An ambitious RPG, developed with the casual gamer in mind.
User Rating: 9 | Fable XBOX
Unlike Morrowind, to which this game has received countless comparisons, the main quest story line is "only" 10 hours long. To me, it shows they kept the casual gamer in mind when developing this game to broaden their appeal. Fable resolves three complaints commonly made about Morrowind: boring NPCs, overwhelming open-endedness, and general "quantity over quality." The NPCs in this game actually respond to you appropriately based on your appearance, alignment, and renown. If you are a good-aligned character, but are still sporting your Villager outfit, the women of the town will notice this and comment on it. If you are evil-aligned, people cower in your presence, and run away if they still have time. Fable's shortness can be attributed to the relatively small number of main story line quests. However, these quests represent about a third of the total quests in the game, offered at the Heroes' Guild table alone. One can also purchase houses to rent, trade in Beer Kegs and Wine Crates, find all of the fishing/digging spots... the possibilities are much greater than perceived. However, since none of these other quests are required to advance the story, one can also blast through this game in a week(end). In general, Fable looks pretty great. There are certain things like shadows that could have been better, but the water's bump mapping, and the aesthetic created by the WarCraft-ish world really do make it come alive. The score is great action music, and it never clashed with the on-screen visuals the first time I played through it. The voice acting is superb, and a UK developer means UK accents... personally, I find it more believable to play when I am not entirely familiar with the speech patterns! The game's value really is there; one must be wishing to find it. 
