A lot can be done in four years: a president can serve a term, a bachelor’s degree can be earned and a sequel of a unique Xbox game can be created. Thankfully, Lionhead Studios have chosen the latter and have delivered a more rewarding experience than if their Creative Director, Peter Molyneux, was President of the United States. Their smart decision has given birth to the world of Albion that is 500 years later from the original Fable. A world that is full of life wherever you go, from the bustling towns to the dreary swamps and each thing you do affects that world. Finally, that decision also made a game that surpasses Fable in every way.
After a slow and restrictive start as a child, the game really begins as an adult living with gypsies. When you walk out of the gypsy camp, the world you experience is one that is beautiful and complete. Forests are lush with greenery, lively towns have their unique personalities and caves are dark and mysterious. Elder Scrolls this is not though. Going from town to town is restricted to just a set road with a few branching paths. The world feels like one that is very expansive and open, but in reality, it’s just roads and towns. Even with these restrictions, the game holds your hand with a golden trail that acts as a mythical GPS to your goal. This trail seems like the game is treating you like an idiot, but it really give you little consequence to explore the areas around you. The branching pathways to caves and the ability to look around the area for treasure are no problem since the trail just brings you right to your destination. In addition, the game allows you to automatically appear to places you have been before. A first impression to this idea is that the game is being too easy and fast. Although in reality, it kills tedium in going back and forth in the many regions of Albion and only keeps the fun parts while saving time.
Choice is the true game in this game, because you can become many, many things. You can be a great hero by doing tasks such as saving people to becoming terrible villain by ending those lives. Most homes and stores can be bought and relates to their own corruption alignment based on if you lower prices or rip them off. So when you choose your gender, know that is only the first of hundreds of choices that can have the power to start a family or ruin a town’s economy. This is more than a simple good versus evil that Fable 1 was mostly about; this is an extremely in-depth characterization of your British little friend. This feature truly shines where you are hit with a big decision and your choice really changes everything. Wanting to make the right choice every time is a feeling that the game succeeds at achieving and what makes Fable 2 a unique and enriching experience.
The people of Albion will also be affected based on your choices and it shows. Each and every resident of Albion have their own opinion of you based on your actions and choices. Whip out your weapon and surrounding folks will get scared or start dancing to have them all wearing smiles. Lionhead did a great job with the citizens of Albion with their varying personalities backed by thousands of lines of great voice talent. It doesn’t end with looking at them though; you can kill them, marry them, and even get sexually transmitted diseases from them. The options are plentiful and they flawlessly intertwine itself on the downtime from killing things.
Of course Albion is not a peaceful place. You will be using force to subdue nasty monsters, shifty assassins or innocent people if you want. Combat is organized pretty neatly, with three of your buttons assigned to certain killing machines. The X button is your sword, Y is for ranged guns and crossbows, and finally the B button is all the magic. All can be upgraded a few times based on the experience you gain and even though the abilities stay assigned to the same button, combat does not suffer. For example, slashing is pressing X, blocking is holding X and special swings are holding X with the analog stick pointing towards an enemy. It’s easy to use, fun to play and never gets old.
Fable 2 introduces one of the most intelligent sidekicks in the video game world, your dog. He is always there for you. He sniffs out underground treasure to attacks enemies and does it every single time without you barking an order. He’s a reliable asset in Fable 2. You can scold him or love him to death, but in the end, he’ll still be the same loving ally since you adopted him. The dog can be hurt but never killed, meaning its flawed invincibility has you whipping out the never-ending Dog Elixir to waste time healing.
Speaking of never dying, you don’t die in Fable 2. When you kick the bucket, you just lose some experience and gain permanent scars on your character and then you’re revived. It’s barely a set back, especially when experience is so plentiful. This might have been decided since the game is so easy that dying won’t be a heck of a problem. Your fake death does get recorded for all other Fable 2 players in your friends list to see.
Like any big Xbox 360 game, Fable 2 uses Xbox Live in creative ways and succeeds in making a new way of knowing if your friends are playing too. Your Xbox Live friends who are also playing Fable 2 can run into you, or actually a little orb. This flying orb shows where your current position is and is accessible to see your deaths, the amount of paid for sex and so on. It can also send an invite for cooperative play. If you accept, you become your friend’s henchman instead of using your own character, which kills the fun of using the co-op function, but it gets a bit worse. You can not leave the same screen as your partner so you’re stuck within a few feet of each other. The experience feels as if it is offline co-op, which the game also supports.
If you think only the story is all there is, think again. Lionhead didn’t take four years only on a ten hour forgettable story compared to the other RPG offerings that the Xbox 360. There are a lot of creative achievements that are fun to obtain, from getting 2.5 million gold worth of real estate to having an orgy. There are fifty gargoyles to kill and fifty silver keys to obtain throughout Albion and the only way to get them all is completing all the side quests and exploring the entire world. Fable 2 is a fun and unique game and is worth your sixty bucks if you know you’ll try every quest and try every achievement, because playing solely on the main quest will end up a disappointing affair. Lionhead can put their heads up high knowing that sequels can be better in every way than their originals.
There is another version of Fable 2 available, a limited edition for those willing to throw down another ten dollars. There are more than its pretty white cardboard sleeve and the standard DVD of the making of Fable 2. There is a code for an exclusive downloadable package from the Live Marketplace. After some code punching and download waiting, you get an exclusive costume, some weapons and a dungeon. Maybe a few have heard of the costume Lionhead cooked up for this limited release. The people in Fable 2 called him Hal, but everyone in this world calls him Master Chief, Halo’s green armored hero. With the exclusive Energy Sword in hand, you can run around Albion playing dress up as if you’re lost in time. Halo fans will appreciate what Lionhead did here and might be worth the extra ten bucks if you solely want the costume. Sadly only the costume, because the Energy Sword is pretty weak and the exclusive dungeon, the Hall of the Dead, is extremely short. And the Hall’s prize, the Wreckager cutlass, falls short compared with the easy-to-obtain legendary swords that are available in the regular edition. It’s unfortunate that so much exclusive content that only few can claim ends up being so useless, fun costume aside. It’s hard to recommend this seventy dollar “Limited Collector’s Edition” package if you’re not a big Halo fan.
Never Unplaying's score of Fable 2: 8.0/10
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