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Fable 2
The game Molyneux promised us the first time...
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Maybe I’m a little hard on Fable 1 (Properly named “Fable”, I know, but I am trying to avoid confusion). I picked it up because I was trying to convince my girlfriend at the time that video games are great if given a fair chance. I was sure Fable would be the one to do it because of all the awesome things Molyneux promised. Completely open-ended story! The ability to marry and form relationships! A living breathing world that changed as a result of your choices! I truly think that none of these promises were delivered, or if they were it was in a form so watered down that it barely qualified. I am happy to say, however, that Fable 2 did not disappoint at all in this regard and in many ways provided the player with more freedom and choice than did Fallout 3. That’s a big claim.
My favourite aspect of Fable 2 is that you can be as evil as you want and it doesn’t hamper the story or experience at all. In RL, if an epic demon walked into a town I really don’t think many people would rise to challenge it just for walking down the street. Furthermore, if it felt like it wanted to buy something from the store I’m pretty sure it would get a reduced price if it “asked” for it. What I’m getting at here is that the world of Fable 2 actually allows you to be the epiphany of evil and still realistically exist within a world where you walk around, talk to people, and buy things. You get reduced prices the more people fear you, some women love you because you’re the bad boy, and you can still be regarded as pursuing the primary plotline in revenge as opposed to being an evil character that is doing something good.
I very much like the infrastructure additions, allowing you to own and rent out real estate, and even own and manage any of the stores in the game. It’s pretty rare for a building NOT to have a sign out front that allows you to buy it based on a number of criteria (ie. Town Economy, Owner Health, Opinion of Hero). Marriage is much more interesting this time around as well, allowing you to have children that grow and love you. I really liked that they give you bonus evil points for sacrificing the mother of your children to the devil. That was a nice touch.
The game really excels in providing you with something novel, and that is an Adventure Sim. Sure there is a primary plotline, but you take your own path through the game and the subtleties of that plot change based on your choices. I don’t want to spoil anything about the game so it’s difficult to say how good of a job they do on bringing this all to fruition at the end of the game. Let me just say this: I really enjoyed the final 30 minutes of the experience and thought they did a fantastic job of making me feel like it was my own little adventure, completely unique to me.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention the dog. Do you have a dog? Are you interested in seeing the best dog AI you’ve ever seen, surpassing even the likes of Nintendogs? Play this game. They have matched the way an unleashed dog runs with his owner perfectly, how it runs just ahead of him until he changes direction, then slowly realizes he’s not going the right way anymore and catches up. He looks at items of interest, growls at unfriendly people, gets afraid and happy, and will even help you find treasure and tell you where to dig with your shovel. The dog rules.
I can’t end this without saying what was bad about the game, however, which is undeniably the interface. Some of the decisions made in inventory management, such as 17 pages of Lucien’s diary being 17 distinct inventory objects, were completely unforgivable. I spent probably 10% of my time in this game in the pause menu and there was not that much management to be done. Also, why is it that I can’t throw away any objects or at least opt not to pick them up? Once you’ve opened a chest, or searched a closet, you are taking that item in your inventory until you make it to a shop and sell it. This leads to really disorganized and clunky inventory menus, and it doesn’t help that they are tremendously slow as well. Sometimes just buying an item from the store would freeze the game for 5 seconds. 5 SECONDS! TO BUY AN ITEM! |
Graphics
Not the greatest texture detail in the world, but nothing to scoff at either. Great draw distance, and you can tell the love that went into every drawing.
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8.5 |
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Sound
Great music, fantastic voice acting, and decent game sounds. I can't remember being particularly struck by any sound-related features, so I can't give it too high a score.
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8.5 |
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Gameplay
I really liked the combat. My first character was primarily melee and magic, but I am looking forward to exploring the ranged weapons in my next game. The game is docked slightly for making just walking around a bit of a learning curve, as the character moves unnaturally.
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9.5 |
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Originality
I'm rating this game on Originality as if Fable had never existed, which is to say it is the only game of its type. Many RPGs try to offer us this kind of an experience, but only Fable 2 delivers.
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10.0 |
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Interface
This is the lowest score I've ever given any game in any category. There were unforgivable design choices made in inventory management. I mean, if I get a 17 page diary, I don't expect my inventory to be filled with 17 different objects. How about ordering items in descending order too, so I don't have to scroll for 30 seconds every time I get something new.
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4.0 |
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Fun
I enjoyed the game from beginning to end and only played about an hour of Prince of Persia before returning, even though PoP is one of my favorite IPs of all time. Fable 2 is tremendously good fun.
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10.0 |
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Lasting Appeal
I'm one character in so far and I have plans for at least two more. I'll keep this game around forever and either run through it again or play with one of my existing characters every now and again.
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10.0 |
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Overall
If you liked Fable; Fable 2 is a sure bet. If you were like me and DIDN’T like the first, I think it’s still a really safe bet. This is the game Molyneux promised us the first time around.
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8.6 |
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