heroes are made when they rise to the occasion. Others build their reputations over time. This latter case is the subject of Fable: The Lost Chapters, a game in which you get to vicariously experience the life of an archetypal fantasy hero, and, in some respects, decide what eventually becomes of him. Originally released for the Xbox last year, Fable was one of the most highly anticipated games since the Xbox's debut, and the latest title overseen by visionary game designer Peter Molyneux since 2001's innovative Black & White. Like that game, Fable invites you to solve problems either by being good or by being evil, and to watch as the effects of your decisions gradually take a noticeable toll on your persona. Fable also features a number of novel elements, such as how your hero's appearance gradually changes with age, and how villagers respond differently to him depending on his reputation, looks, and other factors.
These elements serve to significantly differentiate a game that's actually pretty straightforward in terms of how it plays. Beneath the surface, Fable is a well-put-together but standard action adventure, primarily consisting of lots of basic combat and running from point to point. Mind you, this is a decidedly great game, all in all. Its most interesting, riskiest features may lie at the fringes rather than at the core--but they're there.
If you're familiar with the Xbox version of Fable, you'll find that Fable: The Lost Chapters is essentially the same game, though it's been tuned to work well for the PC and gains a significant amount of new content. That is, the 12 months since the release of the original apparently were well spent--this game isn't any worse for wear today. The new Lost Chapters storyline picks up immediately following the conclusion of the original Fable's main quest, challenging you to explore the treacherous north of the world of Albion, and conquer a great threat lurking there. Featuring new places to explore, new items to find, and new monsters to fight, plus lots of new dialogue and cutscenes, the additional content of The Lost Chapters is at least as good as that of the original game, and it blends in seamlessly with the rest. It's like getting an expansion pack together with the original game, and The Lost Chapters helps address one of the original Fable's problems, which is that it was quite short. Fable veterans will of course need to play through the game again in order to get to the new stuff, and the additional quests amount to only a few more hours of gameplay, if you play straight through them. So while fans will surely enjoy the new content, it isn't necessarily enough to justify getting a second copy of the game. And if you're new to Fable, you'll be better off for all the stuff that's been added. Other than the new content, Fable's controls and presentation have been translated very well to the PC, to the point where the game barely shows its console roots.
Minimum:
OS: Windows XP SP3
Processor: 2 GHz Intel Dual Core Processor
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8800/ATI Radeon HD 2600 (256MB minimum)
DirectX «: 9.0c
Hard Drive: 10 GB HD space
Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible
Recommended:
OS: Windows XP SP3/Vista/Windows 7
Processor: 2.3 GHz Intel Quad Core Processor
Memory: 3 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX460/ATI Radeon HD 5850 (512MB minimum)
DirectX «: 9.0c
Hard Drive: 10 GB HD space
Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible
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