A decade of hyperbole and a big pile of promises later, and Lionhead has finally, thankfully, released its best game to date, Fable II, even if in Peter Molyneux tradition it doesn't quite deliver on every promise.
Off the bat, Fable II's let down by an overly-hand-holding opening section which, after the fanfare surrounding the removal of nearly any sort of HUD, the scrapping of all cut-scenes and the usual Lionhead promise of letting you shape the world as you see fit, is a slightly disappointing way to start off your epic quest.
Your experience as a child is fairly linear with tutorials dealt out at machine gun pace, and you're constricted to the point where the game even tells you to go to bed. It's a shame because once you put your lad years behind you Fable II really is a wonderfully crafted, absorbing adventure, and Lionhead mostly avoids the mistakes it made with the original.
The sequel takes place a few hundred years after the events of Fable and Albion's moved into more of a Renaissance era than the original's medieval period. The time of magic and heroes has been long forgotten in Fable II's world, and naturally it's up to you as a lad (or lass) treading the path of a hero to bring back the old legends and save the world.
As always, choice is at the center of Fable II's adventure, whether it be good or evil, fat or thin, kick or kiss (you get the idea).
Although the surprising part is that Fable II manages to present this slightly over-played theme of moral choice in a refreshingly un-clichéd manor in the main quest, with almost none of the 'kill/don't kill?' sequences from the first game, but stuff much more compelling.
Fable II
Gameplay footage
3:07Exclusive: Tour of Bowerstone
Fable II
Gameplay footage
3:07Exclusive: Tour of Bowerstone
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This time around Lionhead seems to understand the strengths of Fable's formula, and more often than not your adventure revolves around building your reputation (or "renown") around Albion rather than subjecting you to obvious 'save prisoner or set him on fire?' moral choices.
You can build up your reputation with the inhabitants of Albion by performing quests, defeating notorious bandit bosses or showing off your trophies with the townsfolk (via a social command). Once your hero career gets rolling you can even pay a sculptor to erect statues of you around town.
The process of wooing the townsfolk of Albion is made really enjoyable thanks to a massive selection of social commands, ranging from dances to farts to giving someone the finger. The way the world reacts to your actions is really compelling and you'll find yourself role-playing for your own amusement, with stats liberally ticking from villager's heads in reaction.
But for the few clearly signposted decisions that are in the game, Fable II has in many ways finally succeeded in creating some of those Jack Bauer-style "emotional choices" every game from the current generation has promised - and failed - to deliver.
You won't find yourself crying onto your control pad or shouting hallelujah that your mate Harry the bandit survived, but you will spend a good few minutes pondering various decisions during your quest - which on its own adds massive brownie points to the whole RPG experience.
They have genuine consequences too - and not just in the plot. You'll sometimes be put in a position to choose between doing something evil, or keeping your morality at the sacrifice of some of your hard-earned XP. That, believe us, has you contemplating your options. Unless, of course, you actually want to be evil.
The dialogue is funnier and snappier than ever, and once again it's a real joy to discover that Lionhead rarely wonders into cliché territory with its in-game speech - and when it does it mocks the trends.
Yet, despite the abundance of great voice acting from various British talent (we killed Billy from Eastenders), the lip-syncing and facial animation (outside of the excellent social commands) by Molyneux's own admission is a bit ropey. But this is mostly forgivable thanks to the lack of cut-scenes - you never really see anything up close.
When we were sent off to meet the powerful heroine Hannah (or 'Hammer') instead of the slim, big-breasted femme-fatal we were expecting we were introduced to a tardy red-headed lass with a West-country accent, and she was more interested in keeping the order of her pacifist monk cult than eating pies or some other stereotype, which shows that Lionhead at least has grown as a narrative studio. We still farted on her, though.
You don't even notice your canine companion (when he's actually working how he should) there at all. Chasing your pooch companion to a treasure chest he's just barked to your attention feels totally natural, and teaching him tricks - including the ability to take a leak on command - adds a whole new layer on the social side. Again, he's not the tear-inducing virtual love object it was hyped to be, but another notable and significant layer on the pie.
The combat system is one of Fable II's highlights. The decision to dedicate melee attacks entirely to the X button, thanks to clever combination and timed attacks, makes for a simple but satisfying experience.
For the first few hours you're stuck with basic button-mashing attacks until you amass enough XP to upgrade, which probably isn't the best idea for introducing people to what's actually one of our favourite adventure game combat mechanics in a while.
Eventually, after investing XP into your sword swiping, you'll unlock satisfying flurries (executed by holding X and pressing the direction you want to lunge), useful counter-moves (performed by pressing X as an opponent attacks) and devastating combos (pulled off by chaining together X button presses at just the right time).
Ranged combat meanwhile properly keeps the FPS player happy; you can nail enemies with your cross bow from a third-person, GTA-style lock-on view, or zoom in with an over-the-shoulder aiming reticule for more precise shots. Through upgrades you can improve your accuracy, speed or even aim for specific parts of a target's body using the right stick.
Add all that together and you've truthfully got a combat system that's easy to use, but tricky to master. Our Nans could quite easily mash at the pad, but they're not pulling off the sword-swipe combos we've got going on with our timed button presses.
Once again, Fable II is all about choice. If you don't want to bother with Albion's troubles you can ignore the main quest and - like we did - setup shop as a humble blacksmith, build enough cash to buy a big house and then rent it out to the poor for a stream of profit every five minutes - even when you're not playing.
Fable II offers an even more unique side quest experience at the end of the game when you can finally afford to buy the big castle at the top of the hill, marry a barmaid, have kids and create your very own Bowerstone credit crisis.
This undeniably huge layer of the Fable experience promises to become even more important with the introduction of a day-one co-op patch, which as we're sure you can guess we haven't been able to try out in our version of the game.
It's all come together nicely then. Fable II is definitely for a certain breed of gamer; it's the Ying to Fallout 3 and Oblivion's Yang. If you're the sort of gamer content with making your own fun, breaking into people's houses and doing a chicken impression at the end of the bed, then this is the adventure game for you.
Fable II fixes the wrongs of the original Fable - mainly in the structure and storyline areas where at times it proved to be a bit of a mess - and fleshes out the bits that worked, like the absurd but charming social commands and simple but satisfying experience system.
After a sluggish opening the game grows into an incredibly fleshed out, absorbing adventure world where wasting your time blowing kisses at bar maids, teaching your dog to play dead and building your career as a woodcutter doesn't feel like wasted time at all.
It's still not the revolutionary piece of software Mr. M lauded it to be, but Fable II finally sees Lionhead's original concept realised, and all round it's clearly the developer's best game to date. Well done Peter, you finally did it.
Just say no to collectors editions - waste of money! I'm quite stoked about Fable2 but FarCry2 and DeadSpace are out on the same day and both are above it in the pecking order (for me at least). I am defo buying Fable2 - just later on.
BeauBeau is happy to hear that Fable II is great. But he's still not buying the Collector's Edition.
Actually, does anyone buy Collector's Editions?
I considered it with this - you get exclusive items and an extra dungeon....but, I'm not too fussed now, I've seen the extra items and they're Halo inspired.
I have got a few CE's - Mass Effect (which cost me no more than the standard one...and is a nice little set, I must say), Dead Rising (with the Mall Map missing! - grrrr) and BioShock (but, not the one with the Big Daddy statue).
Can't wait for this - almost thought I may have to leave it a few weeks as I'm hugely busy for the next few weekends...not sure I'll be able to resist now!
Some brilliant games coming out between now and the next 6-7 weeks. I've seen a few reviews of fable 2 now and the lowest has been 90%. It looks like a big success.
My sister is back from america tomorrow and i've got her to bring fable 2 back for me(region free). Sod waiting until the 24th for the uk release.
*Insert classic exploit here*: Buy a house, save, turn your xbox 360's date forward a few hundred years, go back into the game and see how much money you have made.
Just say no to collectors editions - waste of money! I'm quite stoked about Fable2 but FarCry2 and DeadSpace are out on the same day and both are above it in the pecking order (for me at least). I am defo buying Fable2 - just later on.
Im going for Far Cry 2 and Fable 2. (I just cant justify all 3 on the one day!)
Ill leave Dead Space unitl the nights start to get a bit lighter.
Just say no to collectors editions - waste of money! I'm quite stoked about Fable2 but FarCry2 and DeadSpace are out on the same day and both are above it in the pecking order (for me at least). I am defo buying Fable2 - just later on.
Im going for Far Cry 2 and Fable 2. (I just cant justify all 3 on the one day!)
Ill leave Dead Space unitl the nights start to get a bit lighter.
Good plan! Isn't it great to be spoiled for choice like this?
I'll be getting this within the next few months, when I have the bloody time to get stuck into it.
Still, who else was a little disappointed with 9.2? In this age of hype and over-rated games I was expecting Fable 2 to get closer to 10. Oh well, must be saving the big one for Gears 2.
Ouch! 9.2, so not as good a little big planet then. EPIC FAIL MICROSOFT, Peter Molyneux Massive Pwnage by Media Molecule
Wow - you are a tit after all... 9.2 is a great score.
I literally can't wait for this now - this (and other reviews I've read) have put fears I've had to bed, and I am so looking forward to jumping into Albion now. Roll on Friday. Or Thursday. Or whenever my pre-order turns up.
I'll be getting this within the next few months, when I have the bloody time to get stuck into it.
Still, who else was a little disappointed with 9.2? In this age of hype and over-rated games I was expecting Fable 2 to get closer to 10. Oh well, must be saving the big one for Gears 2.
Me - not at all. GTA IV was the last 10/10 game I played, and it was great, but I could never shake the feeling that it was the HYPE that was scored, not the game.
Reading this review, and seeing the end result score, I just don't get the same opinion.
I'm psyched with 9.2/10. My opinion is, any game of 9+ is going to be great. This falls into this bracket, so I'm a happy gamer. Or will be come the end of the week.
Really looking forward to co-oping through it with a mate too. That's gonna rock.
I'll be getting this within the next few months, when I have the bloody time to get stuck into it.
Still, who else was a little disappointed with 9.2? In this age of hype and over-rated games I was expecting Fable 2 to get closer to 10. Oh well, must be saving the big one for Gears 2.
Me - not at all. GTA IV was the last 10/10 game I played, and it was great, but I could never shake the feeling that it was the HYPE that was scored, not the game.
Reading this review, and seeing the end result score, I just don't get the same opinion.
I'm psyched with 9.2/10. My opinion is, any game of 9+ is going to be great. This falls into this bracket, so I'm a happy gamer. Or will be come the end of the week.
Really looking forward to co-oping through it with a mate too. That's gonna rock.
Yeah, must admit that I fell for the GTA4 hype, but at the same time a lot of people really enjoyed it.
Overall, I find reviews to be a confusing nightmare. I mean, if you look at Metacritic to judge a game, in my opinion it doesn't work. You have sites/magazines that give 9/10(90%) (for arguments sake) and then some that give 9.5/10(95%) - and then some may give the same game 3 out of 4(75%). Therefor, the averages don't work out properly in my view, unless everybody uses the same template for reviewing.
Regardless, 9.2 is still a mega score. Or is it? I'm confused. I'll just make up my own mind when I play it.
Still, who else was a little disappointed with 9.2? In this age of hype and over-rated games I was expecting Fable 2 to get closer to 10. Oh well, must be saving the big one for Gears 2.
Not really. The last two games I played which were hyped beyond the heavens due to review scores (GTA 4 and MGS4), well, I found them to be abit of a letdown to be honest. The one thing this game didn't need was a 9.9/10 score as it'd just be Fable 1 all over again where people end up despising the game as it didn't meet their expectations. Now, while 9.2 is an AAA game worthy score, it's at least a little more realistic and won't get people thinking it's the second coming, ala GTA4 and MGS4.
I'll be getting this within the next few months, when I have the bloody time to get stuck into it.
Still, who else was a little disappointed with 9.2? In this age of hype and over-rated games I was expecting Fable 2 to get closer to 10. Oh well, must be saving the big one for Gears 2.
Me - not at all. GTA IV was the last 10/10 game I played, and it was great, but I could never shake the feeling that it was the HYPE that was scored, not the game.
Reading this review, and seeing the end result score, I just don't get the same opinion.
I'm psyched with 9.2/10. My opinion is, any game of 9+ is going to be great. This falls into this bracket, so I'm a happy gamer. Or will be come the end of the week.
Really looking forward to co-oping through it with a mate too. That's gonna rock.
Yeah, must admit that I fell for the GTA4 hype, but at the same time a lot of people really enjoyed it.
Overall, I find reviews to be a confusing nightmare. I mean, if you look at Metacritic to judge a game, in my opinion it doesn't work. You have sites/magazines that give 9/10(90%) (for arguments sake) and then some that give 9.5/10(95%) - and then some may give the same game 3 out of 4(75%). Therefor, the averages don't work out properly in my view, unless everybody uses the same template for reviewing.
Regardless, 9.2 is still a mega score. Or is it? I'm confused. I'll just make up my own mind when I play it.
Does anyone know a game on Metacritic,which got terrible reviews but is worth a play through?
I'll be getting this within the next few months, when I have the bloody time to get stuck into it.
Still, who else was a little disappointed with 9.2? In this age of hype and over-rated games I was expecting Fable 2 to get closer to 10. Oh well, must be saving the big one for Gears 2.
Me - not at all. GTA IV was the last 10/10 game I played, and it was great, but I could never shake the feeling that it was the HYPE that was scored, not the game.
Reading this review, and seeing the end result score, I just don't get the same opinion.
I'm psyched with 9.2/10. My opinion is, any game of 9+ is going to be great. This falls into this bracket, so I'm a happy gamer. Or will be come the end of the week.
Really looking forward to co-oping through it with a mate too. That's gonna rock.
Yeah, must admit that I fell for the GTA4 hype, but at the same time a lot of people really enjoyed it.
Overall, I find reviews to be a confusing nightmare. I mean, if you look at Metacritic to judge a game, in my opinion it doesn't work. You have sites/magazines that give 9/10(90%) (for arguments sake) and then some that give 9.5/10(95%) - and then some may give the same game 3 out of 4(75%). Therefor, the averages don't work out properly in my view, unless everybody uses the same template for reviewing.
Regardless, 9.2 is still a mega score. Or is it? I'm confused. I'll just make up my own mind when I play it.
Does anyone know a game on Metacritic,which got terrible reviews but is worth a play through?
What if a game get's a few 9's and 10's, but the majority are in the 8's? Now if all those 8's were 8.5 or above then the game would probably average over 90%. But because sites give 8's(80%) it'll probably average late 80's. And to answer your question, there are a lot of 80% plus games that were probably ripped-off in the %'s and should be deemed just as good as those that scored above 90%. Take a look to see what I mean.
I'll be getting this within the next few months, when I have the bloody time to get stuck into it.
Still, who else was a little disappointed with 9.2? In this age of hype and over-rated games I was expecting Fable 2 to get closer to 10. Oh well, must be saving the big one for Gears 2.
Me - not at all. GTA IV was the last 10/10 game I played, and it was great, but I could never shake the feeling that it was the HYPE that was scored, not the game.
Reading this review, and seeing the end result score, I just don't get the same opinion.
I'm psyched with 9.2/10. My opinion is, any game of 9+ is going to be great. This falls into this bracket, so I'm a happy gamer. Or will be come the end of the week.
Really looking forward to co-oping through it with a mate too. That's gonna rock.
Yeah, must admit that I fell for the GTA4 hype, but at the same time a lot of people really enjoyed it.
Overall, I find reviews to be a confusing nightmare. I mean, if you look at Metacritic to judge a game, in my opinion it doesn't work. You have sites/magazines that give 9/10(90%) (for arguments sake) and then some that give 9.5/10(95%) - and then some may give the same game 3 out of 4(75%). Therefor, the averages don't work out properly in my view, unless everybody uses the same template for reviewing.
Regardless, 9.2 is still a mega score. Or is it? I'm confused. I'll just make up my own mind when I play it.
Does anyone know a game on Metacritic,which got terrible reviews but is worth a play through?
What if a game get's a few 9's and 10's, but the majority are in the 8's? Now if all those 8's were 8.5 or above then the game would probably average over 90%. But because sites give 8's (80%) and don't use percentages, it'll probably average late 80's. And to answer your question, there are a lot of 80% plus games that were probably ripped-off in the %'s and should be deemed just as good as those that scored above 90%. Take a look to see what I mean.
Really looking forward to fable now, i knew they wouldn't let me down.
And am I the only person that thought GTA4 wasn't underwhelming?
For all the misgivings about the omissions from SA I thought it was a lot more focused and I actually cared about the characters. I suppose it depends on your expectations of what it was supposed to achieve.
I know what you mean,i personally like to read the whole review from each individual mag or whatever.
Roll on the weekend anyway,i got no holidays left either,b******s.
I'm out of holidays too. Damn, that's lack of foresight for you!
I can't even touch the LBP tonight because the missus went mad this weekend gone!
I'm bitter because I have loads of holiday left and have to carry it over to next year because of stupid business related stuff. Hmmm.. cough, cough, I feel ill Then again, the missus will pull the face if I try that one and suddenly try the "I'll feel better if I'm up and in the living room" thing, so I'll just have to live my gaming life through you lot for a while!
Well the reviews are starting to pour in and the lowest I've seen so far is 8.8 from IGN US (IGN UK gave it 9.5). Most likley the whole British quirkiness has lowered the score from them as that seemed to be a major gripe with the original from the US audience. Also shocked that EDGE, one of the most critical mag's these days, has given the game such a good score.
I had a hard time choosing between Fable2 & Fallout3 as-well... in the end i made my decision based on the fact that if Fallout is anything like Oblivion i simply won't have the time in the next couple of months to dedicate myself to it properly. Only two weeks to complete Fable before GOW2 is out, then a week later it's Banjo (most anticipated game of the year) & a week later it's L4D. Arghhhh
This was always going to be something very special, you could tell by the way Mr M. and colleagues were glowing over it in interviews, coming out with statements like it's the "best game we've ever made!" etc., if it would've ended up being a turd, their reputation would have been in tatters!
Forget all pretenders to the crown, GoW2 included, Fable II is where it's at and not a hint of a quirky level designer masquerading as a game in sight.
And I took Friday off too!! Hopefully it will arrive on Thursday though, preorders from GAME generally come a day earlier don't they?
This week is week 1 of 3, 4 day weeks Got this Friday off for Fable 2 (I really want Dead Space as well but just don’t have the cash) The following Friday for Fallout 3, then the Friday after that for Gears and Guitar Hero!!
There will hopefully be more games (L4D looks awesome) but I need to see who much this damn kitchen will end up costing me, flooring is nae cheap.
My experience with GAME preorders is generally negative, usually late, arrives on a saturday or even the monday. If there is deals or whatever, like the GTA 4 preorder deal, it was meant to have free Microsoft Points and gamer pics, they're usually absent and once you query it they ignore your emails. Whoever sells it cheaper will get my cash.
i remember reading about this thing in fable 2 where you'd pay a merchant in a stall on a roadside, and then the merchant would build a house there and then that house would develop into a town. is that a big fat juicy lie? this was said by molyneux mid-way through development so id says it a lie but please reply
I've been playing for 2 days now (early delivery) and have 18 achievements. The game is fantastic. Mostly. Funny as hell, and the dog is bloody brilliant. Took a while to get used to not having a mana bar this time, but that ultimately means one less thing to micro-manage.
There are SERIOUS performance issues though, massive and frequent slowdown for one. I would venture to say it is in fact bugged to hell in that respect. And that isn't just in the game itself, that happens often in the menus too. The menus. Within them, and transitioning to and from. I've been left with the distinct impression the playtesters may have been visually impaired.
Voice cast is awesome. Zoe Wanamaker, Stephen Fry and Ron Glass (yes, Shepherd Book from Firefly Ron Glass).
Spoilers within:
- At least one character from the first game features heavily.
- As do certain places.
- On pretty much the first quest you're given, be sure to read the arrest warrants. Funny.
- Eat too many pies and the title "Salad Dodger" will become available for free.
- Deliberately getting divorced takes effort.
- Hobbes on stilts! o_o
- Katana, while exquisite looking, can f**k right off. They do sod all damage and leave you open to a good kicking. Axes are where it's at if you want to get stuck into enemies.
I'll be getting this within the next few months, when I have the bloody time to get stuck into it.
Still, who else was a little disappointed with 9.2? In this age of hype and over-rated games I was expecting Fable 2 to get closer to 10. Oh well, must be saving the big one for Gears 2.
Me - not at all. GTA IV was the last 10/10 game I played, and it was great, but I could never shake the feeling that it was the HYPE that was scored, not the game.
Reading this review, and seeing the end result score, I just don't get the same opinion.
I'm psyched with 9.2/10. My opinion is, any game of 9+ is going to be great. This falls into this bracket, so I'm a happy gamer. Or will be come the end of the week.
Really looking forward to co-oping through it with a mate too. That's gonna rock.
Yeah, must admit that I fell for the GTA4 hype, but at the same time a lot of people really enjoyed it.
Overall, I find reviews to be a confusing nightmare. I mean, if you look at Metacritic to judge a game, in my opinion it doesn't work. You have sites/magazines that give 9/10(90%) (for arguments sake) and then some that give 9.5/10(95%) - and then some may give the same game 3 out of 4(75%). Therefor, the averages don't work out properly in my view, unless everybody uses the same template for reviewing.
Regardless, 9.2 is still a mega score. Or is it? I'm confused. I'll just make up my own mind when I play it.
Does anyone know a game on Metacritic,which got terrible reviews but is worth a play through?
infinite undescovery. And kane and lynch wasn't half as bad as they said it was.
BeauBeau is happy to hear that Fable II is great. But he's still not buying the Collector's Edition.
Actually, does anyone buy Collector's Editions?
good luck even if you wanted to. I just had to go reound every gameshop in town to find the collectors edition. eventually fopund it in game. The seventh shop i went to.
I've been playing for 2 days now (early delivery) and have 18 achievements. The game is fantastic. Mostly. Funny as hell, and the dog is bloody brilliant. Took a while to get used to not having a mana bar this time, but that ultimately means one less thing to micro-manage.
There are SERIOUS performance issues though, massive and frequent slowdown for one. I would venture to say it is in fact bugged to hell in that respect. And that isn't just in the game itself, that happens often in the menus too. The menus. Within them, and transitioning to and from. I've been left with the distinct impression the playtesters may have been visually impaired.
Voice cast is awesome. Zoe Wanamaker, Stephen Fry and Ron Glass (yes, Shepherd Book from Firefly Ron Glass).
I completely agree with you on this one games absolutely fantastic! I played FarCry for about an hour and a half, the put Fable on. I played it from about 5pm to 11pm and loved every minute of it.
It isn't quite as free roaming as you're lead to expect. It is just a series of really pretty corridors populated spbottomly by bandits - well it is at the moment, for all the time I played it I've hardly done any of the missions.
This is where I would say the beauty of this game lies. I've played it for hours and I've done nothing but absolutely loved it! I've been in about 3 dungeons, chopped a ton of wood, made some swords, sewn my wild oats (2 wives and 2 children - no STDs WOO HOO!!), bought two houses and kicked hell out of a ton of bad guys as well as chickens.
The combat is so fluid! Swipe your sword about then as you deliver the final smashing blow, you spin round whip out your gun and blast another chap in the face whose standing about 15 feet away. Quick blast of lightning to another guy then a quick roll into a group of people followed up by casting a fire ring and burning the group of people now standing around you taking pot shots! Whole time your dogs taking bites out of people!
Sorry got caught up there, definately a great game.
I'm starting to hear about bugs and glitches that are game crippling,there's one that stops you from finishing the game,and I heard that in co-op your fixed to the same camera? not sure how true that is but it's off putting to say the least.
Also I thought it was a fully open world like oblivion but I heard it had lots of load points and a bit like zelda on the n64, with open towns and fairly straight forward paths to getting there.
I'm starting to hear about bugs and glitches that are game crippling,there's one that stops you from finishing the game,and I heard that in co-op your fixed to the same camera? not sure how true that is but it's off putting to say the least.
Also I thought it was a fully open world like oblivion but I heard it had lots of load points and a bit like zelda on the n64, with open towns and fairly straight forward paths to getting there.
I heard the bugs were to do with the co-op patch although there could be more. My impression from some reviews I read is that it is indeed not as open as Oblivion but more open than the first. As for straightforward paths is that because people are playing with the gold trail on? As for reading peoples comments who are actually playing the game (I don't have it) the majority are absolutely loving it.
I stand by PS3 and have no interest in Xbox but fable 2 is a game i would love to get my hands on. personally i think there would be a big market for this game as a PS3 addition.
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