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Fable
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Fable, formerly known as Project Ego, is an extremely ambitious real time RPG being made exclusively for Xbox by Big Blue Box. While you may have never heard of them before, the game is being made by Peter Molyneux, the man behind the Dungeon Keeper, Populous and Magic Carpet series, Black and White, and many other well known franchises.
You play as your character from the age of 17, up until 70 or older. One day you return home to find your parents abducted and your dog's head nailed to the door. You vow to find your parents, and find out that your father was once a hero of the land. From here you can decide things such as your name and basic appearance, and then it's onto the game. The game takes place in Albion, which consists of villages and towns, rivers, lakes, mountains, forests, ruins, seas, cities, caves and lava filled underground caverns. Exploration will clearly play an important part in the game, with so many places to go. While the world isn't as big as that in Morrowind, it is more detailed and is still massive. Unlike Morrowind, however, this world is seemless and the only loading time is at the beginning.
Your character will be affected by your actions much more than in any other RPG. An example of this is getting a sun tan if you spend your time lying around on a beach, or if you are cut in a battle you may get a scar after the wound has healed. Using heavy weapons such as swords and axes will increase your strength and make your muscles grow, or you can use magic which will give you a more mysterious look and can cause you to lose hair. Wrinkles will develop with age, using the morphing engine used in Black and White. The game is divided into chapters. Aging doesn't happen in real time, but after each chapter, which is probably a good thing to prevent you becoming too old to complete the game. Things such as scars, muscles enlarging, etc, all take place in real time. The game also has a day/night cycle and each day lasts 48 minutes.
Your choice of good or evil will also affect your looks. Interactivity is one of the main focuses. If you want to buy a certain shop but the owner wont sell it, killing him could cause the shop to be sold. There will obviously be more honest or cheaper ways to do this, but it is just an example. You can also poison a town's well to kill everyone in the town, or at least make them sick. Just about anything can be used as a weapon, such as a frying pan or a rock. You can also learn from NPC's behaviour. This could be belching, which would make people think of you as disgusting, or just learning phrases. You can even give people the finger if you want to get into a fight. These can be used at any time, and will have different effects depending on the situation. If you are well known enough, you can cut your hair a certain way and a few days later, all the kids in the village will have their hair in that style. Weapons that you use will actually become legendary and will increase in value as your fame increases. Massacre people, and you will start seeing wanted posters with your picture on them. This is all real time AI, not scripted. This will also go on when you are inside a building - you can look out of the window and this is still going on outside. You will have to consider the consequences of your actions more than most other games, since you can't just save anywhere.
Another unique concept is the heroes guild. While this guild acts like a guild in any other RPG, giving out quests to complete, the player can boast about his strength which can cause people to like him more or gain larger rewards. An example of this is the player could boast that he will complete the quest with no armor, or using his bare hands. Obviously, failiure to do this will result in a decrease in his popularity or other negative effects. This also makes where you kill people more important. While you may be able to loot a gang of outlaws in the middle of a forest, if you care about your reputation you will need to taunt them and lead them to a populated place before killing them. Even taking the head or carcass back to prove your kill won't have as much effect, as the locals won't be treated to seeing the fight. Of course, actions lead to consequences. An example of this is that you may come across a group of bandits in a forest. You could decide to leave them alone. You could fight a few and run, which would cause them to attack you next time they see you. If you decide to eradicate them, a new group of more hostile and skilled bandits could take their place, making things harder for you in the long run.
The battle system seems fairly similar to other action RPGs. The player can master a particular weapon, which will make him more proficient with it, which also unlocks new moves and strength or attack bonuses. Magic works in a similar way. Instead of having multiple strength spells, the more experienced you are at casting a particular spell, the more powerful it can be. A push spell could eventually become powerful enough to send people flying into the air, crushing bones and obviously killing them. The battle engine will be fairly complex, allowing combos and many different attacks and blocks, maybe even as complex as in an average to quite deep fighting game. Enemy AI will also be advanced compared to other games, employing surrounding and flanking techniques and setting ambushes. As well as fighting monsters and outlaws, you will compete against other heroes. You may be sent on a quest to kill a dragon at the top of a mountain, only to find that someone else is half way there. There will be no shields in the game, but weapons can be modified by an armorer. The main quest supposedly takes 20 hours to complete, but their will be many side quests and this is for someone who knows exactly what to do.
Not only do you complete quests, you also live your life like any other person, including getting married and having kids. Your wife will even nag you for not being home often enough. It's up to you what you want to do. You can do jobs such as running a shop or rely on rewards for quests to get your money.
Despite the disappointment of Black and White, Fable seems to be within Peter Molyneux's capabilities. If it is successful, and there is no reason to think otherwise, this game could revolutionise real time RPGs.
Review By: Flid_Merchant
Game Info: Fable
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