1996

Telstar (acquired by Take 2 Interactive in 1999)
Sirtech

Third Person

"Fable is a fairly frustrating game. It's got several good qualities, but it suffers from a common game problem I refer to as 'Premature Release Syndrome.'

"Your character, Goodthorpe, is a callow youth who's sent on a perilous mission to help save the world...One of the weirdest problems this game has is in how your character dies. Death lurks literally behind every rock in this game. I really don't have a problem with that, but no one at SirTech bothered to deal with what happens when your Goodthorpe dies!

"For example, my character first died while attempting to cross a stream using a very rickety bridge...the bridge collapsed and I disappeared into the water. I sat stupidly for moment, staring at my monitor. The water continued to flow, the music continued to play. The character on the other side of the bridge stood there silently. I waited . . . . and waited.

"Nothing! No message, no offer to start the game over, no rewind back to the spot in the game right before I died, nothing. Eventually I simply exited the game and restored an earlier saved game. This happens all through Fable - Goodthorpe gets his throat slit by highwaymen, his head bashed in by an ogre, his soul eviscerated by a ghost, and his body crushed by falling stones. And whenever that happens . . . nothing happens!

"I do like a cartoon game, and Fable provides many interesting and beautiful areas to explore, from caves to swamps to castles and witch houses...What I enjoyed most about Fable, however, is its deranged sense of humor. The dialog, and even the descriptions, are full of anachronistic cracks.

"This game is full of characters with which to interact. Unfortunately, not a single one of them is interesting...Also, Fable has one awkward interface!

"Fable begins with a very promising backstory setup, one which really piqued our interest. However, by the end of the story the issues had become so confusing, and various sides in the conflict so muddled, that I lost any sense of purpose. What's even worse, however - much worse, in fact, is the unbelievable ending to the game. There simply isn't one!

"The game makes absolutely no attempt to tie up the epic loose ends of the story. It simply . . . stops! It's as if SirTech thought that flashing the words "The End" on the screen constitutes an ending. Sorry to inform you, SirTech - it doesn't!

"I'm used to disappointing endings in adventure games...but this one takes the cake. It made me angry. Angry enough to think twice before ever spending my time playing a game from this team again."

Ed. Note: JA has published two reviews of this game. The above is an excerpt from the original review awarding a C- . The second review, awarding the game a B, pertains to a version in which the ending has been revised and whose main character is known as Quickthorpe rather than Goodthorpe. Also, this game is not to be confused with Microsoft Game Studios' Fable for XBOX (2004) or Fable: The Lost Chapters (2005-2005). They are totally unrelated.

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C-
B

   ~FAQs

Ed. note: Info about Fable (1996) on the Internet is in very short supply; apparently, it's out of distribution and is no longer supported by either developer or publisher, although used copies are still available. If you have legitimate info about this game that you'd like to contribute, please send an email to:

Detailed

Minimal

PC REQUIREMENTS:

• CPU Class Required: 80486
• DOS 4.0 to 6.22
• Windows® 95
• 8 MB RAM
• 2X CD-ROM Drive
• Video Modes Supported: SuperVGA, VESA
• Mouse