Fable (video game)

Fable is a video game for the 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 it's failure to include many of the features promised by creator Peter Molyneux.

Hype

Project Ego, Fables 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.

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In a GameSpot preview for Project Ego, dated April 19, 2002, several features of the game were listed, including: admiring townsfolk who mimic your dress and style; competing heroes who can actually beat you to a quest; a hero's guild in every town; the ability to carve your name into a tree; the ability to vandalize all manner of public and private property (the example used was a sundial); the ability to have children; and more. None of these features appeared in the final game, though a few appeared in extremely toned-down versions. For example, windows, doors, and barrels may be broken; certain quests feature competition with fellow hero Whisper, though she cannot "win" a quest permanently - you get the chance to attempt the quest again later.

Related Topics:
GameSpot - April 19 - 2002 - Whisper

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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. They had been expecting a game similar to ', but with better graphics and more gameplay options. Instead, the delivered game was found to be quite linear, with the only major difference between the storylines depending on whether the Hero was good or evil. As thus, it was more comparable to ' than it was to Morrowind. They also noted the lack of many of previously mentioned features, and the game's 'superfluous' nature - in a GameSpy review, for example, it was noted that eating tofu would tilt the Hero somewhat to good, but eating red meat, the perceived opposite, would not tilt the Hero to evil. (It was not mentioned that eating an item called the crunchy chick does tilt the Hero to evil.)

Related Topics:
Peter Molyneux - Hero - GameSpy

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Peter Molyneux later publicly apologized online for overhyping Fable.

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