Overview

Fable was one of the biggest Xbox games last year. Though developed by Big Blue Box in actuality, it carried the Lionhead moniker, with Peter Molyneux acting as producer and spokesperson – with all the attendant hype. Backed by a massive TV marketing campaign and a blitz through the press due to Peter’s incredible gift on selling a dream, Fable hit the market at full steam and gamers barely noticed the criticisms that were just forming in reviews.

The single biggest concrete charge laid at Fable’s feet is that the game is too short. For a title that promised the ability to play through the life of a Hero, it was quite brief, even when counting the various side quests and optional missions. Reports circulated of people finishing the actual core game in less than 10 hours on the second time through. A long game may not necessarily be good (see: Daikatana), and good games can be short (see: Half-Life 2), but there are certain expectations built around RPGs. Outdated though the concept may be, one of the most common questions asked of RPG developers is how long their next game is going to be. When a game is actually good, well, of course players want even more of it.

Which brings us to the recently-released Fable: The Lost Chapters. It contains everything from the Xbox version, with additional storyline and side-quests, as well as new toys and goodies. It is a fairly simple action-RPG not unlike Diablo in some respects. Though it lacks the endless search for better loot and random dungeons, the style of action and simple stats of the character are very similar to the design that went into Diablo.

Where Fable steps away completely from Diablo is in story and presentation. Though the story isn’t dominant in any sense of the word, the setting is richly developed and the plotline is worth following through on despite being more or less optional. We’d consider it completely optional, but there is still a certain lack of content in the game and the main quests provide the bulk of the player’s entertainment.


The game features an art style somewhat reminiscent of Blizzard’s efforts in World of WarCraft and WarCraft III, combined with a similar penchant for mixing dark story themes with light colors. In fact, that was one of the great surprises about Fable – for such a tooty-fruity looking game, it’s full of dark themes and even disturbing scenes.