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Video game reviews: Fable (Xbox)

by Benjamin Rubery

Fable is a RPG on the Xbox and has had an expanded version called The Lost Chapters a year after release date and was adapted to PC after originally being an Xbox only game.I only played the original and not the lost chapters so I can only review what I have played.

Graphics 9/10

The graphics on Fable were very good and the fact your character aged with time was a first in videogame history and was the main selling point for the game as your character changed from eighteen to eighty five, also how the karma system affected your appearance and if you were evil you grew horns and your appearance became more hellish but if you were good your hair became blonde and a halo and butterflys would appear around your character and it all happened right before your eyes with no loading screens between character karma changes.

Throughout all of the dungeons to the forests and the town it was all beautifully based around a mixture of old English , Celtic and European styles. There were times I just strolled around as my character and admired the detail the designers put into the environment even if it was linear than was promised.

Gameplay 8/10

The gameplay was good and I never got bored of running around kicking chickens or fighting bandits or even shooting guards with arrows it was all good fun and never became to repetitive, the weapons were easy to switch between but sometimes could lag or not react properly meaning a free hit for your opponent but this only happened occasionally and was easily forgotten. Magic and emotions your characters could use became fiddly with players using a controller as having to scroll down a list whilst avoiding boulders thrown by trolls isn't fun and it kind of make easy bits of the game harder that they should have been, but after all the gameplay was good and I played it through many times until the end, the combat was good overall with a hack and slash element and levelling up was easy to do using a points system to upgrade your skills and magic using your experience pools.

Storyline 10/10

This game had one of the best storylines and could branch off in different places, the game begins with your character getting chocolates for his sister because its her birthday so you go round town doing chores, either good or bad solutions are available for there and it introduces you to basic combat, movement and what is against the law in the game.

Soon after bandits attack your village and you see your farther slaughtered in front of you and you get saved by a hero called maze, he then takes you to the guild and trains you alongside the Guild Master to become a hero, it skips to your teenage years and you learn magic and advanced combat and archery and then you get set loose to get revenge on the people who killed your family, then the story takes lots of twists and turns and is excellently told and played through with your hero taking either good or evil quests to become more powerful to his final goal. This game also had one of my most favourite main bad guy and minions in any other game and he is called the Jack Of Blades(old voice) who becomes interested in your family bloodline and further propels the story further.

Overall this game is an RPG which has influenced future titles and has become a great game in its own right even if it did not live up to its over the top publicity its still one of my most favourite RPGs ever

Helium, Inc.
200 Brickstone Square Andover, MA 01810 USA