Fable: The Lost Chapters

There were a limited number of enemies to fight and as my character evolved I found that they became far to easy to defeat, even in large numbers.

Although the game says that it provides you with the freedom to do whatever you wish I don't believe this is so. Admittedly you can be as good or as bad as you like and this does affect your interaction with other characters. However the environment itself is limiting and very linear. You can't jump and so the smallest of rocks or ledges are impossible obstacles. Basically every area amounts to a number of paths that you can travel and little else. There is no real sense of exploring an area or discovering secrets.

In the end it was the shortness of this game that disappointed me the most. The story progresses and the quests are fun and entertaining, but in truth there aren't enough of them. The plot is unidirectional and predictable. This game would have benefitted from about 30 more hours of game play or more.

The truth is when I reached the final battle against the last boss I couldn't believe it was the end. I thought for certain there would be more, perhaps I would be transported into another world or dimention a dark version or light version [based on my good-evil rating] something...ANYTHING! But alas the credits rolled and I was left with an empty feeling. The end simply came too quickly.

I recommend this game to fans of RPG games with Live Action Battle because it was fun and kept me absolutely enthralled with the game-play [limited as it was]. But rent it, don't buy it. That is all the time you will need to ring this game dry.


it's good, but it doesn't meet all its expectations   October 30, 2004
Joshua (CA)
13 out of 18 found this review helpful

When you pick this game up expecting an epic tale of unimaginable proportions that provides everything it was supposed to, all you can expect is to be let down. For one, the game is far too short. Playing through all the quests and getting all the secrets takes you a couple days, and that's even if you take your time. Secondly, the level up system is bland. From what I had heard, I expected it to be more like real life, where the more you do something, the better you get. Instead, we get these lame experience orbs that we have to collect and sell to get level ups. Thirdly, the environments in the game, though definitely easy on the eyes, don't change at all! I was promised to see seasonal and weather changes! Also, I expected more character customization. It's boring knowing that if you go evil, this is EXACTLY how you'll look, or if you're good that you'll turn out EXACTLY like this. I wanted something more to the effect of "If you're evil like THIS, you end up like THAT, but if you're evil like THAT, you end up like THIS." Overall, this game is an entertaining hack 'n' slash that'll steal a couple days from your life, but nothing more. Sometimes I wonder, if, had the people who made Morrowind (which is similar to Fable, except that the area you get to explore is probably [no exagerrations] ten times the size of what you get to see in Fable, there's more character customization, and a better level up system. Also, however unimportant it may be to anyone else, Morrowind also has different weather conditions for the different regions)teamed up with Peter Molyneux and his crew, if this game would've turned out to be the masterpiece it should've been. This game is good, but I would recommend renting it before you're sure you want to give away fifty bucks for something worth two days (Morrowind was also substantially longer, having 80+ hours of gameplay).


It -almost- lives up to the hype.   January 21, 2005
A.N. Roman (Hillsboro, OR)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful

Here we go. Fable's a hit or miss game for most people. Hit for those that didn't follow it since it was called Project Ego, and miss for everyone who has to complain about how a few things were left out of the final product. While I have been following it since it was Project Ego, I was never too hyped about the game. It looked good, but I wasn't going to get my hopes up for something not finished. When it did come out, people expected it to get perfect reviews. Being the "new age of rpgs". Well, Fable got good reviews...none of which were perfect. I think IGN gave it the highest rating, and even then, people rioted. Then, they actually played it, and most agreed that this is "just a rental". Well, I've played through it on both good and evil versions now, and I'll have to go with "buy it". But paying full price might not be the best idea.

Fable starts out with your character. A young boy who has to do good deeds in order to get enough gold for your sister's birthday present. In the process of going home with her, the entire town is killed and burned to the ground by bandits. A wizard named Maze comes by and saves you, taking you to the Heroes' Guild. It's here that you're trained in the ways of the sword, bow, and magic (or Will as it's called in the game). After completeing the training, you're off to be a hero, doing various quests and deeds for people. But how will you do them? In a quest to protect a farmer's crates from bandits, will you kill those that come to take them, or help the bandits in taking them? Everything you do places you on a side: good or evil. For instance, walking into town and breaking a barrel adds a few points to your evil rating. Taking things from peoples' shelves in their homes, like you'd usually do in any other rpg, is also a no-no. Yes, there's a lot that you can do to change your alignment, most of which are hilarious. Kicking chickens, beating kids, pelvic thrusts, etc. But of course, there are consequences. If you're too good, enemies won't fear you. If you're too bad, helpful people may run away, and guards will keep an eye on you. There's so much to mention, that it'd require another review. But have no doubts, this is a busy game. But the main story kicks in once you find news that your sister is still alive. After that, you take up quests to find her, and see what's going on with a so-called "Jack of Blades", a once great hero.

Fable rewards you for many things. In taking quests, you can choose the "boast" option, in which you can...let's say beat a monster without wearing any clothes. If you do this, you'll earn extra gold and renown. Renown is just that- it's your status in the world of Albion. As it gets higher, you're more well-known and people begin to respect you. Finishing quests nets you high amounts of renown, but showing off trophies is another way. Usually, when you complete a quest, you'll get a trophy to show off. Kill a tough monster? Wave its head around people, and earn more renown. Don't like the people as they say "oh, showing off again?"? Beat them down with it. And then there's your appearence. Finding different haircut and facial hair cards lets you get different styles. Some being more attractive than others, useful for getting married. Tattoos are the same, most of which look cool. Armor has the same effect as well. Eating diffent foods also has a role in how you look. Some foods like apples, carrots and fish are healthy and some others even boost your points in specific categories (strength, skill and Will). But eating too many, like apple pies, make you fatter. Going from slim to fatty is just a matter of pies. Oh, and interestingly enough, eating tofu makes you more good, while eating crunchy chicks makes you more evil. Combat is a blast, and even now I'll run around taking out enemies just to raise my stats, though there is a cap. Depending on what you use to kill enemies, you get general experience, and then experience for either power, skill (bow) or Will. General points, as I'm sure you can guess, can be used for anything, while the others go abilities only in their respective pools. Skill has accuracy, speed and guile. Power has strength, health and toughness. And Will has all kinds of cool spells (slow time, heal and berserk being the only 3 you'll really need). As some people mentioned, swinging around big weapons makes your muscles bigger, and using too much magic makes you look older. This is true and fales. Using melee weapons more changes your appearence depending on if you were too thin or fat before. Using magic ages you very quickly (leveling up ages you as well, but not as much). After just one day with the game's calendar, and using the lightning spell a lot, I went from 20 to 46. Rediculous.

I remember seeing demo videos of Fable's gameplay and the framerate was terrible. It was shoddy and a pain to look at. Well, the final product is smooth for the most part. It suffers from the "glitchy" movements found in Knights of the Old Republic, but it doesn't take away from teh gameplay one bit. Character models have their own unique look and I'm always zooming the camera just to check the models out. The guys did a great job here. Monsters are all equally cool, having their own specific movements that are all realistic (well, aside from being made up that is). What stands out the most though, is the scenery. I'm telling you, every single location is beautiful. From the coast town of Oakvale to the cemetary shrouded in darkness, it's a treat to just visit these places. It'd be nice if the environments could be messed with ala Otogi. Old interviews with the Fable crew mentioned this would be included, but I guess it was taken out for time restrictions. I even remember hearing how everything would live in real-time. Trees being tiny one day, and massive after a few years pass by. I'm not complaining about things taken out, but it'd be impressive if this were in the game. But it'd probably push the Xbox to the max.

Danny Elfman does most of the music. In conclusion, it's perfect.

So why does Fable get 4 stars? Well, the main reason of course, is that it's far too short. I beat the game on my first playthrough in roughly 15 hours. Then, after I knew what I was doing, 7 hours. There's no excuse for what was hyped to be a massive game being this short. And there's something I noticed: after I finished every quest possible for each side (good and evil), I checked out the map. Maybe 1/3 of the map is actually used in-game. Why not make expansion packs or downloadable content for more quests? Oh well. Fable 2 has been confirmed for the next Xbox, and the guys should learn from this huge complaint. Also, targeting is an issue that took me a while to get the hang of. It took me forever to figure out that hitting the right thumbstick while targeting someone switched targets. Way to not mention that anywhere during training. Plus you can't "go anywhere anytime you want". I wasn't really expecting that, but when you're in the middle of a quest, if you want to go back to town or the Guild to get supplies, you cancel your progress in the quest and have to start it all over again. But aside from the length and lack of any real replay, I was satisfied with Fable, and didn't flip out over it getting the "low" ratings of anything less than 9.5. Oh, and I just remembered. Both endings are pretty horrible. They consist of nothing but a quick painting on a wall and a sentence or two about what happened to the world. And DON'T skip the credits by pressing 'Y' if you want to continue after you beat the last boss. I did that, and had to fight him again because the "quest completed" screen didn't show up, and all I had left was the save right before him. But have something to do, as the credits take a long, long time to scroll.

If you're looking for an rpg on the Xbox, aside from Knights of the Old Republic, you can't do much better than Fable. So help me god if you pick Sudeki over this. Fable delivers when it comes to a great experience, and I look forward to the next installment. Who knows what new features will be added using the next wave of technology and having even more memory to work with.


I can't believe it!   April 1, 2005
Madisen (Fruita, CO United States)
12 out of 22 found this review helpful

Okay, whether you have high expectations or none at all, this game just doesn't work. For one, the whole "freedom of choice" thing is a huge lie. If you want to be "good", you can rescue the same people over and over; for "evil", you kill them repeatedly. That's it. Second, you CANNOT choose where you want to go and what you want to do there. This game is mission-based, just like every other bland game this year. Oh, sure, you can "choose" which mission you want, but if you choose any but the "right" one, you'll find yourself getting killed in an instant. So no matter what you do, you have to follow a linear path.

The gameplay is a mess as well. The combat system doesn't work half the time (you'll often accidentally target people instead of enemies), and even when it does work, you'll still get killed because your skills aren't powerful enough. How do you get them more powerful? By going to the forest and killing bees until you level up. Hmmm, where have I heard this before? In every single other RPG to hit the market, perhaps? Unlike better games, where you always find yourself at the right level to move forward if you take on all the available enemies, Fable forces you to go back and forth between areas to get the enemies to respawn, watching a long loading screen each and every time you exit and enter an area. What fun.

Even the non-combat interface is completely dilapidated. Menus were a monster to navigate, and it took me a good ten minutes just to get my equipment on. And don't get me started on my attempt to use the controller customization feature.

Finally, there are the things that aren't "broken" exactly, but are still annoying. Like the people, for example. Even when you are just walking through an area, perhaps on your way back to kill more bees, NPCs are constantly chattering away in irritating accents. You can't get a moment's peace. Also, you can call me a prude if you wish, but I can't believe that "burp" and "fart" have their own buttons. This game is rated M for mature, but perhaps it should be rated I for immature.

Overall, Fable is an annoying, clunky, and frustrating game. Far from the promised revoloution, it delivers a package that doesn't even meet mediocre standards.