Fable 2 Review

The game begins in the city of Bowerstone, where a young child known as Sparrow (Also you can be a girl this time round, if you want) and his older sister, Rose, dream about living in Castle Fairfax, the home of Lord Lucien. Their fantasies are cut short when they hear a commotion down at the market. A man who goes by the name of Mystical Murgo is selling “magical” wares, such as a mirror that makes you beautiful (though only in complete darkness) and a magic box that grants you a wish. Rose scoffs at the idea of magic, but an old woman named Theresa tells her otherwise, suggesting it may in fact be magic. Later that night they are awoken by a city guard who escorts them to Castle Fairfax. After meeting Lord Lucien and telling him of the box, he asks them to step in a circle on the floor. A blue light emits from the edge of the circle, and to Lucien’s anger turns red upon his touch. Proclaiming that they are not any of the three, and one of them is the fourth, he shoots Rose, and afterwards shoots you the player out the window… You survive the fall as “Death is not your destiny tonight little Sparrow.”

Unfortunately the initial expansiveness of Bower Lake and its surrounding environs belies the truth that although Albion is now much larger and more open than before but is more linear rather than being an open world, Albion is separated into areas, divided by loading screens. Adding this to the lack of an overall world-map, and these various regions can feel somewhat disconnected; making it difficult to feel like the world is “free roam”. Although the areas usually have a few branching paths, they almost always have one main route, and only one ‘exit’ at each end. Despite this, exploration is still possible in many places, but the decision not to include a handy mini-map was probably a prudent one, as it would have highlighted the world’s limitations. The world itself is a visual and aural delight. Each area looks unique, and feels like Lionhead have put great detail into there artwork and have pulled it off beautifully. Fable 2 also features a ‘breadcrumb trail’ line that leads you to your next objective. This is perfect for noobs who may be worried about getting lost, and veterans who find that it distracts from exploration can simply turn it off. A better map function would have certainly been a much more preferred option in my opinion.

Fable and Fable 2 was not just about the game, it was about your character. Your character is affected by Good and Evil, Purity and Corruption. During the game you make choices which effect life in Albion, whether it be helping out a beggar or defeating a monster. These choices not only effect the world, but it also effects the way people think of you and your appearance. If you’re good you will be handsome and pure, more people will love you and give you gifts.. If you’re bad you grow horns and are pure evil, people will hate you and run away in fear. Also if a player eats pies or drinks beer all the time you will get fat and walk around with a waddle. If you eat fruit and vegetables will make you stay thin and also help you lose weight. If you level up your skills, Strength, Skill and Will it will affect your character. Strength making your character more muscular. Skill making your character taller and Will will make your character have blue glowing veins all over there body.

I love how Lionhead handled the co-op for Fable 2 especially for the true drop-in, drop-out co-op play that is included. I also like how you can play the game start to finish with a friend via local play or Xbox LIVE, this is a great feature and not many games of the RPG genre do this as they believe RPG games like Fable or Fallout should be played Single Player. Also in co-op play, there is no lag, now I know your all properly thinking “Lag? With 2 Players… Haha!”. Look at FIFA and PES, two games which normally only have two players online in one game at once and those games can lag bad, so I respect Lionhead for making this game good for online co-op. The fact that the host must decide the percentage-cut of gold and experience that the henchman is allowed to receive, is a cause for much enjoyable debate and negotiation. It’s just a shame that the co-op camera copes so badly in the frequent enclosed spaces, that you begin longing for single player once again.

The sound on this game is beautiful, I love the music, I love the townspeople voices. Everything with sound in this game is just awesome. When I run through a field with grass you can hear your feet hitting the grass, if it’s a stone path you hear your feet hitting the hard stone floor. The music is lovely because I love the fact you can be walking along a path with a jolly tune in the background to which it can change all of sudden and the good thing is it doesn’t block out any other sounds which can be important, such as Dialogue. The weapon sounds are good also, especially the swords when they clash. Lionhead put a lot of thought into there Sound for Fable 2. The music for Fable is recgonised world wide and is made by Danny Elfman, Russell Shaw.

Peter Molyneux and Lionhead Studios have created a fantastically compelling world in Albion, and a game that gives you a sense of fun in your interactions with the lands and its people. Fable 2 would be a superbly accessible entry-point into action RPG’s for any casual gamer, but more experienced players may feel let down by the concessions to simplicity that have been made.

JD's Score - 86%