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on Yesterday, 7:40 am
Member the games you used to play? We member. The basement at the Hardcore Gamer office has a section known as the Crust Room, with an old grey couch and a big old CRT TV. All the classic systems are down there collecting dust, so in an effort to improve the cleanliness of our work space, we dust off these old consoles every so often and put an old game through its paces, just to make sure everything stays in working order. We even have a beige computer with a floppy disk drive.
Fable was one of those titles that caught my attention well before its release in some article in a game magazine back when paper gaming magazines were still in abundant supply. How far exactly before the release is uncertain, but I want to say it was well over a year before Fable's launch, possibly even as far back as 2002 or 2003 when it was still called its working title Project Ego. Open world gameplay has practically become the standard in modern game design, but this was not the case in the early 2000s.
Fable Anniversary is a port of ten year old game released on eight year old hardware after we’ve witnessed the power of next-gen. Yet even with so much stacked against it, it manages to impress. There’s not much of a "wow-factor" because of its ill-timed release, but with the exception of completely rebuilding the game for Xbox One, there simply isn’t much else that could be done that isn’t accomplished here. Sound, functionality and graphics are all substantially improved and breath new life into a game that has aged remarkably well. Even after two sequels and console generations, Fable has the uncanny ability to suck you into its adventure through the world of Albion. Anniversary is more of a preservation if anything, ensuring that the entire franchise can now be played in the same manner on the same console. As a museum piece, it’s a wonderful effort that ensures the game will remain relevant for a new generation of players. As a game, it’s the definitive edition of a superb title that has a lot to offer even in 2014.
The Journey takes place fifty years after the events of Fable III. Players take on the role of Gabriel, a dweller who is living a happy, but simple life with his tribe in Albion. After a sudden lightning storm, Gabriel is separated from his caravan and forced to find an alternate route to reunite with them. Soon after, our hero is caught up in the attack of an earth-shattering force known as The Corruption. Narrowly escaping the spreading darkness, Gabriel meets the mysterious Theresa. The last of the hero bloodline, she’s tasked with protecting the world from evil that threatens it. Gabriel must help restore her power by taking her to the Tattered Spire. To assist in this quest, spell-casting bracelets are harnessed to protect them from the evils of Albion.
Besides combat and travel, there are plenty of other motion-based opportunities throughout Albion. Activities like corralling chickens, lighting lanterns and moving obstacles may seem mundane, but serve to enrich the experience, making sure there’s always a fresh task to keep players interested. Most of these secondary actions have their own unique movements to avoid redundancies. Not content to let your arms have all the fun, there will be times where multiple paths can be selected from by bending your torso left or right. With all the different movements, it’s clear Lionhead was content on utilizing the full potential of motion-control.
With a sprawling, graphically intense world part of a near fifteen-hour campaign, Fable: The Journey breaks any conceptions of what a Kinect title can be. It’s not demo material or a novelty release, but an uncompromising <a href="https://gratisafhalen.be/author/jerrodcrock/">Adventure game beginner guide</a> game that weaves an engrossing story while utilizing the full potential of motion control. It doesn’t always work flawlessly, but the sheer ambition alone makes it a must-own for Fable and Kinect fans alike.
There’s something odd about an HD port built for a console which itself has games that are being ported to a superior console. Let’s reflect on Fable Anniversary for a second: it’s a 2014 Xbox 360 remake of an Xbox game from 2004. We’re in an age where people are demanding for spectacular looking games like Grand Theft Auto V and The Last of Us to be ported to Xbox One and PS4, and this is an Xbox 360 port of an original Xbox game. As such, judging it is fairly hard to do after spending countless hours over the past few months scrutinizing next-gen ports like Tomb Raider, Madden 25 and Call of Duty: Ghosts, when Fable Anniversary would be a resounding success if it matched the 360 quality of any of them. Still, while a remake of Fable might have been better suited for release before Fable II or as a three-pack with its sequels on Xbox One before Fable IV (please?), the sheer fact that Lionhead and Microsoft care to do it at all is great fan service for players who have had to deal with an antiquated game — classic as it may be.
The final new feature in Fable Anniversary (besides achievements) is that of SmartGlass, something that is weighing heavier and <a href="http://Www.Rohitab.com/discuss/user/3037474-stephaineq/">Http://Www.Rohitab.com/discuss/user/3037474-stephaineq</a>; heavier in overall experience these days. As admitted by Lead Designer Ted Timmins, it was basically implemented here as way to test the technology’s capabilities for future implementations. Thanks to that, there are actually a few interesting features that the app offers. Unsurprisingly, it’s basically an interactive map, but they’ve worked with Prima to also provide the locations of key items and characters (without going into too much detail). While this may seem a bit like cheating at first, it’s helpful enough only to ensure that you won’t get lost and makes it so you won’t result to using a full-blown strategy guide.