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Fable: The Lost Chapters (XBox)
The sequel
to Fable, Lost Chapters is an enthralling epic that allows players to
experience first hand the original adventure with a lot more flavour
than first time and then expand upon the adventure to take it to the
next level.
This is a
nice game, that’s for sure. We enjoyed the first Fable and this is no
exception other than the fact that we’ve already been here before. In
fact it’s with confidence that I direct you back to the first review
that we did. Read it and then come back here OK? Here it is to save you
searching for the review.
“There's
always a game on a particular console that makes it stand above
everything else on the market and Microsoft's Fable will probably become
the definitive RPG game for the XBox. By looking at the development
company behind Fable (Populus & Dungeon Keeper), it's no wonder why this
game is so damn good.
From beginning to finish, Fable offers gamers one of the most enriching
RPG experiences of all time and rather than creating your own character,
the player's character is automatically created and you start in the
gaming world as a child. The beauty of Fable is that every action you
make in the game goes a long way in determining your future gaming self.
The game starts off in the peaceful town of Oakvale, a small town in the
outskirts of Albion. Unfortunately for your character, your life is soon
thrown into turmoil when a gang of ruthless bandits lay waste to the
town of Oakvale. Although "everyone" in the town is now dead, your
character somehow survived this disaster and you are soon found by Maze,
a member of the hero's guild. The storyline revolves around a variety of
mini-quests that ultimately lead you to find your long lost mother.
Whether you are good or evil, this is still the main quest of the entire
game.
Although the control system of Fable is rather complex at first, the
initial part of the game (from childhood to young adulthood) serves as a
tutorial for the player. Whether it's kicking chickens or beating up
your best friend, all the actions you engage in this title make a huge
difference to the way the storyline plays out.
For instance, if you become evil in Fable, characters in towns will be
extremely wary of your character and they will cower, hide or even run
away from you. However, if you act heroic, the characters will basically
think that Michael Jordan has come to town and treat you like a demigod.
Your character isn't also limited to just one character class but the
games developers have taken on an eclectic approach in that your
character has access to melee attacks, archery and magic. Fortunately
these skills are slowly introduced into the game and by the end of the
game, you will be heavily relying on magic to get you through.
The combat system of Fable uses a real-time fighting system that allows
your character to lock onto an enemy, switch between weapons or magic
and basically beat your enemy to a bloody pulp. This is easily the most
impressive feature of the game because you can virtually attack a
character with a sword than unleash a plethora of spells on the next
victim.
As per usual, Fable uses an XP system of experience that basically
awards your character for completing quests or killing monsters. This
also allows you to increase your strength, will power and skill points.
You can even focus your points on magic or if you prefer, your melee
fighting.
The gaming world of Albion is also quite huge and your character can
virtually do just about anything from "dropping his guts", marrying or
even buying that small farmhouse that you've been dreaming about. Your
character also changes quite dramatically throughout the game, from
getting tattoos or changing your hairstyle, this game has it all.
Graphically, Fable is a very impressive game on the XBox and is easily
one of the most graphic intensive RPG title out there. All the
characters in the game contain a fairly high polygon count for that
extra realism and match that with some high quality textures and you
could be forgiven in thinking that you are watching the next Lord of the
Rings movie. As this game is considered a real-time RPG, your character
even ages as the game slowly progresses. Another impressive feature of
the title are the amazing spell effects that range from stunning to
amazing.
The musical score of Fable has also been majestically created and
perfectly suits the RPG genre of this game. The character voices in the
game have also been professionally done and nothing sounds too contrived
or forced. Add in a few special effects such as background noises
(cities and forests), the sounds of battle and of course the powerful
sounds of magic and you have one pumping sounding title. The title also
supports in-game Dolby Digital.
In conclusion, Lionhead Studios have really created an amazing XBox game
that contains every element of the RPG genre with a few new twists. If
you are looking for a well written and graphically impressive game with
awesome playability than I would highly recommend Fable to anyone. Be a
hero... or be a villain... just play the game already!” – Andrew B
Done that? Good. Now there is new stuff here folks and if you are a fan
of the series you are going to be pleased that you took the time to play
through an adventure you have already enjoyed before as the majority of
the new good stuff is at the end. For those of you who are new to the
title you are going to be loving it all day long.
Fable works on the premise that you create your own destiny. Actions
speak louder than words, and the actions that you take will shape the
way that you appear and the reactions to your character by those around
you. It’s an interesting spin to the title and the choices presented are
pretty straight forward; be good, bad or indifferent, it’s up to you.
Fable, The Lost Chapters is a good looking game, taking advantage of
some good programming and the XBox’s ability to churn out lovely looking
graphics. The level of detail is pretty darn good and players should
find themselves in for a very immersive gaming experience. It’s a tough
call for some players as this game is very close to the first title and
this one simply makes it even better. Possibly the best advice I could
give you is simply to sell the first copy you had to some sap on eBay
and hook your own bad self up with a copy of the good stuff.
All things said and done, Fable: The Lost Chapters is an experience that
is one of those times that you will be very happy about having bought a
video game. Go get it!
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