Fable - A History of Albion

It is 2004 and there is a buzz in the air amongst gamers as they wait for the release of one of the hotly anticipated games of the year. At E3 Peter Molyneux of Big Blue Box and Lionhead Studios announced that they were in the process of developing a new RPG game. He sold it by telling people it would be different as it was not your usual Good Vs Evil game. He said that as you play through the game every decision you make will shape your character in a way that no other game could. He also said that your character would be able to marry and have children.

When the game came out it was nearly everything that everyone was expecting. The only thing missed out was the Hero's ability to have children. This did not let the game down that much as its unique character development system was a great success.

The game was developed for Microsoft and was released on the XBox and for PC at the time.

A year after the release of Fable the game was expanded and re released under the title Fable: The Lost Chapters. This expanded version had more quests, an expanded map with new towns to visit, new weapons, monsters, expressions and alignment based spells.

In the First Games you play the part of a Young Boy who through the game evolves to become the Hero of Oakvale, the town where he started his life with his family.

He is the son of Scarlet Robe a Hero from Knothole Glade who was famous for slaying Balverines and being the first female Champion of the Arena. Scarlet Robe and her family are descendants of William Black the first Archon of the Old Kingdom.

Before Fable came about RPG's were all about Good Vs Evil in the standard Good character travels world fighting off Evil NPC's. This format had been around since the days of Basic programing and Text Adventures.

Before Fable there was the open world element and you could always interact with NPC's but you could never develop your character in the way you can with Fable. This is not due to the limitations of the programing language, it just had not been thought about before.

Before the Days of the Old Kingdom and the Archon's Albion was ruled over by The Court a trio of Demon like beings, The Knight, The Queen and Jack of Blades. And before that time Albion was a beautifully peaceful place.

Fable changed our perception of what an RPG could be. With its unique character development and how your decisions not only shaped your character but the world in which they lived it became the game all others wanted to be.

The three members that made up the Court came from the 'Void' looking to dominate the people of Albion. The people of Albion refused to bow to them and their world was burned. They still refused and the seas were raised and the land flooded. A few more refusals and then the court twisted the minds of the people who in the end bowed to them.

In the First Games and the newest installment Fable Anniversary you play the Son of a Hero who is presumed dead after their Village was torched. You are taken in by the hero's Guild and trained to become a Hero like you Mother. Once you have finished your training it is off into the world with you. It is at this point where the choices you have and can still make really come into play.