Rediscovering: Fable

Before I get to the casual RPG goodness that is Fable, let me explain the concept behind this new column goodness that is Rediscovering. Too often, gamers are caught in the marketing cycle that seeks to replace are old and supposedly inferior games with the latest in flashy newness. We’re told we can rid ourselves of the aged scourge and put whatever drastically reduced monetary value we gain from this purging towards new games that will be the light of our lives until they, in turn, must be replaced. But if we give in to this recycling process, we lose something. There is nothing wrong with old games, and they can often be much better than the current crop. That’s why my associates and I will help you to rediscover a lost treasure every week, something that got lost along the way but still delivers quality at a drastically reduced price. For just twenty or less bucks a week you can rediscover something far better than the carp you’re dishing out fifty bucks for now. Who can resist that deal?

The consumer cycle isn’t the only thing that relegates too many games to the bargain bin. The holiday rush of games, which is often dominated by a few marquis titles, leaves many of the massive volume released, in the dust. While most of these left-behinds tend to be crap, certain games are swallowed by the frenzy and fail to reach their full potential, and it is here that we find Fable.

During the 2004 holiday season, Halo 2 and GTA San Andreas dominated all, and games, like Fable, that couldn’t match the hype factor of these blockbusters, were generally lost amidst the scuffle for sales supremacy. Add to that the facts that Fable simply couldn’t live up to its creator’s wild promises and that it was wedged between genres. This meant that right out of the gate, Fable was on a rocket ride to semi-obscurity, which is the kind of obscurity I’m shooting for with this project.

Despite not including some of Peter Molyneux’s wildest claims, there are a lot of great details in how the hero interacts with his environment and how the player interacts with their hero. More than enough has been said about the choice between good and evil, and how this affects player appearance, but there is also a lot to how NPCs react with a hero, and how ones actions can make them good, evil, or something in between. A good hero will find guards wish him a good day, children will flock to hear his stories, and will invite multitudes of crushes, dreamy looks, and goo-goo eyes from women and men alike. Evil heroes will scare the bejeesus out of the pipsqueaks, be received by the populace with revulsion and fear (except the occasional waitress who likes a bad boy), and will receive close scrutiny from the guards, except those who have been bribed.

How you get to good or evil is a journey wrought with choices and options that can often have unexpected effects. Being either good or evil is deceptively easy and is left entirely up to the disposition of the person behind the controller. That’s an under-appreciated thing about Fable, the developers make no attempt to sway players’ choices based on their perception of human nature. Instead, good or evil is decided through simple choices in every normal game situation, and earning alignment points can be as simple as going to the appropriate temple and donating either money or an innocent soul to your deity of choice. It’s amazing how wonderful a break this can be from most games, where the main character’s personality is decided by developers, or other games that include the good/evil subplot, where it’s just a little harder to be consistently good.

Almost as impressive as all the character customization, alignment, and interaction options are all the ways to earn and spend money in Albion. Gamers with an entrepreneurial spirit can invest in real estate, renting houses and stores, and even executing hostile takeovers of property by killing the owner. In addition there is plenty to steal once the “guile” attribute is upgraded appropriately, and goods can even be sold between shops for, at higher volumes, substantial profit. Gamers with nothing better to do can even dig or fish in any area, sometimes turning up valuable goods, including a major hidden treasure whose location is hinted in a number of collectable clues.

And apart from all the things mentioned above, there is still any number of small activities to kill time with in Albion. Apart from making money, completing quests, and being good/evil, gamers can get married, get lucky, sleep around, develop a gambling problem, get arrested, vandalize property, sleep in strange beds, dig like a mole, fish the sea empty, teleport randomly, bulk up, steal from anyone, engage in religion, kill without mercy, do odd jobs, search for treasure, open living doors, commit genocide, be gay, streak, cross dress, read books, age gracefully, age horrifically, bald, get pissed/smashed/bloothered/hammered/tanked, and subsequently barf like a freshman.

And if all else fails players can just wander around. There are a number of jokes hidden around everywhere from books, to gravestones, to what villagers say. The prevailing point here is that there is a lot to do, but it’s never overwhelming.

Besides being chock-full of activity. One of the things Fable does best is bringing a genre previously reserved for the hardcore further towards the mainstream, and as much as the purists may scoff, this approach is something that has touched even the genre leaders. I personally loathe turn-based fighting with a vengeance, and that kept my RPG experiences very limited, but fable does something almost no RPG can do, bring consistent, but never harassing, action and never keep any of it’s best features out of reach. Despite a rather lengthy tutorial the game picks up quickly and is highly accessible, yet deceptively deep

Yes the combat may be button mashy, on the surface, but Fable does something I always like in a game, it allows the player to play as deep or as shallow as they want. The swords may only command one button, but gamers can easily mix short and long range fighting, and the multitude of different spells can be built with the conventional weapons into a custom-made fighting style to suit any player.

Simply put, you can’t get that kind of variety coupled with accessibility in any other game. It’s a shame that the different audiences Fable so tried to reach out to largely ignored it. The hardcore may favor their Xbox RPGs with more Star Wars flavor, but the casual gamer, who may have picked up an Xbox to shoot things, play online, or watch virtual women jiggle, would do well to take a trek in an RPG, realm of the hardcore, and Fable is the perfect gateway.

By Zack Rovinsky

Editorial: The Attack on Gaming 2

Recently, California’s Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law a bill which would have fines up to one thousand dollars for those caught selling “violent games” to minors. Looking at the bill’s text gives no good benchmark as to what is a “violent video game”. The specific text in no way gives regard to the ESRB ratings. It’s as if they are trying to make their own ratings and standerds rather than going by the functioning and clear ones already handed down. If impacted retailers are willing to fight any fines they recieve based on the unspecific definitions that could encompass any number of games rated “T” or even “E”. It could clog up the legal system with a bunch of battles the state shouldn’t have to wage. All for a relatively measly $1000. Does the State of California want a clear, enforceable law, or do they want to turn games into a series of expensive court battles? Every precedent set by any court ruling would become obsolete as new games are released. If California wants to limit a minor’s access to violent games, there are better ways to do it.

Zack Rovinsky

Editorial: The Attack on Gaming

I am a video gamer and more specifically a video game writer. As such I have a vested interest video games and I have seen the industry I like to call myself a part of attacked by many people, from Opportunistic politicians to outraged and misinformed parents whose rage has been sparked by narrow minded mainstream news reporting. The situation would be much better and less tense with but a little more information distributed to both sides.

I am a firm believer in the Entertainment Software Ratings Board(ESRB) and I think that rather than attacking the developer of adult-themed games, these groups and politicians should strive to keep parents better informed. The ESRB ratings are there for a reason, to warn parents of game content, and if parents don’t heed a warning that clear they have little right to complain, let-alone sue (like the grandmother who bought Grand Theft Auto San Andreas for her 14-year old grandson). What Rockstar did to trick the ESRB was underhanded, but not the act of evil it’s being made out to be. The facts are clear: the “Hot Coffee” mini-game is only accessible in the PC version and only through a modification. The parents who are suing have already bought the game for their underage kids, and some for platforms where the content in question is not even accessible. It is terrifying to me when a society can say that they don’t mind their children experiencing intense virtual violence but experiencing virtual sex is unacceptable. The only person who has a right to sue in this situation is a 17-year old who bought the PC version, does not want sex in their game, and has had the mod magically put onto their computer. In responding to this outcry retailers have done the only thing they can do to appease the angry misinformed; pull the game in a knee-jerk reaction that solves nothing.

Meanwhile, people like Jack Thompson and Senator Clinton fan the flames more to further their careers and notoriety than to protect anyone. The best way to protect is to inform, and protesting will accomplish nothing against a resilient foe. When did our society start believing that parents can’t be held responsible for what their children do? An era of lawsuits has placed blame on those who don’t deserve it, be it video game makers or coaches who don’t pick a kid for a team. I do not think groups like “Peaceoholics” have a right to demand anything from Rockstar or any other game maker, whether it is forcing them into selling their games in certain stores, pay for the unrelated actions of others, not make a game, or, most ridiculously, make a national apology. Their goals could be better accomplished by attempting to inform parents, not setting them upon a video game developer, then again, nothing brings out the news cameras like protest against a popular enemy.

In the end the game industry must put trust and resources towards making the ESRB more viable and useful to consumers, and the protesting groups and politicians must take a higher, less newsworthy ground by making sure all game consumers know, understand, and use the ratings them to find what’s right for them and their kids. Information, not protest, will solve the problem.

Zack Rovinsky