by:	September 19, 2004

It’s here. For the past few years, if you were to ask any Xbox owner which games they were looking forward to, chances are Fable would’ve been somewhere on their list. It’s been a long time since the game formerly known as Project Ego was officially announced, and the hype has only grown since then. While any project from an industry leader like Peter Molyneux is guaranteed to receive a decent amount of attention, Fable featured a long list of ideas and features we’d never seen in a game before. Looking to provide unparalleled open-ended gameplay and offer a unique experience for every individual that plays through it, Fable was quite possibly the most ambitious project in the history of console videogames. Looking back at what was initially promised, it’s obvious that compromises had to be made if they wanted to ship the game this decade. What resulted is a game that probably comes up short when stacked against the impossibly high expectations that many people had, but still provides experiences that you just can’t find anywhere else and solid gameplay mechanics to boot. Even in its disappointingly unfinished state, Fable has earned itself a spot among the Xbox’s best, which is quite an accomplishment considering just how many features were cut from the game throughout its long development cycle.



You’ll begin your adventure as a young boy in a rural town called Oakvale. A conversation with your dad reveals your first objective: get your sister a gift for her birthday, which happens to be today. Knowing you’re a young boy with no money, he promises to pay you a gold piece for every good deed you perform around town, and then sets you free to begin exploring and interacting with the many townspeople. His last words echo in your mind: “Stay out of trouble.” That’s easy for him to say. He hasn’t just been turned loose in the huge moral playground that is Fable. This game tempts you every step of the way, and unlike most other games that allow you to choose your moral path, Fable actually delivers consequences and repercussions for your actions, be they good or ill-favored. A helpful mini-map is displayed in the upper-right corner of the screen and shows the location of certain places of interest, from shops and taverns to NPCs that may require your assistance. The map takes any guesswork out of the game by pointing you in the direction of your current objective at all times, as well as giving away the exact position of enemies, which allows you plan your next coarse of action at all times. Encounters that would’ve otherwise been rather difficult are a walk in the park when you know exactly where everyone is, so it would’ve been nice if the number of enemy locations you could see was directly tied to some type of tracking skill. As it is, Fable is a very accessible and forgiving game, which may have been what they were going for. Action-RPG purists may be left wanting more of a challenge, however.

"You may choose to uphold justice and protect the innocent, or you may choose to look out for yourself above all others and prey on the weak. Whatever you choose, know that the game’s inhabitants will react to you accordingly."