Fable 2 - X360 review

[Originally Published in Forge Press:Issue 4]

Long ago there was a developer called Peter Molyneux. He had many weird and wonderful ideas like creating large chimps and making them Gods. Then one day he got the idea to experiment with good and evil. These foundations were experimented with and after many years this blossomed into Fable 2. And so our tale begins.

Fable 2 is one of those games you love to hate. With so much hype around its release there is every need to be wary. You tell yourself this could just be the next Halo 3. Of course these fears melt away once you play it at which point the game swiftly swallows you up.

What first hits you is the grand scale of things. While a lot of time and effort has been put into providing game environments that allow the free roam to do what you like, it’s the small things that add up.

Flowers gently sway in the wind and over the course of the game the land changes based on your decisions. Knowing that what you do has consequences is an interesting feature of this game. Donate money to a developer and in a few years a settlement has been built on what originally was derelict land. For once you actually feel like you’ve accomplished something.

This of course leads onto the main issue of decisions. While games will never be able to fully mimic the complexities of modern day living, Fable 2 makes a valiant attempt to do so. Influencing factors of wealth and corruption are included adding variety to the standard good versus evil. At times it even reflects real life, especially the shame you feel knowing you’ve caught an STD.

Removal of screen clutter like mini-maps is also a welcome change. Instead a bread crumbs style trail is introduced, guiding you along in the event you get lost and to its credit it is hardly noticeable only appearing in the situations when you really need it. And of course there is the option to turn it off for the truly adventurous.

Then there comes an issue. A fairly big issue for a role playing game: the plot. The main storyline fails to impress instead opting for the usual unite and kill the crazed villain. While the witty Pratchett-esque dialogue makes up for this, it still seems a failure on Molyneux’s part not to have made the plot a cut above the rest.

Combat likewise feels slightly imbalanced. Once you’ve learnt how to headshot people to kill them instantly you tend not to use anything else. This does help for new gamers but it does make the game a little easier knowing you can wipe out an entire group with little effort. Another minor problem is the distinct lack of bosses which is like removing the filling from a Cadburys crème egg.

Nevertheless Fable 2 is a stable successor to the original. It builds upon the core mechanics of good and evil allowing many different ways to be the ultimate badass. While it may not last for years the time spent playing with it is precious. And so concludes another chapter of notable gaming.

[Out of Five]