Fable: The Lost Chapters
Rating:  -
I gave it one star because there was no way to give it less.
This game when played on the X Box was great. So when it came out for PC I bought it. BIG MISTAKE! The control are too hard to learn. And when you are in a battle you can't stop to think which keys when used together work. There are too many keys that you need to push together to do even the simplest thing.
I wasted my money on this game. I deleted it and will never play it. Don't waste your money!
Rating:  -
Right, just so everyone knows, I have never played this game, however, i think you should read this.
I bought Fable, and found that my computers graphics card was not compatible with it. It is good enough but not supported, so to avoid this i suggest checking the support section of the website before you buy to check that your card is compatible.
As they have actually put a list of cards on the site, i assume that this problem is not uncommon so i advise you to check this before buying the game. Just thought you should know.
Rating:  -
I played and demolished the original Fable so quickly that I felt cheated.
Not a good way to begin what's going to be a fairly derisive review, but it must be said. I could not belive the good to excellent reviews Fable was endowed with; I felt sure that money was changing hands. With almost no replayability (wait for it. I'll explain), and nothing at all new or revolutionary other than customizable tattoos, not to mention a pretty tepid and over used story line, what other explanation is there?
Nonetheless, I got on with my life, vowing never to trust Lionhead Studios again(I broke my own vow. I love 'the Movies'). Skip ahead a year or so...
As a gift from a well meaning friend, I recieve Fable: the Lost Chapters. Allegedly huge amounts of added stuff and a bunch more gameplay. I figured I'd give it a shot.
Still sort of sucks.
Here, in my opinion, is the beef. The entire concept of Fable AS RELEASED is a failed attempt to 'dumb down' the Elder Scrolls formula of 'do what you want, when you want', especially if you read the early blurbs and interviews with studio members when Fable was first announced. The story is even VERY reminiscent of an Elder Scrolls plot. The similarities dont end in basic design, though: they're followed through all the way through execution. From focusing on books you can read as an optional minigame, to the side quests of the Demon Doors (....Or daedric shrines...?), to customizable class and abilities to people reacting to your deeds (it is NOT your appearance, people: your appearance is just a net integer output algorithm for your current good/evil index), to the rather 'flexible' moral structure the game allows you to take, to hardcase guards who fine you for breaking the law, to the fluid nature of quest assignment (Fable's is a bit more structured, but you get the feeling on your second time through that it wasnt SUPPOSED to be... More on that in a sec), to buying and selling stuff to different merchants for fun and profit to the main minor league antagonists being zombies and bandits, to the bigger league guys being legendary demons, to the katana being a european weapon for no reason at all, to werewolves being diseased humans that prey on their own species, to having an Arena for heroes to fight in, to collecting scattered armor sets to ... I could go on, but I encourage anyone who's played both ANY Elder Scrolls game AND fable to think about it and draw their own conclusions.
The most frustrating thing though, bar none, is the way the game feels like its JUST NOT DONE. When I play a re-release of a game that alleges it has 'vastly expanded gameplay', there'd better be more than two hours of extra play in there. Thats not even long enough to advertise, in my opinion. There are weapons and armor bits that are obviously parts of sets, but you cant get the rest of the set because they ran out of time or money or both.
To draw that Elder Scrolls parallel again, look at Bloodmoon, which came out in 2004 as an expansion for Morrowind. Then look at the added stuff for Fable.
I will admit, that even with all the glaring issues, it IS a fun game. But it is a SERIOUSLY derivative, FLAWED game, an unfinished game that fell utterly short of its promise. It took Bethesda four years to put out Oblivion. THATS a finished game. It took sony something on the order of five years to put out GranTurismo 4. THATS a finished game. It took Sony (again) five years to put out Final Fantasy 12. THATS a finished game.
The courtship mini game is fun fo sho, and growing horns and sacrificing people remains as utterly entertaining as ever, but thats it. Seriously.
Essentially, my feeling is that if it were a budget game by a minor studio, it would be worth the moniker 'classic'. As it stands, for four years or more of development and very little in the way of innovation means it had an obviously tortured and unhappy development period.
Just my opinion. If you want a game that truly lets you grab your destiny by the short hairs, play Morrowind or Oblivion. If you want fantastic leveling options and player control, play Disgaea. If you wanna be a good or bad boy, play Knights of the Old Republic or Jade Empire.
Lets hope Fable II, due out for Xbox 360 sometime before the Rapture, is better.
Rating: -
I would be 5 on this one all the way, because I enjoyed the game immensly (the general idea of the game), but because of personal preference I stopped playing it because of excessive gore, sexual/debasing themes, and leud art. If you like this game but don't want all the questionable material (yes, I know that it's nothing compared to other games) then may I recommend "Fate" by wildtangent
Rating:  -
Good:
* Gameplay - overall, the combinations of enemies vs weapons/spells is well done. You can buy every weapon, go back to easier parts and see how each weapon "fights". You have light/heavy & short/long with different damage. You also have the option of using different spells. This is for those like me who want to prolong the game. I can't block/roll(.. physically disabled), so I go the "best defense is a good offense" strategy. You have many options how to win = you can thus make the game more difficult or easy based on your decisions.
* Weapons - many choices. Light/Heavy; Short/Long; low damage/high damage; Augmentstions etc... You can try differnet weapons out per whatever part of the game; if you want to proplong the the adventure :-). Some weapons just plain look cool !
* Spells - well, I have my favorites, but tried them all. Some work much better than others vs certain enemies. You can pick and choose !. I believe you can beat the game with only 3, but I used my favorite 6 = to spice things up.
* Story - well thought out.
* Battles - many major fights
* XP/Gem runs - I can think of 3 spots where you can increase these important categories. Nice when added to a game !
* Bugs - only a few desktop crashes; XP/SP2
All in all, you are not overwhelmed with too many options.
Just get in there and fight :-)
Bad:
* Voiceovers - sounded like 1-2 people did all the voices
* Women/Villagers - basically the same model
* Romance - well, one giggles and talk; the other actually seems to enjoy you. The third option for a wife is a special NPC and seems to be reading from a poor romance novel. Ok, you can hit the ESC button ?
If they wanted to go down this path, the designers should have put more variety/work into this option.
Why no romance with Whisper ... would have fit the story + changed the same-ness
Why no romamce with Briar Rose - as as above.
Why no romance with a Bordello lady - same as above. Wouldn't fit with the story, but changed the same-ness. If you decide to give them a refuge, shouldn't the ladies talk to you; be open to romance ? They just stood there and posed.
Why can't I buy clothes for my wives ... could buy a dress for myself
* Maps - I liked the trek from the Guild to Oakvale: much to do and fight. I would go back and forth several times. Hoped to run into Nymphs :-)
Seems once you get to Knothole Glade, you really don't feel the need to go roaming and look for something to fight/do. Ok, you have the Arena; lots of fun here = unless you hero save, you do it once.
Hook Coast - just part/path of the final showdown
Snowspire - well, it's it if you do the last soul.
What was the point of talking to villagers; getting married etc, you spent no time in these places.
There could have been a cave or forrest or swamp; or a combination to give one something to do while in these villages.
Seems the final 1/3 of the game is just "rushed upon you" ... you feel like; " might as well and just keep questing" and get this over with.
I would have liked to slow down, wander around; etc...
If you didn't have the equipment/spells by now, you won't get them by coming to Hook Coast/Snowspire. All I can remember of value would be some xp or "boosting potions".
If they were just quest driven locals, then only the map would be needed = I saw no reason to get a wife; buy anything at this point
* Hero Save - ok if you want to do xp/key runs. I've heard of crashing problems if you over do it. But, in those longer/tougher quests, do you really want to redo several hours if you die or want to stop ?
I'm on my 6th replay = about 240hrs
So, I obviously like this game.
Just I see room for improvement by adding or subtracting = taking the middle, I feel the designers weakend the overall experience
BTW, Fable 2 is in the works(... for Xbox) = I hope they don't go crazy with the system requirements once it comes to the PC. Afterall, how much better does a game have to look = Fable TLC is "easy on the eyes" !. I found myself just wandering and looking on the first few plays.
|
