When the original Fable was released on the Xbox back in 2004, there were mixed reactions. On the one hand it under-delivered on everything Peter Molyneux had promised. It was so far short of the goal that it actually lead to Peter offering a public apology on his company's official website. On the other hand? Despite not being the world we were promised, where our actions and the passage of time would have a true and lasting impact on everything we touched, Fable offered one of the best action-RPG experiences that we'd seen to date. No matter how far it fell short of the mark, Fable offered some amazingly addictive gameplay that easily ranks it in the top 5 games available for the original Xbox.

But what did they have in store for Fable II? Was it to be more of the same, or would Mr. Molyneux again shoot for the stars? And if he did, how close would he get before falling?

While reaching the lofty ambitions put on the table by Peter would be an insurmountable challenge to even the most seasoned of developers, I'm pleased to say that Fable II has created one of the most immersive worlds I've ever been a part of.

The original Fable forced the player to choose between good and evil, and Fable II takes that concept of choice to a whole new level. Would your time be better spent grinding through sidequests to beef up your combat skills? Or would you rather spend your time working day jobs to amass a small fortune and start playing the real estate market? Maybe you want to risk some of those hard-earned dollars at games of chance. Or maybe you'd like to spend your time forging a family, or building up your popularity.

Individually they all sound like they could be little more than time-filling mini-games, but collectively they weave together the tapestry of your experience. No one area of the game goes without affecting another. Find yourself going through too many potions during combat? Save the money to buy a potion shop and get a whopping discount. Getting married? You'll have to kick out your tenant and lose the income so your wife has a place to stay. It's all an amazingly delicate balance, and they couldn't have pulled it off better. Even the environments are impacted by your behaviour. Spend too much time and money in one place and their economy and crime rates will seem almost idyllic. Neglect another and their problems will be rampant. One quest gives you the option to invest in a business proposal, and when you return years later the entire town has undergone drastic changes thanks to your actions. I could go on for days about how reactive the world of Fable II is, but instead I'll just say this: it's the level of interaction you'd hoped for with the original Fable.

But what if you haven't played Fable? What's the game actually like? While the combat and multiplayer are vastly different, it's hard to not draw comparisons to World of Warcraft. Both games focus heavily on players making choices, leaving the freedoms discussed in the preceding paragraphs in the players hands. Professions, abillity purchases, unnecessary side quests with surprisingly awesome rewards -- the two games have a lot in common. If I had a friend who had never played anything outside of WoW (and we all have at least one, don't we?) I'd be the first person to try and get Fable II into their hands.

The combat and questing in Fable II hasn't changed much from it's predecessor. The four face buttons represent melee, ranged, magic and rolling. Each of these has it's own modifiers as new abilities become unlocked (eventually you can zoom and sub-target with your ranged, that sort of thing). It's a slow and steady climb through new abilities that makes sure you don't get completely overwhelmed at once. Combat was something from the first game that was universally praised, and it's a delight to see that it wasn't messed with.

The story, which was another strong point in the first title, seems well in tact here too. Things take place in the same Albion 500 years after the events of Fable. This means a variety of new weapons and scenery pieces have emerged. Many of the sets from the original Fable have returned, giving us a glimpse of what has happened to the places we've known over the past 500 years. The events of the first Fable are spoken of too, with books and other pieces of history floating around, discussing the legend of what took place. It makes for a pretty cool connection, and with all of the dry British humor from the first still in place the world of Albion really hasn't all that much... except that now you can explore it with a friend.

Multiplayer seems to be a real staple for games nowadays, even when it's not that great of a fit. Had Fable II released as a single player title, nobody would have batted an eyelash. Instead the team at Lionhead tried their best to shoehorn some multiplayer in, and while it works, it doesn't really work as well as you'd like.

While it was rumored that offline multi and online multi would have some key differences, it appears that those rumors were false. In both modes, the 2nd player can't bring their own character into the game. Instead they get to play a faceless henchman that splits the gold and experience with the main player. If you have a save game on the same drive, you can link your henchman to it so that the gold and XP make it back to your main guy. But your magic? Your weapons and skills? You've got no opportunity to use them when you're in the 2P seat.

There are a few other issues worth noting as well. When you split the gold, you're splitting all your gold. If you sell items, have profits from real estate, etc.. it's all going to be split down the middle with your henchman. Why it's not just profit from found gold I can't imagine. At least give me the option to turn it off -- my wife's still-child character doesn't need the 20,000 gold she earned from my landlording while we ran The Crucible last night. The camera in could use some tweaking as well. It's just too easy to get someone stuck behind a corner or not see the bad guys behind us with the camera in place. In single it's not an issue as you're not trying to get two heroes on the screen at once, but in co-op it could really use a bit of an overhaul. I fail to see why the online co-op camera couldn't be the same as the single player -- again, it reeks of shoehorning. "Let's get co-op in there so we can say we have co-op." It's a real shame too, because if there was any console property that was begging to be made into an MMO, it's Fable.

But Fable's not about online play. It doesn't need to be. As a single player experience Fable II is brimming over with so much content that you'll never be at a loss for something to do. Covering it all in a review would require a phone book sized post, and yet it's hard to not mention all the things we've left out. The dog companion, the varied soundtrack with the occassional John Carpenter-esque moments, the demon doors and gargoyles. While you could probably bang through the single player campaign in 20 hours, Fable II is the first game since Oblivion to offer this much interactivity and choice for players. If you want to turn this into a 60 hour ride you'll have no problem doing so. I only hope we see a patch that redefines multiplayer down the road and a "Lost Chapters" style expansion pack sometime over the next year, because I'd love a reason to come back to it down the road.

Fable II is available exclusively for the Xbox 360 for $59.99, and is on store shelves now.

Comments (6)

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment