Fable (video game)

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Fable
Developer(s) Lionhead Studios
Publisher(s) Microsoft Game Studios
Designer(s) Peter Molyneux
Release date(s) United States September 14, 2004
European Union October 8, 2004
Japan March 17, 2005
Genre(s) RPG
Mode(s) Single player
Rating(s) ESRB: Mature (M)
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Mac OS X
Media DVD

Fable is an action role-playing video game developed by Big Blue Box, a satellite of Lionhead Studios, and published by Microsoft for Xbox. Shipped to retail on September 14, 2004, Fable was well-received by critics for the quality of its gameplay and execution, even as they lamented its failure to include many of the features promised by creator Peter Molyneux.

An extended version of the game, Fable: The Lost Chapters, was released for both Windows and Xbox on October 18, 2005 (although the Windows version was leaked by a warez group in August), and is being ported to Mac OS X by Feral Interactive.

Contents

[edit] Story overview

The game centers on the only playable character, a male referred to by his title or only as the "Hero" (all of the members of the Heroes' Guild, even those who are evil, are referred to as "Heroes"). As a child, the Hero's village was raided and destroyed by bandits. He was taken in by a Hero named Maze after being saved by him during the raid and brought to the Heroes' Guild to be trained as a Hero. At the guild he is paired with a young girl named Whisper, the sister of Thunder, another hero that appears throughout the game. The Hero then embarks on a journey to discover the reason behind his village's destruction, discovering along the way the true fate of his family (especially his sister) and his own destiny.

[edit] Setting

The game takes place on the fictional continent of Albion in a period resembling the Middle Ages. While once a monarchy, it has devolved into a collection of city states (Though a trace of the royal bloodline survives).

[edit] Character customization

Fable features a reasonably unique character customization system based on the concept that everything the Hero does should affect him. For example, if he eats too much, the Hero will gain weight. Many players are under the impression that if the Hero swings his sword constantly, he will build muscle, but this is untrue; the level of the Hero's strength statistics is what actually builds the muscle (however, hitting opponents with heavy weapons gains extra strength points.). For example, the player could go through the game, not use a single weapon but use their extra experience to build strength. This will cause the character to become more muscular.

Every article of clothing the Hero acquires will change his in-game appearance. He can be further customized by haircut, facial hair, and tattoo cards which allow for a range of body modification options. The clothing, hairstyle, and tattoos the Hero wears will affect the way he is seen by the non-player characters. A character wearing bright clothes and clean-shaven will be seen as more heroic by townspeople. In contrast, a character sporting dark clothing and frightening tattoos will be seen as more villainous by various characters. Over time, a character may sport scars on his face and body from combat, which can either make him more or less attractive.

The actions that the Hero makes will award either good or evil points. Killing monsters or saving villagers will result in achieving good points. Committing a crime, killing an innocent person, or getting a spouse to divorce will accumulate evil points. These affect not only the responses of the non-player characters but also the appearance of the Hero. A Hero who is good natured will soon find a halo surrounding his head, butterflies swarming around him, and his hair will turn blonde. An evil character will sprout horns, emit red smoke from their body, draw flies towards them, and have glowing red eyes, in addition to getting black hair that is receding in the style of a widow's peak. As he grows older, this hair will start to turn white.

The Hero can have a social life. The Hero can flirt, propose, and even marry. The Hero has no predetermined sexuality, so players are free to play as heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual, and the Hero can get married to other men and can engage in sexual intercourse with them just like they can with the women in the game. Sexual scenes are depicted with a black screen while the partner can be heard commenting on the act.

[edit] Personality

One of the main aspects of Fable that differs from other RPGs is the attractivesness and scariness modifiers. Both attractiveness and scariness change the way people will react to your character as well as the overall environment of the game.

Attractiveness

Attractiveness determines how much people will be attracted to you on a scale of -100 to 100 (-100 being least attractive, 100 being most attractive) and thus, how easy it is to find a marriage partner. Haircuts, Tattoos, and Body Scars have a significant effect on your attractiveness. Your Physique, Toughness, and Health have an effect on your build and possibly on your attractiveness as well.

Scariness

Scariness determines how scary you are and thus, how easy it is to interact with the AI's of the game. Scariness is also based on a -100 to 100 scale (-100 being least scary 100 being scariest). Once again Haircuts, Tattos, and Scars will have an effect on your scariness. At a scariness of 100 it is almost impossible to interact with people whereas at a scariness of 0 or less it is almost impossible to be taken seriously.

[edit] Characters

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
  • The Hero - The main character of the game, whose name is never mentioned. His appearance varies on the player and is customizable. The Hero is able to become the strongest Hero in Albion because of his ancient bloodline connected to Archon, the royal bloodline of the Old Kingdom. Although the Hero has no dialogue during the cutscenes, he is not entirely a silent protagonist, as he has a few lines of in-game dialogue that can be spoken using the "expression" commands (i.e. "Follow", "Wait", "Hey!", and "Sorry").
  • The Guildmaster - One of the oldest Heroes alive, he operates the Heroes' Guild and is in charge of training Hero apprentices. The Guildmaster watches over every step of the Hero's journey through the Hero's Guild Seal, often offering advice and issuing orders along the way. In Fable: The Lost Chapters, the Snowspire Oracle reveals that the Guildmaster's true name is Weaver, and that along with Maze, he led a bloody revolt against the previous Guild due to his belief that the Guild should not force its Heroes to walk the path of good, but rather should give them the freedom to choose their own destiny. Scythe, knowing how powerful Weaver would become; said that he should become Guildmaster. Near the end of The Lost Chapters, the Hero is given the option of killing the Guildmaster to collect his soul.
  • Maze - An old wizard and head of the Heroes' Guild. Maze rescues the young Hero from bandits during the Oakvale raid, and takes him to the Heroes' Guild to be trained as an apprentice. He becomes a father figure to the Hero and helps to guide the Hero on his search for his missing family. However, the Hero eventually learns that Maze is in league with Jack of Blades, the man who destroyed Oakvale and killed the Hero's father. The Hero then proceeds to kill Maze in battle. In Fable: The Lost Chapters, the Snowspire Oracle reveals that as a young boy, Maze's parents were killed by Balverines, but Maze was saved from certain death by Jack of Blades and two Heroes (Jack killed the Balverines that were about to kill Maze, and then killed the Heroes). Maze was never able to escape from Jack's shadow. Maze is voiced by Alexander Spencer.
  • Whisper - The Hero's friend and sometimes his rival, an acrobat who fights with a pole staff. According to the Oracle in Fable: The Lost Chapters Whisper and her older brother, Thunder, were stranded on Albion after a storm wrecked their ship, and subsequently were raised in the Heroes' Guild. She trains with the Hero when he is a boy, and the two quickly develop a strong rivalry. As the game unfolds, Whisper and the Hero battle against each other during a few quests. Ultimately, the two cooperate in a battle against monsters in the gladiatorial Arena, only to be pitted against each other in a fight to the death thanks to the interference of Jack of Blades. Whisper can either be killed or spared in the Arena, depending on the player's choice in the game. In Fable: The Lost Chapters, if she is spared, she will realize the Hero is a much greater hero and will leave Albion for her distant homeland. If the Hero doesn't kill her, later in the game it's hinted that he has a soft spot for her. While travelling there by sea, the ship was attacked by pirates. Not one of the pirates survived the assault.
  • Thunder - A huge and heavily armored mountain of a man, standing more than 7 feet tall. Thunder is one of the few Heroes who conquered the Arena without taking a break and is thus honored as Champion of the Arena. He is initially disdainful of the Hero, and continues to look down upon him throughout the game. Thunder is in love with Lady Grey and obsessively courts her, and thus develops a grudge against the Hero when Lady Grey becomes interested in him instead. If the Hero kills Whisper in the Arena, Thunder hates him even more. Thunder makes a brief appearance near the end of the main story to aid the Hero in fighting off some of Jack of Blades' monsters. Near the end of Fable: The Lost Chapters, the player is given the option of killing Thunder to collect his soul.
  • Twinblade - An ex-Hero who left the Guild of Heroes and united a dozen bandit factions to become the King of Bandits. The Hero, searching for his missing sister, infiltrates Twinblade's camp and defeats Twinblade in battle. Twinblade can either be killed or spared by the player; either way, he or his loyal followers will hire assassins to try and kill the Hero. He can only be harmed from behind and the Assassin Rush spell does not pass through him. During the battle with the Hero, Twinblade will often try to corner the Hero and push him into his underlings, who will attack.
  • Briar Rose - A very swift, powerful, and smart female Hero. In Fable: The Lost Chapters, it is revealed she is from a noble background, but her family fell into hard times when she was a child, and so she ended up joining the Heroes' Guild. Other sources suggest that just as Briar Rose's skills manifested, her mother died and her grieving father threw her out and she joined the Guild. She is more of a scholar than a fighter, and relies more on intelligence and magic rather than physical strength. Although she initially vilifies the Hero, Briar Rose slowly begins to respect him after the two fight together in quests against Jack of Blades' forces. In Fable: The Lost Chapters, Briar Rose helps the Hero decipher the ancient glyphs in Archon's Shrine, and the player is ultimately given the option of killing her for her soul. (Note: The Name 'Briar Rose' is the same name the Brothers Grimm gave the heroine in their version of the "Sleeping Beauty" tale.)
  • Lady Elvira Grey - The seductive but cruel and villainous Mayor of Bowerstone, and also possibly of Oakvale, due to the location of her now haunted mansion and the appearance of a mayoral figure in the game's first fresco(seemingly her father). In her youth, Lady Grey was convinced by Jack of Blades to murder her older sister, Amanda, so that she could inherit the position of Mayor. In the original game, the Hero is given the option of marrying or not. In Fable: The Lost Chapters, the Hero may also expose her villainous deeds and take her place as Mayor. Although the parts of the quest that involve exposing her as a murderer are in the original Fable, the player cannot act on it even when finding proof.
  • Scarlet Robe - The Hero's mother. She was once a famous Slayer of Balverines, and was respected as Champion of the Arena and the greatest female Hero. However, her age caught up to her, and she was injured in a battle with Balverines. Scarlet Robe was found and nursed back to health by Brom, and the two of them fell in love, got married, and raised a family. She is ultimately killed by Jack of Blades to activate the Sword of Aeons. Near the end of Fable: The Lost Chapters, the Hero can ask Scarlet Robe to give him her soul so that he can activate Archon's Shrine and fight Jack of Blades' new form.
  • Theresa - The Hero's older sister. During the Oakvale raid, Jack of Blades blinded her, and she was found by Twinblade and raised by bandits, eventually becoming Twinblade's right-hand minion due to her possession of prophetic powers (as a result of her ancient bloodline). Despite her blindness, Theresa possesses extrasensory perception due to her exceptional Will abilities, and is thus more than capable of killing all those who oppose her in her harsh bandit lifestyle. However, she leaves Twinblade's service after he is defeated by the Hero. Searching for their mother on her own, Theresa is eventually captured by Jack of Blades. After the battle with Jack of Blades, she tells her brother that he has a choice: "Strike me down now with the Sword of Aeons and gain the power Jack dreamed of, or cast it into the vortex." Whichever choice the Hero makes, Theresa is never seen again. According to the Oracle in Fable: The Lost Chapters, after the battle with Jack of Blades, she headed off to the mountains and was taken in by a nomad who later tried to steal her prophetic powers. Theresa killed him and moved off to live in the east. Oddly enough, though she is the Hero's older sister, one of the cutscenes in the game shows the Hero as a young boy and Theresa as a baby.
  • Scythe - An ancient Hero, Scythe is one of the oldest beings in Albion; only Jack of Blades has seen and done more. Obsessed with cheating death and kept alive only through supernatural means, Scythe is a withered shell of a man, resembling a tall, mummified corpse. At the beginning of the game, he leaves for the distant Northern Wastes to guard the Oracle of Snowspire. He returns after the defeat of Jack of Blades to seek the Guild's help in battling a new threat to the Northern Wastes. He is the only Hero in the game the player is never given the option of killing. He only appears in Fable: The Lost Chapters
  • The Archaeologist - Described by the Oracle in Fable: The Lost Chapters as one of the few people with a genuine academic interest in the Old Kingdom, the Archeologist seems to perpetually be in hiding. His hiding place is compromised by the Hero on at least one occasion. According to the Oracle, the Archaeologist moved away and became a trader, and he never opened a book or dug up a fossil again.
  • Nostro - A dead hero. He was known as the gatekeeper. When he was alive, Nostro founded the Heroes' Guild, but was only happy with a blade in his hand. In Fable: The Lost Chapters he is seen wearing bronze-colored armor, and it is revealed he died horribly poisoned by an assassin, not seeking the death he craved. Thus his soul wanders Lychfield in torment forever. The hero has a choice of collecting Nostro's soul and using to feed the bronze gate.
  • Jack of Blades - Known widely as the oldest and strongest of Heroes, as well as the most evil and feared, Jack's face is perpetually concealed by a white mask with a strange pattern. The Hero ultimately learns that it was Jack who destroyed his hometown and killed his father. Jack seeks the power of the Sword of Aeons, which can only be activated by the Archon bloodline found in the Hero's family. Once he uses Maze to gain the key to unlock the sword, Jack lays siege to the Heroes' Guild and nearly kills the Guildmaster. After Jack takes the Sword of Aeons, he kills Scarlet Robe and engages in an epic battle against the Hero, during which he is ultimately slain, thus ending the original game. In Fable: The Lost Chapters, it is revealed that Jack is not a mortal man, but rather an ancient entity that predates humanity and even the age of gods and demons. Jack's spirit lives inside the mask, and has used countless host bodies to influence Albion from century to century. After his initial defeat, Jack's soul escapes and takes the form of an enormous dragon sealed behind the Bronze Gate near Archon's Shrine. The Hero uses Jack's mask to gather three Hero souls and open the Bronze Gate, then proceeds to slay Jack's new form. The player is then given the final task of casting the mask into the volcano and destroying it, thus banishing Jack from Albion forever. If the player fails to act, the Hero will end up wearing Jack's mask and taking over his identity and reign of terror.

[edit] Property development

In Fable, the player is able to buy property, or rent it out, and, of course, live there. In each relatively big town, there are a handful of houses that the player can buy, though if the character happens to be evil, he can kill citizens of the town and often the deceased person's house will appear for sale. When bought, the player can decorate the house and put trophies on trophy mounts to increase the value of the home (e.g. the Wasp Queen head can be put near the fireplace).

The player will eventually make back the money paid for the house in rent.

[edit] Experience and leveling up

The experience system used in Fable is rather simple yet unique and follows the general concept of the game: every action has a consequence. Points are gained in four categories: General, Strength, Skill, and Will. General points are gained through completion of quests and killing enemies and creatures.

How the player goes about killing those creatures will affect in which of the other three categories they will gain points. The player may use their favorite sword or axe to hack an enemy apart or eat lots of healthy foods and gain Strength points. They may fire their bow or engage in trade and acquire Skill points. They can zap enemies with Lightning or a Fireball to gain Will points. These, in turn, can be used to purchase or upgrade abilities and statistics.

General experience can be used in any category (Strength, Skill, and Will). The experience the character gains can be multiplied during combat. As the character kills more monsters, their combat multiplier increases. For example, if twelve experience is gathered and the combat multiplier is ten, the actual experience awarded is 120. Using the spell Physical Shield, it is possible to get multipliers of up to 500.

It is also worth noting that the Hero ages .7 years each time he levels up.

[edit] Hype

"Project Ego", Fable's working title throughout its early development, was hyped from the beginning as being the most open-ended game in history, with an incredibly vast array of gameplay and character customization options, and also with an incredibly dynamic world, where every single thing players do could change the outcome of the game.

In a GameSpot preview for "Project Ego," dated April 19, 2002, several features of the game were listed, including:

  • Admiring townsfolk who mimic the character's dress and style
  • Competing heroes who can actually beat the player to a quest
  • The ability to carve the character's name into a tree
  • A Heroes' Guild in every town
  • The ability to vandalize all manner of public and private property (the example used was a sundial)
  • The ability to have children
  • ...and more

Other features mentioned in other previews and interviews included:

  • Finding a unique item called the "Singing Sword" by Peter Molyneux in an interview a few weeks before the game was released (the game had already gone gold)
  • The ability for players to have their own personal unique weapon that could be upgraded and enchanted as to make it more powerful as they played through the game
  • NPCs with other NPC relatives (a given example by Peter Molyneux was a tester of the game had married the daughter of a rich town mayor. The player then killed the Mayor secretly and ended up inheriting the Mayor's wealth)
  • The ability to become a Balverine
  • A vibrant, living world where NPCs didn't have strictly scripted actions to perform each day (somewhat like the 'Radiant AI' found in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion)
  • Freedom of exploration throughout the world of Fable, often labeled as "If you can see a place in the distance, you can go there", this was likened to the world exploration found in games such as The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Few of these features appeared in the final game, and those that did were only vaguely similar to the original features mentioned. For example, only windows, doors, and barrels may be broken. Fellow Heroes can beat the player to a quest; however, this only takes place for three specific quests near the beginning of the game, and is pre-scripted and unavoidable (Briar Rose is in the Map Room when she tells you that, "You're too late, all the good quests are already gone").

When the game was finally released, most reviewers conferred high ratings but complained of the lack of promised features. On the one hand, many thought the game was fun to play, but they believed that it could hardly live up to the hype generated by project leader Peter Molyneux. Molyneux later publicly apologized online for over-hyping Fable [1].

[edit] Awards

[edit] Trivia

  • The final boss of the Arena, Arachanox, is a nod to the similarly named game Anachronox.
  • The game's music was scored by Russell Shaw, whilst the opening title theme was composed by Danny Elfman.
  • Many of the gamemakers' names can be found on the gravestones throughout the game. In Fable: The Lost Chapters, Peter Molyneux's grave can be found in Snowspire village. A gravestone of Russell Shaw can be found in Hook Coast, portraying him as a deceased bard whose "music can be heard wherever you go", making a reference to the fact that he scored the game's music.
  • The grave of Captain Jack Sparrow can be found in Lychfield Graveyard bearing the message, "May the wind always be at your back", the name, a nod to Pirates of the Caribbean and the quote, a nod to the film Blow (the full quote being "May the wind always be at your back, and the sun upon your face, and may the winds of destiny carry you aloft, to dance with the stars").
  • Another grave in Lychfield Graveyard bears the inscription "yaggoth Sonnog, sleeper in the dark," which is an illusion to Yog-Sothoth, worshipped by the inhabitants of yuggoth, and Cthulhu, the sleeper in the dark.
  • Another tombstone in Necropolis (Fable: The Lost Chapters) reads, "Georg W. He gave support to the end," which might reference the war in Iraq. Or could be a reference to George Washington. But most likely it's just an inside joke about someone in IT support at Lionhead called "Georg Wieselsberger", who worked with the Fable Team.
  • While trying to open the Demon Door near the Witchwood Stones, instead of hitting the correct stone sequence (H-I-T-S), players may try hitting S-H-I-T. They will hear the door say something angrily and a pack of Balverines will attack them at once.
  • The Hero's underwear sports the Union Jack.
  • In Fable: The Lost Chapters, the four expressions to communicate with the Oracle have the letters Y, M, C, and A on them. When using one, the Hero makes the letter's shape with his arms.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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