Since the release of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic over a year ago, the Xbox has been a bit lackluster in terms of good RPGs. However the four year long wait for Fable (originally called Project Ego) is finally over, and has delivered a solid title for RPG fans. The hype over this game created huge expectations as a contender to beat out KOTOR for best Xbox RPG. KOTOR is still far better than Fable, but Fable is still quite enjoyable in its own right.

In Fable, you start off as a young boy whose village is attacked by bandits that kill your father and kidnap your mother and sister. You are saved from death by a mysterious Hero who takes you to a Hero Guild where you learn your fighting skills. After you graduate, you are allowed to explore the map, take on quests, and interact with other characters. You decide whether you are good or bad and there are pros and cons for both. For instance, if you decide to be bad by killing off villagers, stealing from homes, and taking on evil quests, you will face fines when caught or even get kicked out of a town.

The fighting system is fairly simple and for the most part mashing the attack button with your melee weapon will get the job done. You can also use a bow to snipe out enemies, use magic attacks, or a combination of magic and weapons. There are four types of experience points you can receive: general, strength, skill, and will. General points can be used on any of the three other categories. Strength points can only be gained by using your melee weapon, skill is gained from bow use, and will is gained by using magic. The points gained can then be used to level up your character's stats and gain new abilities.

One of the more interesting aspects of Fable is that you actually age until you become 65 years old. For the most part, this has no effect on your character unless you are a high magic user, which tends to make your hair grey well before its time. If you are more into melee combat, your character will keep his "good" looks and be more desirable to both women and men. You can also make others fall in love with you and marry them throughout the game, but with considerably less effort than in real life relationships. If you don't keep your spouse or spouses happy, they might divorce you. However, if you treat them well, they will have sex with you. Sex in Fable is basically 30 seconds of darkness with cheesy moaning sound effects.

Fable also saves interesting statistics, such as how many spouses you have, your favorite weapon, times you've been kicked out of a city, etc. You can also buy houses which are a must if you want to marry, rent out, or live in them. Merchants sell a wide variety of items including food, weapons, tools, gifts, and trade items that you can sell at a profit to other merchants. There are also barbers and tattooists who, for the right price, will give your character a more unique look. If you have enough money, you can bribe guards to look the other way when you kill, steal, or destroy things and even hire mercenaries to help you in your adventures. At taverns, you can buy others beer, which will get you a lot of points with the villagers and play various mini-games such as 21 and memory.

Fable's storyline is rather weak with very little character development. You find out your sister is still alive and running from someone later introduced as Jack of Blades. This villain is holding your mother, who is alive as well (surprise, surprise), hostage, and has been tortured relentlessly for however many years it takes you to get to the quest where you rescue her. You also find out about your "special" bloodline that runs through your mother, and a sword that gains massive power through killing members of your bloodline. The only thing you know about the villain of the story, Jack of Blades, is that he was once a Champion of the Hero and from the Hero Guild. There is no back story as to why he wants the sword other than the "rule of the world" cliche..

The length of time you in which you can beat the game can be as short as 14 hours, which should be efficient time to build up a decent character, complete some side quests, and perform other various activities. Another ten hours would probably be the maximum that even avid RPG fans will put into the game to get a stronger character and take advantage of the other side quests and aspects of the game. The length of the game is another disappointment, although with the weak storyline, it almost works better to cut it short.

Overall, Fable is well worth your time, although you might want to consider renting over buying. The interesting aspects such as buying houses, marriage, and trading with merchants will keep you entertained. However, with four years of development, it boggles the mind to think that the developers couldn't come up with a more involving story, better character development and length. Still, Fable should be enough to satisfy RPG fans until KOTOR2 and Jade Empire release later this year and in 2005 respectively.