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| Fable 2 |
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Developer |
Lionhead Studios |
| Publisher |
Microsoft | |
| Rating |
M |
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| Xbox 360 |
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Flirting with danger along the way, the Xbox 360’s DVD drive whirs away almost constantly, and sometimes the ambition of Fable 2 leads to its unravelling, but so far the journey of my hero has been without major technical incident.
Taking place 500 years after the first game – not much in the way of technical progress has occurred in the sleepy world of Albion. In fact, pretty much the game plays out in the same sort of social setting – a darkly humorous world full of Victorian architecture, rolling lush green hills, forests, ruins and more sinister locals. It also rains a lot.
You are a hero, whether you are a female, male, good, evil, greedy, generous, good looking, pudgy, well groomed, derelict, kind or dismissive hero is completely up to the player. Doing heroic deeds (sometimes of a dubious nature) gain the player Renown, used to unlock further progression in the game.
The main quest plays out pretty quickly, but the secret weapon of Fable 2 is its distractive nature. There is much to do in Albion, from the mundane experience of getting a job, chopping wood, or working in a Blacksmith to name a couple. To having statues of one-self erected, taking on a myriad of side quests, going for a swim, opening demon gates or simply exploring.
A shimmering bread trail leads you to your current objective location, but, unless under time constraints, you are free to wander around the enticing countryside at will. Unlike the original game, Fable 2 enables a broader range of rambling, only restricting your hero to the path in some locales.
Happy wandering is a chance for your new buddy, the pet dog to strut his stuff. Your mutt will sniff out points on the map to dig for treasure, he will growl when enemies are nearby and will fight those enemies alongside your hero when push comes to shove. All without direct player input other than some training, occasional treats and praise.
Once piece of trivia: The dog companion was inspired by the 1987 ASCII based game of NetHack. Furthermore the pooch’s AI routines are lifted from the earlier Lionhead Studios game of Black & White.
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Speaking of combat, Fable 2 transfers the originals simplified system with only some minor changes. Melee is taken care of by the X button, Ranged combat with the Y and deal out some magical (or Will) damage with the B button.
Mix up your techniques and the resultant experience earned is increased. Subsequently experience can be spent in the three combat areas to garner new or higher level skills (improved when using ranged weapons for example).
Despite the improvements in combat skills, the combat system sticks to the one button per technique approach, with only minor changes around how the button is pressed and/or combination of left stick as a directional attack. This makes the Fable 2 combat a simple and enjoyable experience, with only spell selection a bit of a pain. Make sure you go into a battle armed with the spells you wish to use – a piece of advice sometimes difficult to adhere to.
In between quests and battles, your Hero can hang out in towns, buying up stalls, shops and homes. If your predilection is for manipulating economies, a great deal of time can be spent in building or destroying a town’s economy by investment strategies. Stealing from vendors lowers the overall town wealth, while spending up big or decorating the local establishments will improve the fiscal level.
Then there are the social aspects of Fable 2. Utilising the ‘expressions’ system, a hero can impress passersby through a myriad of techniques. Dancing, heroic stances, animalistic growls, skilled flatulence and more all have their place in public dealings.
Using a simple slider bar system, and freely available listed dislikes/likes, a Hero can manipulate the target’s opinion towards the desired level. This can result in cheaper goods at vendor stores, the ability to get a following of adoring fans or ultimately a sexual encounter.
Wooing a partner into marriage and then the marital bedroom can result in the Hero gaining a family to look after (or something nasty in the form of a STD – yikes!). With a family comes responsibility, though, luckily this is a video game, and therefore you can simply ignore the naggings of a spouse and continue your adventurous ways.
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Once the main story has been completed, your Hero can continue to explore the vast world of Albion. Perhaps purchasing castles, or maxing out combat abilities to take on the toughest opponents the game has to offer. If one thing can be said about Fable 2 opponents though, it is that they are easier to defeat than in the original game.
And Fable 2 also includes a co-op option (though – at the time of writing, is not fully implemented). Hero’s will see other Hero’s as floating orbs within the game, these can be interacted with to exchange items. Then there is the ability to have a second Hero join another as a Henchman – though they don’t bring along equipment, and use a standard looking Henchman model.
The genius of Fable 2 is in the multiple paths that a player can take, it is a controlled sandbox environment, where a player’s on screen avatar will physically take on the persona as played in game.
Some of the actions can be laborious, some of the quests border on being broken (though I have not had an official breakage after many hours of play so far) and there are many times when you will be viewing the loading screen (this may be a problem with review code only – I have been told, loading times are improved in the retail version).
Finally the map screens are pretty much useless, difficult to decipher. Overall though Fable 2 is a Western orientated RPG that should be a must have game for Xbox 360 owners. It is full of humour that ranges from the ridiculous to the dark and there is plenty of activity and things to do in a fantasy world that is beautifully realised.
9.5 blown kisses out of 10
