot of disapointment, oh well, there's always Jade Empire.

**Anthony4sho** · 09-02-2004

*cancels preorder*

**RockTheCasba** · 09-02-2004

im still gonna buy it and play it.

**CharlieHustle** · 09-02-2004

and then trade it in.... to save on halo...

**BananaMan** · 09-02-2004

AOl games? hahahah i give them a 1.0 just because aol sucks

gmr magazine? who the hell is that. -1.0 for being a generic bull**** site

gamespot? hah i'll give them a lil dignty 2.0

the real good rating sites have all gave it the rating they deserve.

and i ask, who the HELL would believe anything from AOL? or gmr magazine, they gave that nascar game a higher score.

gamespot is ok, but i think fable will kick ass.

**Cryogenic Pyro** · 09-02-2004

Originally Posted by BananaMan

AOl games? hahahah i give them a 1.0 just because aol sucks

gmr magazine? who the hell is that. -1.0 for being a generic bull**** site

gamespot? hah i'll give them a lil dignty 2.0

the real good rating sites have all gave it the rating they deserve.

and i ask, who the HELL would believe anything from AOL? or gmr magazine, they gave that nascar game a higher score.

gamespot is ok, but i think fable will kick ass.

Actually, as much as I hate Gamespot, I think they did a good job on this review.

**Soundscape** · 09-02-2004

the real good rating sites have all gave it the rating they deserve.

how do you know what rating it 'deserves' if you haven't played it? can you answer that?

the gamespot review is the most in depth into fable's gameplay i've read so far. and i think we all know teamxbox is a little biased, naturally. but ofcourse fable and xbox fanboys are going to refuse to admit this game is not going to be all it was cracked up to be.

**Yankeez** · 09-02-2004

gamespot boooo!

**Peepers** · 09-02-2004

This game will still be good, and I'll still buy it, but compared to the hype it will be a complete and utter flop. You have to wonder what they were doing all these years when a merely "good/great" game comes out of it.

I think we all had higher expectations, and I think we'll all be a little more skeptical of Molyneux in the future.

I do have one caveat to this however. Fable is getting better reviews than Morrowind did and Morrowind is the greatest single player game I've ever played, so we still have some hope.

**CRAYMAN** · 09-02-2004

Originally Posted by Peepers

I do have one caveat to this however. Fable is getting better reviews than Morrowind did and Morrowind is the greatest single player game I've ever played, so we still have some hope.

Nice point.

Soundscape, I could easily find MANY more positive things to paste from the same review. I'll still pick this up to see if it's all it's cracked up to be.

**LTM360** · 09-02-2004

Although I'm highly dissapointed (at this point) by underwhelming reviews, I'm still getting it. No way I'm this hyped up, only for reviews to make me change me mind.