Fable

Fable is an RPG video game for Xbox, Mac OS X, and Windows platforms. It was developed by Big Blue Box, a satellite developer of Lionhead Studios, and was published by Microsoft. The game shipped for Xbox on September 14, 2004. An extended version of the game, Fable: The Lost Chapters , was released for Windows and Xbox in September 2005; Feral Interactive ported the game to the Mac platform on March 31, 2008 & Robosoft Technologies created the platform after a delay of more than two years due to licensing issues.

Fable takes place in the fictional world of Albion. Players assume the role of an orphaned boy who realizes his dream of becoming a hero. The choices players make in the game affect the perception and reaction to their Hero by the characters of Albion, and change the Hero's appearance to mirror what good or evil deeds the Hero has performed. In addition to undertaking quests to learn what happened to the Hero's family, players can engage in optional quests and pursuits such as trading, romance, and theft.

Originally developed under the name Project Ego , Fable ' s development involved more than seventy people. The game's music was composed by Russell Shaw, with the opening title theme written by Oscar-nominated composer Danny Elfman. The game's release was widely anticipated, due in part to Lionhead creator Peter Molyneux's enthusiastic hype of the game.

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. Aside from critical acclaim, Fable was the top-selling game of September 2004 and sold more than two million units by 2007. A sequel, Fable II , was released October 21, 2008.

Gameplay

Fable is a role playing game where players control their character from a third person perspective. The main character, known as the Hero, can interact with people and objects as well as battle foes. The goal of Fable is to complete missions known as quests which advance the game's plot, but Fable also features optional quests and allows players to pursue actions not directly tied to game completion.

Most quests are undertaken at a central location, known as the Heroes' Guild; required quests are marked with a gold symbol and advance the game's story, while optional quests are colored silver and can be completed in any order. Some quests allow players to pick sides and aid either evil characters, such as bandits, or good characters, such as traders and guardsmen. Players can also boast after accepting a quest, wagering some of the quest's reward gold in exchange for a larger return if the player accomplishes their bet, such as sustaining no damage or undertaking the quest naked. Each quest's completion gives players gold, which can be used to buy weapons and items, and renown, which affects the way townspeople react to the Hero. Heroes also earn trophies of their victories, which can be displayed to large groups of townspeople to earn more renown.

In addition to fighting with melee weapons (such as swords and maces) and ranged weapons (longbows and crossbows), Heroes can learn and use spells to augment their abilities, ward off damage, or harm foes. A Hero's spells and attributes can be leveled via experience orbs gained from killing enemies and completing quests. Experience points earned have four categories: General, Strength, Skill, and Will. General points are gained through completion of quests and killing enemies and creatures, while dealing damage by hand, by using a ranged weapon, or by using spells earns more strength, skill, and will points, respectively. The experience the main character gains can be multiplied during combat through the combat multiplier. As the character successfully hits an enemy, his combat multiplier increases. If the character is hit by the enemy, the combat multiplier drops down to the next multiple of five, or zero if below five.

Fable ' s game world is dotted with towns where recreational activities not related to combat can be undertaken. Enterprising Heroes can buy trade items such as beer kegs or grain sacks and sell them at other towns for profit. Towns are also prime locations to buy clothing, weapons, or other items. Many towns have houses for sale, which the Hero can buy, furnish, or lease to tenants for gold. Heroes may woo and marry men or women in each town, and through sufficient courting engage in sexual intercourse with them.

Alignment

In Fable , a player's Hero has a measure of good or evil alignment based on the Hero's actions. Good deeds award good points, which produce a positive alignment, while committing evil acts adds evil points, producing a negative alignment. Killing monsters or saving villagers are acts of goods, whereas killing innocents, breaking laws, or abusing a spouse will accumulate evil points. Consuming certain foodstuffs can also affect the Hero's alignment; for example, eating tofu will earn the hero positive points, while eating crunchy chicks (because crunchy chicks are still alive) will earn evil points. The alignment affects not only the responses of non-player characters around the Hero, but also the appearance of the Hero himself. A Hero with a strongly positive alignment will feature a halo and a shaft of sparkling light above his head, butterflies fluttering around him and lighter features. An evil Hero emits a red haze from around his legs, draws flies, has glowing red eyes and grows horns.

Other actions besides alignment affect the Hero. Eating too much causes the character to gain weight, while drinking excessive amounts of beer causes Heroes to become sick and vomit. Clothing, which provides defense in combat situations, also changes the Hero's attractiveness or scariness as well as alignment in some cases, and townspeople's reactions to the Hero accordingly. Bright clothing makes the character look more noble to the townspeople, and thus cause them to praise and respect him. Dark clothing causes the character to seem evil or threatening to townspeople and cause them to fear him. Heroes can be further customized via hairstyles, facial hair, and tattoos. The Hero's attributes also affect appearance; high levels of Strength increase brawn, high levels of skill increase height, and high level spells create glowing arcane patterns on the Hero's body.

Synopsis

Setting

Fable takes place in Albion, a patchwork of city-states with lawless stretches of plains and forest between them. Once called the Old Kingdom, the entire land was once led by an ancient royal bloodline, bestowed with the title of Archon. The first Archon's rule was peaceful and prosperous but the source of his power was an ancient and powerful sword that gradually began to corrupt him and, eventually, his entire kingdom. By the time the events of the game take place, the world has slowly deteriorated from the days of the Old Kingdom. One of the most prominent institutions of Albion is the Heroes' Guild. The Guild is a center of learning and training for Heroes, renowned mercenaries that are active in all parts of Albion. Heroes are hired as thieves, soldiers, guards, rescuers, and protectors; the Guild makes no moral judgment on the actions of its Heroes. Guild members learn melee and ranged combat, as well as a form of magic known as Will.

Plot

When the Hero is a child, his village, Oakvale, is raided and destroyed by bandits on his sister's birthday; it seems the Hero's entire family perishes. An old hero named Maze arrives on the scene, rescues the Hero, and convinces him to join the Heroes' Guild to be trained to become a champion; Maze sees great potential in the boy. The Hero then embarks on a journey to discover the reason behind his village's destruction, discovering his destiny, and the true fate of his family along the way.

After a time, and after honing his skills, Maze informs the Hero of a blind seeress living among a bandit camp near Oakvale, and advises the Hero to infiltrate the bandit camp. To the Hero's surprise, the blind seeress is actually his older sister who was taken in by Twinblade, a former Hero and the present Bandit King. After a showdown with Twinblade, the Hero is given the choice of killing or sparing Twinblade.

Later on in the Hero's life, after he has gained more recognition among the people of Albion, he is invited to fight in the Arena, where he meets the legendary Hero named Jack of Blades, who is running the arena battles and, as a final show, issues a challenge against the Hero and his rival and friend Whisper. When the Hero defeats her, he is given the choice kill her or to spare her life.

It eventually becomes clear that it was Jack of Blades himself who hired the Hero's mentor Maze to destroy the Hero's home. Aided by his blind sister, the Hero makes it his mission to defeat Jack of Blades one way or another, either through good or evil. The Hero tracks down his mother, and attempts to rescue her from Bargate Prison, where Jack has kept her since the day of the Oakvale raid. However, the Hero is captured and spends a year or more in the prison. When he finally escapes with his mother, the Hero attempts to track down Jack. Maze, however, turns against the hero and kidnaps his sister. After defeating M