by Don Emery

Created on: April 28, 2009

Produced in 2004 by the same people who brought you black and white Lionhead Studios brings you Fable for the Original Xbox. Fable was tauted as the greatest role-playing games ever with every decision you make no matter how small would effect your character from if you wear armor to what food your character eats to how you fought to how much light your character gets but unfortunately this is another case of Peter Molyneux the game's lead designer bringing you ideas that no game could bring to fruition. Don't get me wrong Fable is not a bad game, it's a great game but I do not think it lived up to it's own expectations. Now for the story you are an apple cheeked little boy doing small tasks to earn money to buy your sister a present for her birthday so far so good right? Wrong! Shortly after you give your present to your sister a band of thieves comes along to burn down your town, kill your parents and they take your sister with them. Only you survive with the help of an elder hero called Maze. After saving you he offers to take you back to the hero's guild and train you to become a hero. So this is where the story part ends and the review begins so let's get started.

Pros:

Presentation

The graphics are up to standards for the original Xbox, the lighting is good and the soundtrack for this game is phenomenal so much so that I personally bought the soundtrack. The in-game story cut-scenes that are shown in a form that looks like it was ripped out of a children's story book is a very nice touch.
Choices, choices

You can do many things in the world of Fable from fishing to buying a house and you can even take a wife. An interesting feature of Fable is the expressions your character can make these expressions can determine how the people in Albion view your character, these expressions can range from the standard hello wave to the finger. Also how your character fights determines how he looks for example if you invest in strength your character becomes bigger or if you invest in skill you become taller or if you invest in magic your hair starts to become lighter and magic symbols appear on your body. You also get one scar on your body no matter what you do which is annoying.
Good menus

I personally think that Fable has one of the best menu systems I have ever seen in a role playing game. The menu system is incredibly smooth in it's design with a few button presses you can cycle through your entire inventory and expressions in seconds.

Cons:

Buying property is a bit awkward.

This might not apply to some of you but I found found buying property a fun part of the game so much so that I wanted to own every property in the game and the only way to do this in some cases is to kill all of the inhabitants of the property that is not good if you are a good character.

Rather short.
In comparison to other role playing games Fable seems rather short and while I won't ruin the ending for you it is a bit disappointing.

Overall I would rate this game a 8 out of 10 it's a good game and if you have a choice pickup Fable: The Lost Chapters instead of the original because you get a less disappointing ending and other improvements.

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