Fable 2 Review

A Hero's Life Isn't Just Wenches, Troll Blood, & Gold

Raising the perfect family, entertaining or terrifying the Albion population, and simply taking time out to enjoy walks with your dog is only part of being a hero, the time comes when you'll have to adventure further afield with the primary and secondary quests.  Despite the occasional attempt to add a puzzle element, quests typically revolve around travelling between locations and generally putting monsters that stand against you to their doom.  We'd liked to have seen a little more creativity in the mission designs and challenges, but generally Fable 2 manages to keep things entertaining and immersive enough on this front.

In an effort to streamline the combat system of the original, Lionhead has reduced combat to singular buttons.  Melee, Ranged, and Magic attacks are each assigned to an individual face button, which can each be developed with experience points to unlock additional techniques, i.e. charge the attack button for a flourish, or hold the ranged attack button for a zoomed-in view.  Despite some concerns that this might be one attempt to appeal to a casual audience too far, we've got to say that the setup largely works and means there's little in the way of a barrier to enjoying the action.  The progress of each attack and character development in general is well designed to lend a sense of reward and progress that keeps this aspect of the game entertaining.  That said, the way in which Lionhead has changed the Magic setup feels a little awkward.  Essentially you have five different levels to map spells and by tapping the Magic button you'll perform the spell attributed to level 1, hold it longer for level 2, and so on.  The result is the emphasis is placed on developing a strategy of spells, instead of casting on an on-the-fly basis.  It's impossible to change spells in the heat of the moment, and despite finally getting used to the setup towards the end of the game, we've got to say that the setup is the complete opposite of the streamlined, casual, approach that Lionhead allegedly based the setup on.

Expanding upon the sense of committing Good or Evil acts that provided the main, albeit superficial, dynamic behind the original Fable, Lionhead has developed the concept with the inclusion of Corruption and Pure characteristics.  Such attributes stem from a wide range of possible actions, such as purchasing homes and setting the rent significantly higher than the norm, or equally doing the same by purchasing stores to build your very own commercial empire.  All of the characteristics play a greater role in Fable's main and secondary quests, which doesn't just boil down to a handful of scripted quests that could be completed in one of two ways, ala the original Fable.  It's hard to be too descriptive without ruining Fable 2, but make sure to keep an eye out for the many sections that indicate a choice.  And we'll just say that the way in which everything comes together towards the grand finale has been wonderfully executed, and the option to continue playing long after the main story quest is completed with the secondary quests you missed out on and extra ones that appear after the story is concluded is a great touch.

An Albion Almost Without Limits

Lionhead has addressed one of the original's major criticisms by opening up the landscape and allowing players to explore Albion away from the beaten path, vault over obstacles, and dive into the waterways.  Although this undeniably lends Fable 2 the sense of exploration it sorely missed in the original, the game is still divided into sections, which reduces the sense of a sprawling, cohesive Albion to enjoy.  This isn't particularly helped by Lionhead's attempt to lend a sense of scale to what amounts to a dozen or so sections, with lengthy distances indicated on the load screens between each region.  Although significantly more epic than Albion of before, Fable 2's gameworld, deliberately or not, still feels relatively small and diminished compared to most RPGs on the current generation.  The theoretical distances play a part in calculating the number of days it requires to travel between sections, which in turn affects whether you're going to make the last day of a sales discount at a particular shop.  But ultimately Albion feels unnaturally stretched beyond the image we had of the small, tight-knitted gameworld in the original Fable.  That said, the subtle way in which Fable 2 addresses Albion from 500 years previously is handled excellently, and will provide plenty of witty nods for fans of the original.

Issues surrounding the gameworld also circle around Lionhead's decision to clean the clutter from the screen and remove the mini-map.  We're not particularly fond of the new Breadcrumbs system that indicates the destination of each quest with a magical golden line that guides the hero.  Because of the lack of cohesion behind Albion, due to the divided sections, and the urgency imposed by the breadcrumbs, the resulting effect is that Albion never really becomes familiar at first.  It's unclear how each region fits together and ultimately left us yearning for some sort of map or resorting to the Fast Travel option.  Waypoints and path indicators are a necessary evil for level designers to reduce the frustrating need to wander aimlessly around, and whilst the option to switch breadcrumbs off is available, we ultimately found ourselves wanting to get lost a little more and explore Albion.

A further new addition comes from the inclusion of offline/online two-player co-op, which is perhaps Fable 2's most striking point of genius.  Played across Xbox Live you'll notice Orbs across Albion that indicate your Friends or other Fable 2 players.  The idea is that these represent each player's unique universe and act as portals for you to jump between the dimensions.  Playing in another person's world casts you as a henchman to the main hero (and vice-versa), with the addition of co-op based attacks and expressions rounding off what is a thoroughly entertaining and excellent new addition.

It's impossibly difficult to constrict Fable 2's many elements without writing something that would rival the complete works of Shakespeare in length, so we'll leave this review with a description of a scenario that might have been coincidental, could possibly have been scripted, but certainly highlights the eerie sensation of cause & effect that seemingly runs beneath the game:

Having recently started a family and having eyes on a grander, more suitable abode but without the necessary means to afford it, I decided to momentarily ditch my hero's purer than white persona by murdering the occupants at the dead of night and picking up the house at a discounted race.  Rushing home to inform the wife of our new address, it appeared that coaxing the two individuals to the apparently secluded beach wasn't good enough and quickly found myself charged by the guards and unable to pay the fine.  Opting to repay my debts to society with a little community service, which involved killing a number of bandits, it appeared that my efforts weren't quick enough as the said bandits managed to murder both wife and newborn child.  An Anakin Skywalker/Tusken Raiders moment quickly followed as I cut everybody in sight down with furious anger - along with a wry smile that somehow the game had almost ironically punished me for straying from the path of good intentions.