Fable: The Lost Chapters (PC)

FABLE: The Lost Chapters (2005)

Fable was first released in XBox while PC gamers felt left-out. But when it was released in Windows (PC), XBox users felt left-out because the PC version has additional content: The Lost Chapters where you get to go to the Northern Wastes in the Old Kingdom after defeating Jack of Blades in the original Fable storyline. The Lost Chapters offer new weapons, new quests and more choices to make... whether you continue to be a good hero or an evil villain of the Heroes Guild.

You will be able to get the Holy Warrior Helm, a perfect fit for that Bright Plate Suit of yours or the Demon Warrior Helm for you terrifying Dark Plate Suit. You can also acquire Archon's Armor, a more powerful plate suit with better defense but gives a good modifier for those planning on playing with an evil character. In the Northern Waste you get to battle Jack of Blades once more in his new (a perhaps his true) form, a fire breathing dragon. In the end, you get the option on wearing Jack's mask or destroying it, which if you plan on wearing it you become Jack of Blades himself and play as Jack at the end of the storyline after waiting for the game credits to roll out.

The Lost Chapters starts as with the original Fable game. You are a boy where the village you start out with gets attacked and burned to the ground, with your father as one of the casualties. Maze, a wizard from the Heroes Guild will somewhat find you and train you as one of the heroes in the game. You then decide which abilities to hone and master as you grow old (at about a few game minutes or a few hours in real time). As you grow you become older, become scarred and grow your hair and beard if you decide not to get to the local barber of Bowerstone. Experience is dropped for everything you kill (as long as they are not inanimate objects) as experience orb. A battle multiplier is also present for every strike you make which can multiply the experience you get from enemies and will slowly count down to a multiplier of one if not attacking, or will be halved or lowered by ten if you take a hit.

Experience distribution is applied to skills you need to improve in the Heroes Guild's Map Room. General experience (green) can be distributed to all skills (warrior, thief and magic) while red, yellow and blue experience can only be distributed to warrior, thief and magic skills respectively. You gain red experience by using your melee weapons or fists, or eating strength enhancing food like meat. Yellow experience is acquired with using your bow, or eating carrots (not the golden ones). You get blue experience points by using your Will/magic and by eating certain types of fish. If you master one or all of the three skills, your appearance will also change. For example, mastering most of the magic spells will grant you magical tattoos just like Maze's, plus your hands will be glowing with Will energy. Mastering warrior skills of strength will give you muscles and a pumped up body.

You will also have choices to make in the storyline which will bring you to the path of good or evil depending on your choices and actions. Stealing, breaking barrels and killing innocents will bring you closer to the dark side while fighting monsters and some good deeds/choices/missions will bring you to the light (the good side). Some food items will also change your alignment like eating a crunchy chick will give you an evil alignment while tofu will make you good. The good character will have blue eyes at first, then butterflies flying around you on the second level, a halo on the third and a bask of holy light on your feet on the final level (with a more distinct halo). The evil character will have red eyes, small horns on the head, flies, and finally an evil red glow on your feet/path with full grown horns. Some magic spells can only be mastered depending on your alignment like heal for good and drain life for evil but regardless of your alignment you will still become a Will Master if you master enough spells.

For every town you can get to buy your own house where you can rent it out for extra gold, or get married and live in the marital home you bought, so you can have a wife for every town you have a house on. You can also marry Lady Grey in Bowerstone North even if you don't own a house. Married life can have its rewards, your wife gives you gifts like powerful weapons or armor which you can sell since you already are using that legendary weapon (artifact) which is more powerful than the expensive weapons. And if you're evil, you can sacrifice your wife in the Chapel of Skorm which might bless you with the game's most powerful bow if you sacrifice her at midnight. If a villager or shop owner is killed, you have the option to buy the house they live in or the shop, but make it quick as when the game respawns a new villager or shop owner, the replaced villager will automatically buy the vacant house or the replaced shop owner will resume the shop's ownership. Taverns can also be bought if you kill the game master, the bartender and the bar maid.

Fable provides a good role-playing theme, and will also change your appearance for the role of the character you are trying to create... somewhat different from other RPG's where you decide the role of your character at the start through a character generator. I will also be keeping an eye out for Fable 2.