Fable ships

After nearly four years in development, Fable has finally shipped to stores. Available exclusively for the Xbox, it is rated "M" for Mature and retails for $49.99.

Set in the fantastic realm of Albion, Fable is a uniquely open-ended role-playing game. Starting off at childhood, the game follows players' characters through maturity, offering up a variety of fantastic quests. Players are also faced with all manner of moral choices; whether they opt for good or evil will not just determine the outcome of the game, but will also affect their appearance, a la Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

One of the most anticipated Xbox games this side of Halo 2, Fable was developed by Big Blue Box, a subsidiary of Peter Molyneux's Lionhead Studios. When he first announced the project, Molyneux promised its open-ended gameplay would make it "the greatest role-playing game of all time." The result, as outlined in GameSpot's review, was not as spectacular, but nonetheless impressive.