'' is a Video Game for Xbox . It was developed by Big Blue Box , a satellite of Lionhead Studios , and was published by Microsoft . 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, '''', was released for both Windows , Mac OS X and Xbox on September of 2005 (although the Windows and Mac version was leaked by a Warez group in August).
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"). The hero lives in Albion , a fantasy world that resembles early Medieval England (Albion being the Roman name for the British Isles ). 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, along with a girl named Whisper. He then embarks on a journey to discover the reason behind his village's destruction, discovering along the way the true fate of his family and his own destiny.
Fable features a reasonably unique character customization system based on the concept that everything the character does should affect him. If he eats too much, he will gain weight.
Many players are under the impression that if he swings his Sword constantly, he will build muscle, this is untrue; the level of the hero's strength statistics is what actually builds the muscle. 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 character acquires will change his in-game appearance. He can be further customized by a Haircut , Facial Hair , and Tattoo cards which allow for a range of Body Modification options.
The clothing, hairstyle, and tattoos the character 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.
The actions that the character makes will award either good or evil points. Killing Monster s or saving villagers will result in achieving good points. Committing a crime or killing an innocent person will accumulate evil points. These affect not only the responses of the non-player characters but also the appearance of the character. A hero with an abundance of good points will soon find a Halo surrounding his head, Butterflies swarming around him, and his hair will turn white. An evil character will sprout horns, emit a red haze from around their legs, draw flies, and have glowing red eyes, in addition to getting black hair.
The hero can have a social life. This is mostly affected by how good, evil or downright sexy the character is. The hero can flirt, propose, and even marry, provided he is romantic enough. 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.
- - The main character of the game. His appearance varies on the player and is customizable. He is to become the strongest Hero in Albion because of his ancient bloodline connected to Archon, the royal bloodline of the old kingdom.
- - One of the oldest Heroes alive. He is head of the Guild of Heroes and trains Hero apprentices. The player can kill the Guildmaster and take his soul instead of taking Nostro's soul in Fable: The Lost Chapters and not the original Fable.
- - The old wizard who rescues Hero from bandits in the Oakvale raid. Maze becomes a father figure to the Hero until it is discovered that Maze was working with Jack of Blades. The Hero and Maze later had a confrontation that ended with Maze being killed.
- - The Hero's greatest rival. She trained with him as a boy, and battled against him in a few quests. She can either be killed or spared in the Arena, depending on the player's choice in the game. If she is spared, she will realize you are a much greater hero and leave the game.
- - One of the few Heroes honored as Champion of the Arena. Thunder is huge and very powerful. If the player chooses to kill Whisper in the Arena, Thunder then holds a grudge against him. If the player doesn't kill Whisper, Thunder still holds a grudge if the Hero marries Lady Grey. The player can kill Thunder and take his soul instead of taking the Arena's soul in Fable: The Lost Chapters and not the original Fable.
- - An ex-Hero who left the Guild of Heroes and united a dozen bandit factions and became the King of Bandits. He 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.
- - A very swift, powerful, and smart female Hero. She is more of a scholar than a fighter, and uses mainly will powers than physical strength. She first villifies the Hero until they fight in a quest together. She then earns more respect for the Hero when they join up to face Jack of Blades. The player can kill Briar and take her soul instead of taking his own mother's soul in Fable: The Lost Chapters and not the original Fable.
- - The mayor of Bowerstone. If the player chooses to, they can remove Lady Grey from the position of Mayor by solving the murder of her sister, or the player can marry her. However, only in the PC version of the game can you solve the murder of her sister. That quest was never implemented in the original XBOX version of the game although some of the elements of the quest are still in the game such as the letter written by her dead sister.
- - The Hero's mother. She was once known as the Slayer of Balverines, and was respected as Champion of the Arena and the greatest female Hero. This was until age took her and she was ambushed by Balverines. She was killed by Jack of Blades so he could use the Sword of Aeons. Later the Hero takes his mother's soul (the opposite to taking Briar Rose's soul) in Fable: The Lost Chapters and not the original Fable.
- - The Heroes sister. During the Oakvale raid, Jack of Blades cut out her eyes. She also has visions of the future. After the battle with Jack of Blades, Theresa tells her younger 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..."
- - A dead ex-Hero. He lives as a shell. He left the Heroes Guild long ago to go to the Northern Wastes to watch over the prophets. He returns after the Hero defeats Jack of Blades. He was once one of Maze's friends. Supposidly he's the oldest chracter in the game, and far older then even Jack of Blades.
- - The oldest and strongest of Heroes, next to the main player. His main goal is to get the Sword of Aeons to use it to control the world of Albion. Once he uses Maze to gain the key to unlock the sword, he lays siege to the Guild of Hereos 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. At this point, the XBOX version of the game ends, the following only happens in Fable: The Lost Chapters, not the original Fable. After Jack was defeated his soul continued to live and a year later he returns to use the Hero to help him gain a new body. He tricks the Hero into using his mask to take 3 souls so he can take the form of a dragon. After the main player kills him the second time, the player has a choice to either wear the mask or throw it in a pit of lava. If the player wears the mask Jack of Blades takes control over the Hero's body helping Jack to live on forever. If the player destroys the mask, Jack's spirit is destroyed with it. Jack of Blades is a Demon who lives on in the mask, and he's actually had many hosts throughout history. Perhaps he's even shaped the history of Albion behind the scenes. If you choose to do Jack's bidding, he wants you to help revive him and become one with him. He betrays you, but if you defeat him, you can still wear his mask instead of throwing it away, and become another of Jack's twisted abominations.
- - The weakest enemy in Albion. You meet somewhat stronger, flying, red versions later.
- - Slightly stronger than Beetles, They are nimbler and can fly but are still very easy to defeat.
- - Bandits come in many kinds and are amongst the commonest foe in Albion.
- - Usually work with bandits, but are much stronger. They usually wield katanas.
- - Town Guards usually are only your foes if you provoke them by attacking them or committing a crime in town and not paying the fine. The ones guarding Bargate Prison attack unprovoked, however. There are several kinds: Blue Guards, Red Guards and Black Guards The blue and black kinds are the weakest and strongest respectively. Blue Guards defend Bowerstone and Oakvale, red guards defend Knothole Glade and Bargate Prison and black guards defend Hook Coast. In Oakvale and Knothole Glade, if one begins to kill the town guards they will send in stronger Town guards.
- - Hobbes are weak goblin like creatures that will attack or capture anyone that provokes them or tresspasses in their cave. There are many kinds, some that cast magical orbs at you, and some that are huge and red that are much harder to defeat than others. You have to take out the strongest ones first or they will all swarm you.
- - Balverines are powerful wolf-like beasts that are native to darkwood and witchwood. They evolved from an ancient even more powerful creature known as the Balvern. The Balvern killed many humans, but only one survived to become the first Balverine. When other humans are bit by a Balverine, they too evolve into a Balverine. Scarlet Robe, the Hero's mother was renown for being a powerful Balverine slayer. In order to kill them, roll when the balverines lunge at you. After they lunge at you, attack them until they will try again, and repeat until they're dead.
- - Much larger, much more powerful rare Balverines. They are native to witchwood and oakvale. A White Balverine, along with many standard balverines attack Knothole Glade at one point and the Hero is to defeat it using weapons augmented with silver. On defeat, he gains entrance to the arena, where more are met. These beasts can also be located in Oakvale, after defeating many Town Guards.
- - Trolls are very powerful enemies. They attack mainly by throwing rocks at you or sending shockwaves, if you get too close for too long. There are two kinds; Earth Trolls and Rock Trolls. Earth Trolls are native to Greatwood, Darkwood, and Witchwood, and are the weaker kind. Rock Trolls are native to Witchwood and are much stronger than Earth Trolls. An Ice Troll is mentioned in one of the 'dummy' quests at the beginning of the game. Ice Trolls can actually be fought in the expansion of Fable, .
- - Undead are slow but defensive undead soldiers, most of which serve Nostro. They will attack unprovoked and appear in the Grey House, Lychfield Graveyard, the underground passage to Bargate Prison, Cliffside Path, The Arena, and Windmill Hill. They can also appear in Witchwood, if summoned by a Nymph first.
- - Found in Greatwood and the Arena. Slightly stronger than Beetles, but still very weak.
- - Nymphs are flying enemies that can summon obstacles and enemies. There are 3 kinds. The Wood Nymph (green), the lake Nymph (blue) and the Succubus Nymph (red), the Succubus Nymph being the most powerful.
- - Minions are very powerful enemies that appear in the Bowerstone Jail area. During the battle against the human Jack of Blades, they appear all over Albion and they also apparently can appear in Witchwood according to an inaquirable quest card. There are two kinds of minion; a Wardog, which wields a double-bladed sword and a Dreadwing with wield a double ended staff which they use for both melee and ranged attacks by shooting magical orbs at the player.
- - Screamers are odd enemies that appear in Hook Coast. Screamers were once men who had dared to oppose Jack of Blades. They are fairly easy to defeat but can take away a lot of health.
- - This is fought in the Picnic Area after you accept the first gold scroll quest and defeat a certain number of standard wasps. Every now and then the wasp queen will summon about 3 wasps to fight you, focus your fire on the queen and just keep shooting/slashing (you can easily kill the summons).It is better to use ranged weapons to defeat it, though ranged weapons are relatively weak they still work.
- - A former hero who worked his way up to king of the bandits. He is fought in Twinblade's Tent. You fight him in a circle of jeering Bandits who will attack you if you get too close. The only way to harm Twinblade is with Flourishes and attacking his back whilst his swords are stuck in the ground. All you have to do is hold L and press Y to keep dodging his attacks until he'll try to strike you with both swords into the floor if you dodge it attack his back while he is turned around, it truly isn't that hard. Near the end of the battle, there will be a cinematic and you can either choose to kill him or show mercy. If you choose to kill him all of the bandits will swarm in on you and you will get +200 evil points.
- - It is advised you fight this beast with weapons with Silver Augmentations. During the fight they occasionally howl to send standard Balverines to help them. It is fought in the White Balverine gold scroll quest in Knothole Glade and Witchwood Lake.
- - The gargantuan scorpion king. It is fought in the arena on the 8th round. It occasionally buries itself underground and sends small scorpions to fight you. Its weakspot is its face.
- - Fought after Arachanox in the arena. Whisper defends a lot and is quite powerful. Like Twinblade you can spare her by walking into the anteroom or kill her.
- - An optional boss. You get the opportunity to fight Thunder while doing the quest for Lady Grey's hand (the only alternative is to simply not do the quest.)
- - The Kraken is huge and lives in a small body of water in the tunnels between Lychfield Graveyard and Bargate Prison. It appears once you have your mother and almost have her out of the prison. It usually doesn't harm your mother too much, so you should focus on defending yourself. For the first part of the battle you'll have to deal with the several tentacles, after which it exposes itself. It will shoot beams of energy at you. You will have to use ranged attacks to defeat it, though you can use melee attacks to destroy the tentacle. After half it's health is gone whilst its body is exposed you will have to destroy the tentacles again and then you may finish it off.
- - Maze is fought in Hook Coast. He does many powerful will attacks and wields a staff which allows him a physical shield. He will teleport throughout the town so you will have to chase him from place to place. You will also have many Screamers to deal with.
- - The Final Boss . For the first part of the battle, you will have to fight him using flourishes. Naturally, the Sword of Aeons gives him much strength, but once you have hit him with enough flourishes, he will rise to the air, and shoot beams of energy from the sword. While this happens, you must stay behind the rocks he summons and shoot him with your bow whilst you have the chance.
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 head can be put near the fireplace). The player will eventually make back the money paid for the house in rent. Houses are very profitable as the player gets paid rent every day.
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 them 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 mana shield some people can get multipliers of 130-200. Using that trick players can, with enough will potions, max out in all their skills in under half an hour!
There are three categories of magic spells in ''Fable'': Attack, Physical and Surround.
- : A wave of flame that ignites foes while knocking them off their feet. Incredibly useful against undead enemies
- : A fiery attack that can be charged to increase damage. A sound will play when each level of charge is reached. Time it carefully to get the most powerful results. However this spell also has splash damage that can harm friendly NPCs as well.
- : Thrusts the hero at enemies at high speeds and knocks them to the ground. Damage depends on the spell's level and how far the enemies are thrown
- : Imbues a weapon with the ability to strike targets multiple times.
- : Creates a stream of lightning which attacks a target. Higher levels will attack more targets. However the damage done to each enemie is lessened. It can be used to gain large amounts of Will and General Experience
- : A wave of energy that knocks enemies and friendly units back. Damage dealt is dependent on how far the enemies are thrown rather than the level of the spell. Spell's level only determines how far enemies will be thrown.
- : Slowly turns the enemy into an unwitting ally for a certain period of time. Higher levels allow the enemy to be taken over quicker and controlled for longer.
- : Enhances the speed of the hero by slowing down time around him. Can be used to cheat in certain timed Card playing mini games when collecting the dolls for the teacher in Bowerstone.
- : An evil spell that absorbs life energy from a target and transfers it to the player. However, it does not work on certain enemies
- : Yanks a creature's soul from the netherworld to do battle for the caster. Although the summoned creature is usually a wasp. If that creature kills any enemie you are currently attacking, it will replace the wasp. However there are some enemies with whom this does not work.
- : A barrier that trades physical damage for mana. Higher levels use less mana when hit. This spell is VERY handy for protecing your combat multiplier.
- : An evil spell that pushes the hero into a hulking frenzy while reducing civilized manners and common sense. Although it increases your physical strength your defense is also lowered considerably.
- : A quick burst of speed that puts the caster behind the enemy as long as your locked on. It costs little mana and a good mana regen rate can cancel it out making it a good way to move around and also take some distance between you and the enemy.
- : A spell that trades mana for health. It also heals friendly units nearby. A must for escort missions.
- : Summons a spectral sword that battles enemies for the caster. Higher levels shall summon more swords. Although not incredibly powerful, they are useful for distracting your enemies and can be used to great advantage.
- : Once this spell is cast, each arrow fired is magically transformed into a multitude of lethal projectiles, causing much greater damage. Higher levels generate even more arrows. Not recommended if you are in a closed space as the arrows move out wide at first then home in once they get closer. Can also damage friendlies.
The weapons in the land of Albion fall into three main categories: ''light'', ''heavy'', and ''ranged''. There are also Legendary or Epic weapons hidden throughout the realm. These weapons fall under the three main categories but are more powerful than their average counterparts. Weapons are also made from four distinct materials: iron, steel, obsidian and master. Other than legendary weapons, master weapons are the most powerful and costly.
- : A simple melee weapon
- : Melee weapon styled after a butcher's blade.
- : A weapon commonly used by miners, the weakest weapon type.
- : A dangerously sharp melee weapon from distant lands
- : A one bladed axe with less attack power than the great axe
- : Often wielded by bandits, this weapon is not very powerful.
- : Two-handed blade, slower than a standard sword but with more attack power.
- : A massive hammer that pulverizes enemies.
- : A double bladed axe much more powerful than it's smaller counterpart which has only one blade.
- : Being heavier than the standard mace, this weapon is still not very powerful.
- : Fairly powerful ranged weapons with quick reload times.
- : Powerful ranged attacks with slow reload times.
- : This sword is obtainable at the final moment of the game. In order to get this sword, the player must kill his sister. It is the most powerful melee weapon in game, capable of killing almost any enemy in a single hit.
- : Found in the Demon Door at Grey House.
- : Purchased in the shop at Bowerstone North.
- : Found in the Demon Door at the Greatwood Caves.
- : Found in the Demon Door at the Abandoned Road.
- : Stuck in the stone at the Temple of Avo.
- : Found in the Silver Key Chest in Lady Grey's bedroom.
- : Found in the Silver Chest at the top of the Lighthouse at Hook Coast.
- : Found in the Silver Chest in the Hero's Guild.
- : Gained by donating 300,000 in one sitting to the Temple of Avo.
- : Found inside the Demon Door at Greatwood Gorge.
- : Found inside the Silver Key Chest at Darkwood Lake.
- : Gained by Sacrificing people until you gain 1000 evil points at the Chapel of Skorm. It is the most powerful ranged weapon.
- : Gained by following the treasure clues.
- : !Only in Fable: The Lost Chapters! Gained by casting the Sword of Aeons into the vortex, a quest will pop up allowing you to obtain this sword that rivals the power of the Sword of Aeons
The primary method of defense in the game comes from the types of clothing that can be found. In addition to providing defensive properties, clothes also affect the way the hero is perceived by the various NPC's throughout the game.
Light colored clothing will portray the hero as a more righteous character while dark clothes will have villagers cowering in fear at the hero's presence. Even if the player's character is evil, they may want to wear brighter clothes in towns and such simply because they have a better chance of wooing a future spouse.
"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 you 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 ability to have your own personal unique weapon that could be upgraded and enchanted as to make it more powerful as you 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 were-balvarine
- A vibrant, living world where NPCs didn't have strictly scripted actions to perform each day (somewhat like the 'Radiant AI' found in )
- 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
Few of these features appeared in the final game, and those that did where 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 prescripted 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 . Peter Molyneux later publicly apologized online for overhyping ''Fable''.
- The game's music was scored by Russell Shaw, whilst the opening title theme was composed by Danny Elfman .
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