Bullet Point Review: Fable (Xbox)
What I liked:
Vistas - Be it a swamp, a graveyard, a town or a sprawling meadow, the world of Albion is gorgeous.
Length - Alot of people say Fable is too short, especially for an action-RPG. True it's no Final Fantasy in length, but to me it was almost perfect. I think my playthrough lasted about 18hrs or so.
Sound - From the music, to the monsters, to the people calling me 'Arseface', the sound in this game is really good.
What I didn't like:
Loading - Everytime you turn around in Fable there's a loading screen. I really wish the developers could have cut down on some of it.
Targeting - When you enter in a fight you can lock on to your opponent. Trouble is when there are various baddies coming at you all at once locking to the correct enemy becomes more of a challenge.
Camera - For the most part the camera is good, what I hated was that if I wanted to look up as I was exploring a new area I had to take out my bow and go into firing mode in order to look up. It really doesn't make sense.
Difficulty - Alot of boss fights in Fable come down to circle-strafing. Which gets old fast. I would have liked to have seen more diversity in these encounters.
Summary -Fable is a great looking game, with the look and feel (well more or less) of a Zelda game...though not as enjoyable. People looking for a game of epic lengths may need to look else where, but for those looking for a Zelda-ish game on the Xbox, well this one is hard to pass up. It's a deeper game than Zelda in the relationships you can build with NPC's (you can get married), your ability to customize your look and abilities is a nice touch, and you can play through the game as either a nice guy or as a complete jackass. I just wish the camera was a tad better and the fighting was more diversified. Other than that I'm happy with the game that was presented in Fable.
Overall I give Fable (Xbox) a 4 out of 5.
