Amazon.com: Fable: The Lost Chapters: PC: Video Games

86 Reviews

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(11)

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3.7 out of 5 stars (86 customer reviews)

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102 of 110 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars finally for the PC, September 21, 2005

By	B. Dunn "doom fan" (OH, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I like many others have been waiting a year for this game to finally make it onto the PC from the Xbox. I don't have an Xbox, but my buddy does so I was able to play the game quite a bit, and I really got into it. I have been waiting ever since to finally be able to play this game myself on the computer. And when I heard they would be releasing it with even more content, I got even more excited. I was not expecting that, but am very glad that they did nonetheless.

Some people may complain it might still be a little on the shorter end (in comparision to other games on the market) but I for one do not care. The game is so intriguing and simply FUN to play, that I can look past this. And also, being able to go through the entire game several times (being good, being bad, and then good again,etc.) and doing different things each time like at the end is awesome and lengthens the game's life anyways.

It is just like the Xbox version in that you can keep playing after the final boss which is nice. That way if you missed any side quests you can still complete them if you would like.

The graphics look real sharp too. You can see battle scars and notice as your character ages which is really cool.

For those who are into using a lot of the Will Powers, there are plenty to choose from but unfortunately you can only have two in your quick-access menu. For the rest you actually have to bring up the Will Powers menu to select them. I'd prefer to just be able to asign hot keys for all them, but its forgivable.

For those who have played the original several times through, there isn't too much different until u get to head to the new area they added, which I found to be really enjoyable.

There is one quirk that I have noticed so far, and it is relatively minor. That is the controls. The default setup just doesnt feel right. Like it has the middle mouse button being the block button, which just doesnt work for me. And the lock-on button seems a little out of place too. But luckily like almost all games, the controls are customizable so its no big deal. After some customization I was back to tearing up bandits :)

In short, it's definitely worth a look, and in my opinion- worth buying. You shouldnt be disappointed with this game.

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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly good, November 14, 2006

By	Andrew C. (USA) - See all my reviews

Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars

I hesitated a good while before picking this game up at a bargain price. Based upon various reviews and player feedback, I assumed that this game would be like 10 hours long, a bit buggy, and dumbed down. Fortunately, none of this was the case. I had some good fun with this over a weekend (yes, it can be finished over a weekend) and didn't come across a single bug. Fable is not in the same league as Morrowind, Oblivion, Gothic 2, or some of the other great roleplaying games (RPG) out there, but it does provide an enjoyable diversion.

Gameplay: The controls are the typical WASD keys and mouse commands found in most single-player RPGs. The game is fairly easy to learn and navigate. The story traces the hero from childhood through adulthood, when he'll have to, you know, save the world. There are no character classes per se, but you can roughly play as a warrior, magic-user, or stealth/archer character, or some mixture of these. Much of the story centers around a main quest line, but there are a number of side quests available. Unlike most RPGs, quests are assigned by quest cards that you pick up at the Heroes Guild (lol! That's what it's actually called). It's a rather artificial-feeling system, but it's functional. Progression in the game is quite linear. In most instances, you will not be able to even leave the beaten patch, since fences, rocks, and invisible barriers won't allow it. Compared to more open-ended RPGs like the Elder Scrolls series, Fable seems restrictive and light weight in this regard. Overall, it's a decent story, but it is rather force-fed to you.

The game includes several interesting touches. People react to you based upon whether you've performed good or bad deeds. If you roleplay like a saint, you'll eventually have a halo and butterflies floating around. Ladies (and guys) will worship you, and you do have the option to buy a home and marry (multiple times if you'd like). If you play as an evil character, you'll eventually grow horns and fall out of favor with polite company. The nonplayer characters in the game, at least in the towns, have jobs and schedules. They work during the day and sleep at night, though only quest-related characters have anything to say of interest.

Although you can only play the game as the same guy, you can customize him with tattoos, facial hair, haircuts, and a (small) assortment of armor. You can control how your character's skills develop, but not as deeply as you can in a game like Morrowind or Baldur's Gate. There are other small things that you can do, such as fish, play games of chance, and treasure hunt. Overall, this game takes about 20-25 hours to do everything it has to offer, so it is rather short for an RPG.

The things that I didn't much care for are not major, but simply underscore the light-weight nature of this particular game. The game is certainly designed to appeal to the adolescent crowd, with hotkeys for burping, farting, and so forth. The various tattoo styles and haircuts further highlight this point. There is nothing really offensive in the game; it just feels a bit immature in places. Also, the save system is based mostly on the checkpoint model. You can't save just anywhere (at least your quest progress will not save), but the game will autosave at important junctures.

Graphics: The game looks quite good. Character models are convincing (though a bit cartoonish and often repeated), and the natural environment is screenshot beautiful in some places. Since the pathing is fairly restrictive, much of the scenary is noninteractive. It's not like Oblivion or Gothic 2, where if you can see it then you can probably travel to it.

Sounds: Voice acting is pretty good, with the usual British accents that invariably seem to accompany such games. The music is particularly well done and appropriate for the various atmospheres. Ambiant sounds are also decent.

Replayability/Technical Issues: The game is probably worth playing twice: once as a good guy and once as a bad guy. It will play similarly either way, but there are different ways to perform certain quests depending on your moral disposition. Technically, the game was perfectly stable on my computer--no freezes, crashes, or other problems. The manual is decent and explains much of the game, along with the in-game tutorial.

If you like RPG games and can get this one cheap, go for it. It's a well-polished, though simple, rump through a fairly well rendered world. Don't expect the same character depth, engrossing story, or exploring options that you'll find in some of the games that I mentioned above. However, Fable: The Lost Chapters is good for several hours of entertainment.

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88 of 112 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun but very disappointing, October 17, 2005

By	H. Keith Hamm - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars

When I bought it I was hoping for Morrowind with more features. What I got was a very pretty game, with some new features, but was too short, didnt have enough story, was way more linear than advertised, was too easy and too expensive. When I finished I didnt get that satisfied feeling like I normally get after finishing a good game or a good book. I will probably only play through it once more just to see the other ending.

Graphics were excellent, combat was intuitive, nice spell selection (not too many spells), I loved some of the visual things they added like tatoos, scarring, hair cuts, you can become fat or skinny depending on what you eat, get big muscles or have no muscles. These and other what I consider small but integral things should definitely be in future RPGs. Some pretty big things were missing though.

First you cannot play the game as a female charater. Im a guy, but hey some times I like to play games as a female. Second, the story was very thin, hardly any character development. Interaction with NPCs is way too mechanical. Over the game you age about 25-40 years but hardly anything happens to flesh out who you are in relation to the other characters. Sure you can get married, be come good or evil, big and strong or small and magical but why should I care about you as a character? Why do other characters in the story care about you? Why should I care about any of the other characters in the game. We learn basically nothing about anyone except basic events in their life, nothing about what they like or dislike, what theyve done, what motivates them. I mean, you learn more about the mercenaries you can hire from their side comments and interaction with each other than you do about the character's sister or his school roomate who play major roles. I very much missed the dialog and character depth, both payable sexes, and multiple races of Morrowind and Neverwinter Nights.

The game was just too darn easy and it doesnt have any way to increase the difficulty. I blasted through it in a weekend and did most of the side quests (even though they were mostly for money, which you have too much of anyway) and even the extra area they very obviously tacked on at the end. The only way I found to make it more difficult was to run around naked and use less expensive weapons. The early game was good but by the middle and definitly at the end I was destroying everything. The bosses are all way too predictable and with a little magic, some parrying and a few potions you barely even get injured most of the time by the normal enemies. There was never a time when I was killed or thought I might die.

I really hope there is a Fable II because I think they could do a better job, even if they reused the graphics engine and just hired some better story deveoplers they could make a much more enjoyable game.

Of course maybe my preference for story driven games is what makes me dislike aspects of this predominatley hack and slasher.