Originally released exclusively for the XBox, Microsoft and Lionhead Studios brought Fable: The Lost Chapters to the PC in a bid to reach wider audiences and pull in more profit. This sort of move--taking highly-acclaimed games at first developed exclusively for one platform and putting them on the market for other platforms--is becoming increasingly popular in the gaming industry (The Sims, Resident Evil 4, etc.), and not only does it make perfect business sense but it also improves everyone's chances of getting to experience the best. F:TLC, which has won several awards and nominations, definitely fits in that category.

Gameplay

In three words, addictive and fun. You begin as a young child running errands in order to earn some cash and buy your sister a birthday present, and you end up as an epic hero or villain battling threats to the land of Albion. All of the classic RPG hallmarks are here--swords, sorcery, shops, castles, quests, combat, etc.--and there's a whole lot more beneath the surface. Minigames, puzzles, a reputation system, simplified romantic opportunities, and more await you, too.

I was most impressed by the reality factor of the game's admittedly comical, fictional world. NPCs merchants wander through the wilderness along trade routes; townspeople go about their business, chattering amongst themselves, carrying crates back and forth, sharing a few drinks in the local bar, and stopping to greet the hero with varying reactions (according to his reputation); monsters wander around attacking all the other characters--NPC or Player--and occasionally set up ambush points or other clever traps; and the list goes on. The point is, LS created a convincing, living, breathing world, and it serves to draw the player into the game really well.

*SPOILER: The battles in the coliseum near the middle-third of the game are fantastic, really got my blood rushing.

Graphics

Not incredibly realistic (they lean with a slant of humorous exaggeration), but still beautiful; they were particularly crisp on my low-budget screen, too. The lighting effects, in particular, are incredible, and used effectively. While walking through a dark, spooky forest, you'll actually get a few chills. Spell effects are nice, but that's pretty standard in today's RPGs.

Control

Okay, here's the one area where the PC version of the game suffers a hit. For some stupid reason, the game isn't compatible with PC gamepads, meaning that you're stuck using the keyboard and mouse to make it through. Unfortunately, this is a big problem for action-RPGs like Fable, and combat might be a bit frustrating for the first few hours while you adjust. Still, the game provides an extensive tutorial that teaches the controls, and once you start to get the hang of pressing a key and clicking a mouse button in tandem, you should be fine. I'm not much for customizing PC keyboard controls, but that option is available: assign keys and hotkeys, which helps a bit, but not much.

Sound

Excellent. The music is wonderfully appropriate for the game's tone, and the tunes fit the various settings and events well. The cries of the NPCs when they run into your hero character can get a bit repetitive and annoying (unless, of course, you're an evil character, and they're screams of terror); nonetheless, the voice talent in this game is a treat.

Score: 8.5/10

Purchase Price: $29.99

Posted by ChrisU at 12:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It was only a few months ago when I went back to replay one of my favorite roleplaying video games and came to a chilling realization: I was enjoying a game in which I played the role of a terrorist.

The game, Squaresoft's Final Fantasy 7, quickly became one of the most popular video games in recent memory just after its release back in 1997; according to the FF7 Wikipedia entry, the game sold over eight million copies by 1999. The plot revolves around the struggle between an evil, corrupt corporation called Shinra and a ragtag gang of "heroes" who collectively call themselves AVALANCHE. Shinra uses its power and influence to control the world within the game, manipulating people everywhere and ruining their lives -- at one point, the company even kills an entire village of innocent civilians, called Sector 7, and then uses their control over the media to place the blame on AVALANCHE.

However, the "heroes" of AVALANCHE are no better. They're a gang of eco-terrorists, desperately attempting to stop Shinra's plans to use the world's "Mako energy" by planting highly destructive explosives in Mako reactors, and blowing them up. At one point, one of the members of AVALANCHE alludes to the fact that each of these explosions probably kills thousands of people -- and later, when AVALANCHE is flushed out of hiding by Shinra and attacked directly, this character mentions that perhaps they deserve to die for their actions.

As I was playing through the first several hours of the game (the period of gameplay during which which the "terrorism" theme is the strongest), I couldn't help but find some irony in the game's popularity. GameFan Magazine once claimed that FF7 was "quite possibly the greatest game ever made" -- admittedly, they were probably referring to the game's production values, excellent storyline, and addictive style of play -- but the message is the same: the game is just so darn cool, and a vast majority of gamers agree (myself included).

My question, of course, is what about the game were gamers most attracted to? Cloud Strife, the main character, is still regarded as a character legend in the halls of fame in the gaming industry; the Wikipedia entry mentions that he won a 2003 GameFAQs character popularity contest, "suggesting that he is one of the most popular video game characters of all time." If you've ever seen an image of him, you'd probably remember it: he has blonde, spiky hair and he's almost always drawn wielding a huge "buster sword" that's almost as big as he is. This image, the image of a tough, dangerous, and violent individualist, has been glorified and repeated countless times in the realm of video games. Is it the image of a terrorist, or the image of a realistic, modern hero?

Cloud Strife ••• Artwork | Tetsuya Nomura

FF7 was highly popular in America, as it was practically everwhere else. Only four years before the terrorist attacks of 9/11, American gamers were rejoicing at the arrival of a fantastic, involving role-playing game in which they played the roles... Of terrorists.

No, I seriously don't believe that those American gamers were necessarily thinking "yay, terrorism" while playing FF7. But I remember the first time I played the game, and I remember discussing it tirelessly with many of my gamer friends; we agreed almost unanimously that the storyline and the characters (especially Cloud) were the best parts of the game.

If I am trying to come to any conclusion here, it is that I have realized now -- more fully than before -- that video games make it all too easy to slip into a character role that goes directly against my morals and beliefs, and thus dull my sensitivity towards the kinds of things that I should be most sensitive to: murder, violence, terrorism, and more.

Games give us the chance to get one-on-one experience with situations we would probably never get into in real life, but unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), we don't have to deal with the consequences of entering them while simply playing a game. We should try to remain aware that there is a big divide between the experiences of video games, in worlds of fantasy (no matter how much like real life they try to be), and the real-life experiences that they try (and fail) to mirror appropriately.

I know I'm not the first to think about the theme of terrorism in FF7, but after an extensive search, I had trouble finding any credible articles that explored it. Since I can't confirm the credibility of these sources, I've chosen not to offer any links to the articles I read, but feel free to seek them out on your own and offer any additional information that you find relevant here.

Posted by ChrisU at 8:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I have recently completed Tales of Symphonia, the first serious attempt at an RPG for the GCN that I have thoroughly enjoyed. This game originally caught my attention because it was created by Namco, the same company responsible for the Harvest Moon series. After buying a copy and trying it for myself, I soon discovered that the praise it was receiving was not merely hype - this game offers a classic roleplaying experience with excellent replay value and an emotionally-supercharged storyline.

Continue reading "Tales of Symphonia" »

Posted by ChrisU at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (25)