Which brings us to the next character in this dark fairy tale; hookers. The game allows your character to be straight or gay, and there are both male and women hookers throughout Albion. In this vein, Fable has also introduced STDs and condoms to the game.
The land of Albion is quite beautiful, but you really don’t get to inspect it to its full potential. There’s a lot of talk about how much bigger this game is than the previous but it doesn’t seem like it. It seems just like the last one to me — you move to an area, there is a loading screen (which is quite annoying), and then you are in the area. You can search all you want, but each area takes about 10 minutes to explore, which is not saying much. When lead designer Peter Molyneux was first describing this, he made it seem like this was going to be an Oblivion-sized game, but the end product is sadly disappointing. This game would have had so much more potential if the world was bigger.
The major part of the game is the hero him (or her) self, and how you can customize him or her. In the game, all the cloths have no armor value. This I love, because it really allows you to customize your hero with no worry about a penalty. But unfortunately, there really is not that much choice in clothing, nor in hair styles, beards, or tattoos.
Your hero can marry and have children. But your wife or husband can also divorce you and, as in real life, take everything you have.
Your character will also change physically depending on your decisions, and what kind of character you are playing with. If you have one that is melee intensive, then your character will be more bulker in muscle. If you have a skilled intensive character, then your character will be taller and leaner. If your hero is a magic wielder, then blue lines of magic will be etched all around your body. Your character will also change depending on what kind of food you eat. Eat vegetables and fruits, and you will stay a lean, mean fighting machine. Eating meat and drinking beer will make you sluggish due to your new gut.
Moral choices also affect your character’s looks. The more good and purity you strive for, the more your character will play the part. A halo will appear above your head if you lean far enough into that lifestyle. Likewise, the more you lean towards corruption and malice, the more your character will play the part. Your face will darken, your eyes will start to lose color, and most of all, horns of unholiness will start to sprout. Your dog is no exception either. The better good you are, the more majestic he will look; the more evil you are, the more rabid he appears.
Though this game has many, many great qualities, it is plagued by some bad ones. Lack of customization options is one, and some glitchy environments is another. It has a clunky running and camera system, and readjusting it can be very frustrating. If Lionhead fixed up these little indifferences, this game could be made into a gaming powerhouse.
Leave a Reply