Pleasantly surprised. That is the best way I can describe my experience with Fable 2.

Back at PAX 2008, I played the two player demo they had on display. Overall, I was not impressed. It was a trail of breadcrumbs leading from one bandit fight to another on a low-end LCD TV that was set up for someone way shorter than myself. The screen being inches from my face made it look blurry and jaggy. I’m pretty sure it was turned up too bright on top of that.

I still wanted to give the game a fair shake, knowing the code at PAX was the same from E3 months earlier. What I had played of the first game on the original Xbox I had enjoyed, but never finished. I decided to go back and finish the first game, just in case it tied in, and to see why I was excited for the sequel in the first place.

The first game takes a little while to get into, then runs out of steam near the end. Still, I finished it before finally picking up Fable 2, buying it for cheap on eBay, rather than actually picking up my pre-order. I had already used the $10 I put down as the pre-order towards my copy of Fallout 3, so there was no point going back to the evil empire in my local mall.

Fable 2 was a completely different experience. The core game was similar enough to draw in fans of the original, but instead of the clumsy weapon swapping of the first game, you now have a separate button for melee, ranged and magic attacks. You gain experience by using each of the three attacks (as in the original), as well as general exp. which can be spent on any of the three. While the battle system is simple, it works very effectively. If you just mash the buttons, you will eventually win, but the fun comes in making your own combos and timing your attacks to the rhythm of the battle.

A big part of the games’ charm lies in its inhabitants. The character models really fit into the games’ aesthetic (though more variety would have been nice). The voice acting really shines, and the writing is consistently both amusing and charming throughout.

The main storyline is a little thin, and fairly short. I had a lot more fun doing the side-quests. There is a lot of variety in both the mission types and the set pieces they take place in. The best part is they are all optional. Don’t feel like helping the old lady find her son? Just keep walking. There is also the good vs. evil choices that come up naturally through the course of the game. At a few points in the game, your choices will even effect the environment. I’d love to see more of that in a sequel, or even in DLC.

After finishing the main storyline, you can continue playing through all the side-quests. There are many areas in the game that are not unlocked until after completion of the main quest line. This is another way that makes this game approachable. You can play it at your own pace. You can barrel through the the story, or you can take your time, get married, have kids, become a blacksmith or a property mogul, or just spend some quality time with your dog.

The co-op needs some serious work. While it is fun to play with a friend locally or online, the camera is very limited in this mode. They should definitely have a split screen option in the next game. Something along the lines of the split screen in Toe Jam & Earl (Sega Genesis), where if you are together it is one screen, but when you get too far from each other, it then splits the screen. Here, even when playing online, you have to stay within about 25-30 yards of each other. It just does not make a lot of sense from a players perspective.

I would also have liked to be able to use my character when playing with others online. You currently only have the option to play as one of six pre-made characters. The good news is, you can share gold and experience gained when playing co-op, which can be re-assigned to your character once you switch back to your main game. This is a minor gripe, but something I’d love to see in a sequel.

Despite my minor complaints, and the known glitches (patches coming?), I’d have to say this is one of my favorite games of last year. It has a way of sucking you into it’s world and making you really feel like part of the adventure. All in all, it is a great game and I highly recommend it.

Tags: adventure, Fable 2, rpg, Xbox 360

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 29th, 2009 at 6:00 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.