Friday, March 28, 2014

Fable Anniversary Review

I love the Fable franchise.  Even with the quirks of Fable III that I disliked, the third installment was still fun to play.  I absolutely loved the first Fable so I was excited to play this new version of the old classic.

Fable Anniversary is a good game.  It's pedigree shines through.  The mechanics are solid, the world is enchanting, and the new graphics add a layer of modern beauty that was missing from the older version.
Breakfast tacos not included.
There are issues.  My first few days of game-play were halted several times my freezes.  The game would freeze so completely that even returning to the Xbox home-screen was not an option.  As of this writing, a patch has been released and these lockups have been reduced significantly.  I have experienced another single lockup in the last three or four hours of playing though.

Though I do fear another freeze while playing, other than that, Fable Anniversary is a joy to play.  There is a significant nostalgia factor here as the voice recordings are all carried over from the old release but even outside of that factor, the fluid fight mechanics, collecting every weapon and piece of armor, and the story itself all keep me coming back for more.

The only significant issue I have with the modernization aspect is some of the interface options the developers used.  Fable needed an interface overhaul.  The original was a maze of pages but this version isn't that much better.  There is a lot of detail that Fable Anniversary needs to give the player but I feel navigating through that information still could have been streamlined.

The Factors 

I only have an hour factor:
 
Perfect.  An hour gives you enough time to not only complete a few quests, play some pub games, and talk to people but it also gives you time to enjoy the scenery.  Fable Anniversary is a very pretty game and I found myself enjoying the view on more than one occasion.

I only have ten minutes factor:
 
Okay.  There is some progress to be made in a ten minute session but not much.  You may be able to complete a quest or even a couple of the shorter quests but Fable Anniversary is a video game best suited for slightly longer play sessions, around thirty minutes or so.

Kid walking in factor:
 
Great.  Fable is modern family friendly and about as raunchy as a live action Disney film.  There are some adult situations such as drinking and a brothel but nothing that I feel steps over the line into indecency.  This is an RPG so there will be cartoon-like killing but the game is simple and comic enough that older children (around 9 and over) can play without much help.

Significant other factor:
 
Good.  No multi-player but provided you both like this style of game, multiple save slots allow two or more players to work through the game at their own pace, making their own moral decisions.  Of course, this also means a single user can play the game as good or evil without one save overwriting the other.

Final Verdict:
 
8/10 - A fully patched Fable Anniversary without the game stopping bugs deserves a fairly high score.  The original Fable is still a great game and although there are some questionable interface decisions, this version makes the world beautiful.  Overall, Lionhead have made a great game better.

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