Who Will You Become? (Fable II (Xbox 360))

Member Name: Goldensummit

Product:	Fable II (Xbox 360)
Date:	30/11/08 (928 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The Soundtrack | Size of the World | Co-op | Variety of What You Can Do

Disadvantages: Riddled with Glitches and Technical Issues | Feels Like a Rushed Job

Difficulty: Easy
Learning Curve: Around 10 minutes

Being a big fan of Lionhead Studios, the creators of such games as Fable and Black and White, I had very high hopes for their "Revolutionary" sequel to their Fable franchise, Fable 2. Upon playing said game however, you cannot but help to be disappointed at how it eventually turned out. With Lionhead Studio's first appearance on the current generation of consoles, you would hope for something great to come out of this.

Unlike its predecessor, Fable 2 is set 500 years into the future from the time of the first game, where the age of heroes has past, and the rise of economic depression, ravaging bandits, and royalty control the land of Albion. When you play this, Albion (the land of Fable 2) will not seem anything like the first Fable, it has increased far in size, and has become open world (no set routes or restrictions for this game!).

You start off by choosing what gender you want, be it male or female. Then you play the life of a child, an orphan, that lives on the streets and tries hard to make ends meat. You are given several mini-quests to do at this point so you can gain enough gold to buy a magical music box which is rumoured to grant the wish of the user, so you will be asked to run around finding warrants, posing for a picture, delivering secret love letters and more. During these, there will be several moral decisions to show your "good" nature, or your "evil" nature, and by what you choose, is how you'll become, then before you know it, you will come across your first major moral choice, which dictates how the world will be when you finally grow up.

The game offers a variety of ways you can play, you can become a swordsmen, which you focus more on hand to hand combat, or you can be a marksmen, where you focus more on gun fighting, or a will user, who, inevitably focuses on the art of black magic. Nevertheless, you are not restricted to just using one, you can switch (and in some instances, recommended) between close combat, shooting and will using in an instant. As you kill your enemies, from bandits to the walking dead, you will gain experience. For each kill you make, you gain general experience, plus bonus experience for the specific class you killed that enemy in. For instance, if you shot down a bandit, you would gain experience to spend on marksmen skills, as well as general experience which can be spent on any of the three classes, and like-wise if you kill with close combat or will.

You will also have the opportunity to play with a fellow friend, offline or online. This has been implemented rather well, where your co-op buddy appears instantly in your world of Albion; however he/she is forced to become a generic mercenary that is restricted to specific equipment and items.

One of the more fun features in Fable 2 is the expression feature which allows you (or a friend) to perform a large amount of expressions to interact with the world of Albion. Your expressions can be neutral, good or even evil, so choose wisely how you want to interact, as the world reacts to your actions.

Throughout the game, you will be riddled with moral choices and quests, you will be able to buy new clothes to change you look, new hair styles, get a tattoo or two, even have make-up (even if a man) and facial hair (even if a women). You will even be able to get a job, to earn money so you can buy the equipment you want, or go to a further extent to use said money to buy houses, shops, stands, or anything the eye can see. Be sure to invest your money into something early on, so you can build up your empire and end up buying all of Albion! One of the better things about this game, is that you can start a family, get married, and have a child, when the game actually allows this to happen properly, it is very rewarding, but with the numerous glitches and bugs, it normally ends up being a disappointment when your wife/husband magically disappears and your child becomes a lifeless figure.

There are many technical issues with Fable 2, which is its biggest let down (other then the game being extremely easy, with little-to-no repercussions if you were to get killed). These issues can be minor, or they can lead to make it so you have to start the entire game from scratch again, they are really widely varied, but there are many of them, which can really bring down the enjoyment factor and the true purpose of what this game can offer.

Gameplay - 7/10

It is extremely fun to fight enemies, but it does end up getting very repetitive after a while, as each attack relies upon one button each. X for close combat, Y for shooting, and B for Will, and requires little-to-no skill to defeat swarms of enemies. Being able to do practically anything you want in the vast world is a big plus on the other hand.

Design - 7/10

The graphics have a very, cartoon look to it. There isn't much detail to be found here, with its very smooth look, and not being sharp enough to show how it really could be. Though this is the look of the Fable world, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Sound - 10/10

Fable 2's soundtrack is very inspirational, and sucks you right into the Fable universe. The game is also riddled with funny back and fourth banter, jokes everywhere you go, and all in all, a feel of it being a bustling world.

Value - 5/10

Fable 2 is impressive in size and there are many things you can do, but it all gets spoiled by the technical problems the game suffers from, which can lead to making it physically impossible to enjoy the sub-text of the game.

Overall - 7.8/10

Fable 2 in short, is an over ambitious game, that tries too hard, and ends up as a disappointment due to a rushed job, forcing you to miss out on majority of the outside gameplay.

Summary: It's over ambitious that tries too hard, and ends up as a disappointment