The Fable series of RPGs meets the cute world of… puppets, in Fable Heroes for the Xbox 360. Capturing the creative world Albion and translating it to a simple form of gameplay that even my nephew can understand, Fable Heroes is a side scrolling beat-em up with an RPG twist. I’ve spent several hours with the game and managed to get through everything the title has to offer, and now I’m here to pass that information on to you.
The Good
– There are a variety of characters to play as that come theFable universe. You’ve got the Hero, Hammer, Reaver, and Garth, with unlockable characters Lucien, Sir Walter, Jack of Blades, Maze, Scythe, and Ben Finn. Each plays pretty much identically in terms of gameplay, but cater towards their specific traits. For example, Reaver only has ranged attacks, while Garth focuses on magic attacks.
– Worlds and locations you visit are pulled from the Fable games. You’ll visit nothing but familiar haunts: Millstone, Bowerstone, Gravestone, and more. You’ll also see plenty of recognizable scenery in the background, like Albion castle, the graveyard in Gravestone, the bridge into the city, and plenty more.
– The art style is pretty awesome. Everything is done in a super-cute, chibi sort of way. Characters themselves are puppets, complete with stubs for arms and button eyes. Enemies you fight are deformed versions of their main series counterparts. Balverines are still vicious but look more cuddly than before. Background retain that charm from the Fable series, and look bright, colorful, and pretty. The art direction is one of the big highlights for the game.
– Multiplayer is pretty darn fun, albeit short. Playing the the game only takes a handful of hours, and completing everything will take a bit longer (achievement whores will have 400 GS to attain in this downloadable title). The chaos onscreen is only complemented by the adorable characters dishing it out. Hopping online and joining others is easy, and playing cooperatively with buddies is fine too.
– There are a couple mini-games/side missions to play as well. Many are races that have you pressing buttons in sequence to move your mine cart/sled forward. But others offer more challenge. A survival round tests your strength to see who can withstand the most Hollow Men; Chicken Bomb has you avoiding exploding poultry, and a soccer game also involving chickens is a kick :p
– After each round you are put on a game board where you roll dice and move to a spot, where you can spend your gold to earn a permanent increase to your players skills. While this is purely luck based, you’ll get plenty of rolls throughout the game and will enjoy running across the board and powering up your character.
– There is an option to transfer your gold from this game to the upcoming Fable: The Journey Kincet exclusive. Rumor has it on the forums that this game will be a gold harvester for that one.
– There’s an option for Big Head Mode right from the get-go!
The Bad
– Coins. The entire game is really based on coins. Enemies you kill, barrels you destroy, and chests you open all spew out coins. Accumulating coins is what the game bases victory on, because at the end of each stage the player with the most coins is dubbed the “winner” of that level. Considering that you can’t die (instead when you run out of life (hearts) you turn to a ghost and can still attack, but can’t pick up any coins), gold and coins are the main reason to play the game.
– There isn’t much to the gameplay and combat. You just press X and Y, and occasionally Right Trigger. Even with different characters the strategy doesn’t change. That’s a let down, because if there was a significant difference in characters there’d be a ton more replay value.
– Branching paths and a second world are nice additions, but they don’t alleviate this being a short game. It does only cost 800 MSP ($10), but that can still be a turnoff for someone looking for as much bang for their buck as say Castle Crashers.
– The AI is dumb. When you don’t have enough human players to fill out the full roster of four characters, the computer fills in as random characters. They don’t do nearly as well as a human would. They frequently avoid getting health even though they need it, they don’t pick up gold (which can be a good thing I guess), and they lag behind forcing the camera to pan out way to far. It can be more than frustrating at times.
– Though I think the board game approach to character progression is pretty cool, there is a good deal of luck involved. You might play level after level and still not land on the one spot you need to advance your character further.
Overall I thought Fable Heroes was a fun downloadable title. It was relatively short, but what was there was sweet. Players looking for a solid sidescroller could do much worse, but there are plenty other games out there I’d recommend first. Still though, if you’re a fan of the Fable series, are looking for something to entertain you and a few buds for a weekend, and are willing to play $10, then I highly recommend Fable Heroes.
Laters,
Jsick
