Fable 2 review, part 1 of 3
As with all reviews I’ll do, this will be spoiler free. So if you haven’t played the game yet, read on without fear!
I started playing Fable 2 about a week ago. It’s taken up so much of my free time that I haven’t touched Fallout 3. So far, that’s one of the few bad things I can say about it.
I never played the original game. In fact, I only saw about ten minutes of it while at my brother-in-law’s house. He showed me the Jack of Blades fight, after which I accidentally broke his TV, bringing a swift end to the demo. Whoops. As a result of gravity’s consistency when acting upon a TV set, this review will be very short on the otherwise inevitable comparisons to Fable 1. People tired of that particular angle — or anyone new to the series — will probably find this refreshing. Anyone looking to see if Fable 2 can match or beat their experience in Fable 1 won’t find a specific answer to that question here.
When the game starts, you don’t have a lot of customization options for your character. That’s not to say customization isn’t possible. You can change a great deal in regard to your character’s appearance, disposition, armament, and skills. However, that occurs during gameplay. In fact, the only real choice you can make at character creation is whether you’ll play a male or female.
The game starts in a sort of tutorial mode that takes about an hour to play. You’re a child in the slums of a large city, struggling through street life with the aid of your sibling. I had a sister, but I’m guessing you get a brother if you play a girl.
You’re given a series of simple tasks to complete, designed to introduce you to the controls, game concepts, and plot. The tasks seem trivial, but don’t take this tutorial lightly. This is where you start deciding how you’ll get along with the world (or fail to do so), and some of your choices have lasting effect on the rest of the game.
It’s also during this tutorial you meet your only permanent party member and possibly one of the best features in the game: your dog. The canine does the simple things you would expect from an RPG-rendered pet. It follows you around, has a basic mood, does silly things, and offers modest aid in a fight. Nothing new there. But it also helps alleviate one of the things I hate most in RPGs: obfuscation. He can sniff out treasure chests and hidden items. So if there’s a box of goodies just around the corner, concealed in a shadow, he’ll start barking and lead you right to it.
After the tutorial is over, the game advances 10 years, showing you as a young adult ready to strike out in the world. Your canine companion is still faithfully by your side, presumably about 12 years old. The age doesn’t seem to bother him. I estimate he’s around 25 by the time the main plot is over, but he runs, fights, and plays just fine. Having a 9-year-old shepherd/retriever I’m rather fond of, I wish I knew his secret to longevity!
I’ve heard horror stories regarding the load times in Fable 1. I can’t speak to that directly, but I can say that Fable 2 takes good advantage of the 360’s hardware. The graphics look good, the game only goes to a load screen when you make a major change to your location (for example, completely leaving a forest), and the load times are generally short.
Tomorrow, I’ll be back for some details on game play and the multiplayer feature!
Actually, your sibling is a sister regardless of the player’s character.
From my limited time with Fable 2, I would say Fable 2 is a nice improvement over the first in a lot of ways. Since I loved the first one, I’m very happy with what I’ve seen in Fable 2 so far.
Fable 2 is exactly what a sequel should be. It`s not perfect, but it addresses all of the complaints and irritations of the first game.
Irritating Camera? Much improved.
Inability to climb over tiny walls leaving you to follow a single proscribed path? Gone.
Complex environments leaving you unable to find treasure chests? Gone?
Feeling “alone” all the time? Gone.
Ranged combat being a non-viable option due to crappy DPS? Better.
It fixes a lot of things. It adds a huge amount of new content.
… but it doesn’t feel like a complete game. You can’t get level 5 weapons, your skills max out WAY to quickly, and the ending is extremely ambiguous.
I’m willing to put money on the fact that there will be a “Fable 2: Chapters” expansion (or two) that will continue the story and expand the world, possibly as Downloaded expansions.
… which I will be purchasing.
Heck, I’d buy these games simply because they contain some of the only decent voice acting in video-game history, the fact that they have decent stories and (relatively) good gameplay is just a bonus.