Fable Heroes

Fable Heroes, a spin-off in the renowned Fable franchise, is definitely worth playing for the Fable fans in their wait for the still unannounced Fable IV. Compare it to a nice piece of music you listen to while waiting for help at customer service. With a high replay value, for 800 Microsoft Points, Fable Heroes is certainly worth your money.

A funny and very immediate game that could please Fable lovers willing to enjoy some time with their friends.

What takes all of this simple arcade fun and elevates it, of course, is Lionhead's flair for detailing, whether the design team's throwing in nods to the rest of the Fable series via the locations - which range from the sunflower meadows of Millfields to the sandy wastes of Aurora - or tossing in classic enemies, including bobble-headed reinventions of hollow men and balverines.

I wish I would have gotten more connecting factors to the original Fable out of this spin off – what remains is a nice beat 'em up for co-op fans without real highlights.

Fable Heroes is a spin-off with a really different gameplay compared with the main Fable series, but its references to its "mother" will be liked by fans of the series, and it is quite fun when playing with more people.

In the end, Fable Heroes is just a way to earn bonuses for Fable: The Journey, which comes out later this year, but at least they've made it more involving and fun. Those who love beat-'em-ups will get some fun out of Fables Heroes as long as they don't expect something overly complicated.

It might not have the longevity of a full action-RPG or the combat depth of the best side-scrolling beat-em-ups, but the balance that Lionhead has struck between accessibility and quick 10-15 minute bursts of fun is hard to resist.

Lionhead's attempt to make the Fable franchise accessible to younger generations doesn't hit the goal spot on. Clunky controls, boring combat and a character system that solely relies on luck aren't the best building blocks for a game for kids. If a parent take's part as an wingman, Fable Heroes offers relatively good fun for couple of hours. [June 2012]

Weak brawling mechanics and frustrating progression undermine this charming jaunt. [July 2012, p.83]

Fable Heroes is a fun, simple way to wait for The Journey. Keep in mind that you'll really need some friends to enjoy it, otherwise you'll end up playing for a really short time.

It's worth 10 bucks, plus the trouble of getting enough friends together to ensure a properly chaotic loot-grabbing experience.

If you are a fan of the Fable series and know a few friends who enjoy party-games, have at it. It's not the golden goose by any means, but, for what it is, this Fable will do.

The main reason to play? You'll be able to transfer gold earned here to your Fable: The Journey character.

If you intend to buy Fable Heroes, make sure you have some friend to play with, because the single-player is not exactly the most attractive. The game is structured to encourage participants to work together to kill enemies, but at the same time to compete in collecting coins scattered throughout Albion, an idea as much fun as weak if you play with three AI-controlled bots. The audio-visual impact of the title, despite glitches in the graphics, makes it rather enjoyable thanks to an excellent soundtrack and a colorful visual style that's pleasant to behold.

If you look hard enough, you'll find the fun in Fable Heroes – especially with friends. But in the long run the lack of variety and more so the lack of content will keep you from going back to Albion.

An overall completion time of around five hours doesn't help the game either.

Take the style, universe and chicken-esque twisted sense of humour of Fable, re-imagine and cross it with Castle Crashers & Fat Princess, add 2D stunning artwork and you have this Fable Heroes. It's a shame than the Gold Fever in-game is more important than the hack 'n slash mechanics, something that can cause a feeling of boredom in some players. But in cooperative, it's an ode to the extreme competition for gold pieces. Happy Pals joined together to combat evil criatures? Not in this game.

Fable Heroes does a good job of keeping you entertained if you are new to the hack 'n slash mechanics and you love the Fable universe.

Fable Heroes is more of a small multiplayer game than a traditional video game. Again, it's mainly fit for multiplayer, so if it's not your call, don't answer it.

Overall, Fable Heroes is a mediocre title that is lacking in depth. While the game is fairly enjoyable, it's certainly short-lived and, at 800 Microsoft Points, there's not a lot on offer. Needless to say, this will definitely whet Fable players' appetites until Fable: The Journey's release in September.

Grading this game isn't hard: it's a pleasant product for a reasonable price. It should appeal to players that are familiar with Fable series but that don't consider it to be something sacred. Remember that fun is dependent on the amount of friends playing with you.

Fable Heroes has a little of Fable, a family game that will not encounter the favores of the fans.

It's not the disaster many expected, but Fable Heroes is a simplistic game that takes advantage of a well-known name.

The Fable faithful might love the look of this adorable take on the franchise, but those who favor gameplay depth over a fan-pleasing presentation, won't find more than thumb-blistering brawling beneath its charming exterior.

By turns clumsy and clever, annoying and addictive, Fable Heroes isn't as different from the series that inspired it as it initially seems to be. It turns out one of the golden rules of being Albion's king also applies here: surround yourself with good people and you'll enjoy yourself all the more.

While Fable fans may be put off by the lack of a new chapter in the franchise's grand story, it's hard to deny the charm of Albion's miniature puppet incarnation. How long that charm will last depends entirely on how many friends join you.

Fable Heroes' appeal is all Fable, rather than its elaborations on the well-worn, side-scrolling brawler. Played in a group, there's a knockabout charm in vying to emerge the victor, but unlike those gold coins there's not quite enough longterm value beneath the outer sheen.

It's one of the most painful types of disappointing game because it's very clear that it could have been something so much better, but this sodden and poor treatment of a co-op baddie-thwacker ensures Fable Heroes never manages to become the fun game it deserves to be.

Micro-characters for mini-adventures that maybe will appeal to a younger audience. Just don't pretend to call it Fable.

Fable Heroes is a mediocre four-player brawler that's only partly redeemed by its fabled license.

Vaguely enjoyable. [Issue#86, p.101]

Don't let the title fool you. This game has nothing to do with the beloved RPG franchise from Lionhead. It's just a bland, repetitive and boring hack 'n slash adventure with some mini-games in it.

It is undeniable that Fable has become one of the big names associated to the Xbox brand, and this was primarily due to its very rich fantasy world, combined with the depth of its structure. Fable Heroes is the opposite of this.

Tedious and about as challenging as walking to your kitchen.

The presentation doesn't do too much either. Some of the levels look good, and the animations aren't bad, but the dolls are unappealing and don't really sparkle with much personality.

The playful visuals hardly compensate for old ideas and mundane action. Hardcore Fable nerds may find something of interest by drudging through the brief campaign. It's an amusing but empty distraction.

Despite its familiar setting and cute puppets, it's tedious and boring, and misfires on multiple fronts. When a game fails to take risks and carve out its own identity, it undoubtedly shows. Fable Heroes aspires to get your bucks, but it's a game with very little "bang" going for it.

The old Fable games were filled with promises of amazing adventures, and sadly most of them never came to fruition. I guess that's where the final nail in the coffin rests because instead of trying to achieve lofty goals and falling short, Fable Heroes doesn't even try.

Fable Heroes is a beat-'em-up game that doesn't challenge, has clumsy controls, has a handful of average mini games but boasts a decent, though not optimally executed graphical style. The foremost purpose that this game serves is providing in-game gold for the upcoming Fable: The Journey.

A strange mash up of party game and action RPG title that doesn't do either well. However, thanks to it simply being a Lionhead title, it will be useful to Fable: The Journey owners due to its compatibility with that title. Unfortunately, on its own, Fable Heroes fails to provide a solid singleplayer or multiplayer title.

While there are a few examples of modern games handling the old-school beat 'em up genre well, like Castle Crashers for instance, Fable Heroes isn't one of those games. I really did like the art style and look of the game, but couldn't care less about the gameplay attached to it. I found it to be largely boring, uninspired, and little more than a promotional vehicle for the upcoming Fable: The Journey. So unless you're some die-hard Fable fanatic, I'd advise giving this one a pass.

A game should have compelling enough gameplay that a standoff is tense and enjoyable, not dull and monotonous to the point of drudgery.

Fable Heroes looks charming and quirky, but sadly has monotonous, boring gameplay that relies solely on button-mashing. This might be a good investment for fans of the Fable games, mainly because the gold collected in-game can be transferred to the upcoming Fable: The Journey.

It´s understandable if your eyes tell you that this looks like a lot of fun. But after three stages at most your worn out thumbs will tell you otherwise. Trust them, they've had their fair share of real heroes.

It's a trudge of a game, and while it performs its chosen task moderately well, it's about as ambitious and captivating as a drizzle-soaked walk to the local shop.

Player choice has always been a key feature for the Fable series, shaping a hero based on your decisions and actions. In Fable Heroes, the only choice is a forked path at the end of every level. One path leads to one of the game's repetitive boss battles, and the other takes you to a mind-numbing minigame. Sadly, both choices are wrong. When you find yourself standing at this fork in the road, reach for the power button and turn off your system.

Fable Heroes is a tolerable, albeit short, game that'll probably only be worthwhile to Fable fans.

An abject failure in how it represents what Fable is about, the epic stories, the self-determination and perils that presents, your character's impact on the world. It's undeserving of the name.

While the swift pace and simplified mechanics might seem appealing, the combat is wholly unsatisfying, the environments are shallow and stifling, and the camera is annoying.

This cute beat'em all spin-off in the world of Albion could have been a fun experience, if only it didn't suffer from a less than dynamic gameplay, a progression system that lets too much up to randomness, and an overall feeling of disconnection to its gameworld. If you fancy a good 4 player beat'em all, go the Castle Crashers route.

Fable Heroes is merely boring beyond belief.

Almost nothing in Fable Heroes seems well-designed or carefully thought out. Its incoherent visual design is wrapped around a poorly-tuned beat 'em up with an obfuscated progression system, spiced with lousy mini-games. The total absence of story or even silly dialogue is likely to put off fans of the flagship Fable games, and without that draw it's difficult to see why anyone would bother. One or two interesting ideas poke through, but Fable Heroes is a failure.

It has been a long time since I was so utterly bored with a game that I have been with Fabel Heroes. It tries to do a little bit of everything but fails to do anything really well. All in all a very uninspired title that I can't really recommend to anyone.

Beyond the creative art style's unique take on Fable III's Albion and seeing everyone's favorite characters return in puppet form, the downright boring and uninspired game play keeps this from being worth anyone's time.

It's a shame too, because with four-player local and network options, it could have been a blast if the core elements had been strong. But every system in Fable: Heroes is dreadfully executed. There isn't a single element within it that elicits a smile, which is ironic because of how hard it tries to get you to.

Utterly pointless and almost completely boring, this soulless scrapper has little to do with Fable and even less to do with having a good time.