Fable II 360 Review

Fable II is a rather interesting beast, especially when considered in the shadow of its predecessor. Peter Molyneux, the lead designer at developer Lionhead Studios, talked a whole lot about how amazing Fable was going to be. Sadly, some of the features intended for the game were cut during development. Now Fable II has arrived, and it delivers on all of the promises that Molyneux made for it. It has a basic level of playability that makes the game accessible to almost anyone, and a story that deftly combines cheeky British humor and dark fantasy themes. The only shortcomings here are technical. Aside from a few hiccups, Fable II provides a robust, mature RPG experience that’s great for all levels of gamer.

Fable II starts off similarly to the previous game, by going through a quick look at the childhood of the player’s hero character. In this game, players can choose to be male or female, and like every other choice in the game, this will impact the story later on. Fable II does a great job of providing a branching, interesting fantasy-themed story, that’s also full of adult themes. Some pretty violent stuff happens in the charming fantasy world of Albion , and the game doesn’t shy away from forcing players into challenging moral quandaries. Fable II is set in the same world as the first game, but several hundred years later, so playing the original is not necessary to enjoy the new game. References abound for fans of the original game, but understanding them is not a core part of the story experience. The story takes the main character through childhood and a good chunk of their adult life, and provides a gripping tale with lots of character development and plot twists. The entire main story took me around 15 hours to complete.

The game has plenty of content outside of its main story, allowing players to buy property, start families, or just play with their dog. A dog accompanies the player throughout Fable II, and aside from being a convincing AI companion, the dog can also locate items and assist the player with certain challenges. The world of Albion is large, but it’s impossible to get lost, as a handy trail will guide players to their next objective, all easily selectable from a quest list. The game does a great job of providing tons of different tasks to do at one time, even after the main story is over. None of the quests in the game are terribly complex as far as actual gameplay, but they have enough interesting narrative elements tied to them to make each one enjoyable.

Being an RPG, the gameplay in Fable II centers primarily around talking to people, gathering items, and combat. Combat is handled simply, with timing-based button presses on three of the controller’s face buttons leading to different outcomes. One button controls melee attacks, one controls ranged attacks, and one fires off magic spells. It’s an elegant system with enough depth to it that more hardcore gamers won’t feel ripped off. The combat animations flow together well, and there are enough different weapons and spells in the game to suit any play style.

Graphically, the game is quite gorgeous, going for a more painterly style rather than pushing for photo-realism. The engine tends to struggle in some weird places, especially when rendering the inventory screen, of all things. It runs much better if its installed to the hard drive. I had a few times where I thought the game was going to hard-lock, and then it magically started running again. This is a little nerve-wracking because the game only allows you one save file. Every time something significant happens in the game, it auto-saves, forcing you to live with your choice. I loved this aspect of the game, as it really helps the branching story, but the occasional technical hiccups made this a little nerve-wracking.

I’ve also played through the Knothole Island DLC, which is worth the purchase price. It adds another couple of hours to the game, and some shops with some rather interesting new items. To say much more would ruin the fun of it. It’s a bit more light-hearted than the rest of the story, and although it’s available at any time once you’ve downloaded it, it works best as an epilogue to the main quest story.

Plenty of reviews have talked about the goofy humor, the numerous side quests, and the craziness of being able to marry multiple people and have children and own all the pubs, but I wanted to put forth that under all this Fable II is a great RPG. The multiplayer co-op is not terribly amazing, but aside from that, this game has all the addictive qualities of the best RPGs out there, on any platform. It’s game with a myriad number of things to do, and each and every one of those tasks is fun. If you’re looking for a game to help you understand why people love this genre so much, or you yourself are one of those fans, you can’t go wrong with this game. It’s my favorite fantasy-themed RPG of this generation, and one that I plan on revisiting many times. Recommended without hesitation. This game is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. For more info, visit www.fable2.com.


	Fable II Xbox 360 Review…4 out of 5 By Alex Rowe Fable II is a rather interesting beast, especially when considered in the shadow of its predecessor. Peter Molyneux, the lead designer at developer Lionhead Studios, talked a whole lot about how amazing Fable was going to be. Sadly, some of the features intended for the game were cut during development. Now Fable II has arrived, and it delivers on all of the promises that Molyneux made for it. It has a basic level of playability that makes the game accessible to almost anyone, and a story that deftly combines cheeky British humor and dark fantasy themes. The only shortcomings here are technical. Aside from a few hiccups, Fable II provides a robust, mature RPG experience that’s great for all levels of gamer. Fable II starts off similarly to the previous game, by going through a quick look at the childhood of the player’s hero character. In this game, players can choose to be male or female, and like every other choice in the game, this will impact the story later on. Fable II does a great job of providing a branching, interesting fantasy-themed story, that’s also full of adult themes. Some pretty violent stuff happens in the charming fantasy world of Albion , and the game doesn’t shy away from forcing players into challenging moral quandaries. Fable II is set in the same world as the first game, but several hundred years later, so playing the original is not necessary to enjoy the new game. References abound for fans of the original game, but understanding them is not a core part of the story experience. The story takes the main character through childhood and a good chunk of their adult life, and provides a gripping tale with lots of character development and plot twists. The entire main story took me around 15 hours to complete. The game has plenty of content outside of its main story, allowing players to buy property, start families, or just play with their dog. A dog accompanies the player throughout Fable II, and aside from being a convincing AI companion, the dog can also locate items and assist the player with certain challenges. The world of Albion is large, but it’s impossible to get lost, as a handy trail will guide players to their next objective, all easily selectable from a quest list. The game does a great job of providing tons of different tasks to do at one time, even after the main story is over. None of the quests in the game are terribly complex as far as actual gameplay, but they have enough interesting narrative elements tied to them to make each one enjoyable. Being an RPG, the gameplay in Fable II centers primarily around talking to people, gathering items, and combat. Combat is handled simply, with timing-based button presses on three of the controller’s face buttons leading to different outcomes. One button controls melee attacks, one controls ranged attacks, and one fires off magic spells. It’s an elegant system with enough depth to it that more hardcore gamers won’t feel ripped off. The combat animations flow together well, and there are enough different weapons and spells in the game to suit any play style. Graphically, the game is quite gorgeous, going for a more painterly style rather than pushing for photo-realism. The engine tends to struggle in some weird places, especially when rendering the inventory screen, of all things. It runs much better if its installed to the hard drive. I had a few times where I thought the game was going to hard-lock, and then it magically started running again. This is a little nerve-wracking because the game only allows you one save file. Every time something significant happens in the game, it auto-saves, forcing you to live with your choice. I loved this aspect of the game, as it really helps the branching story, but the occasional technical hiccups made this a little nerve-wracking. I’ve also played through the Knothole Island DLC, which is worth the purchase price. It adds another couple of hours to the game, and some shops with some rather interesting new items. To say much more would ruin the fun of it. It’s a bit more light-hearted than the rest of the story, and although it’s available at any time once you’ve downloaded it, it works best as an epilogue to the main quest story. Plenty of reviews have talked about the goofy humor, the numerous side quests, and the craziness of being able to marry multiple people and have children and own all the pubs, but I wanted to put forth that under all this Fable II is a great RPG. The multiplayer co-op is not terribly amazing, but aside from that, this game has all the addictive qualities of the best RPGs out there, on any platform. It’s game with a myriad number of things to do, and each and every one of those tasks is fun. If you’re looking for a game to help you understand why people love this genre so much, or you yourself are one of those fans, you can’t go wrong with this game. It’s my favorite fantasy-themed RPG of this generation, and one that I plan on revisiting many times. Recommended without hesitation. This game is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. For more info, visit www.fable2.com.