YOU WIN: Fable II

I recently had a go with Fable II. And by a go I mean I got addicted to the game, and did as much as I could while I had it in my possession.

Fable II takes place a decent amount of time after the events of the first Fable. In the age of Fable II the time of heroes has ended. "Heroes" are practically extinct. You (either male or female) and your older sister are homeless on the streets of Albion, trying to get by. You come across a magical item that allows you one wish, which you are convinced to purchase by Teresa, a mysterious blind woman who says that magic still exists. Your sister wishes the two of you could live in a magnificent castle, like the one Lord Lucien lives in on the other side of Albion. Upon making the wish, the music box explodes, ending your hopes and dreams; until some guards come and tell you Lord Lucien would like a word.

At the castle, Lord Lucien reveals that you and your sister are Heroes, similar to those in history. He also reveals one of you will be Luciens undoing in the future, although he is not sure which. To avoid this, he shoots your sister and shoots you out of a window, where Teresa finds you battered, but alive.

It's here that your adventure in Fable begins.

Fable is reminiscent of old fairy tales, and at first glance this can appear slightly childish and off putting in terms of what the hardcore gamer may be looking for. But as you progress in the game you see that these fairy tales are much more similar to the Grimm tales; darker. One of the first caves you enter has dealing with a man who has been taken by Hobbes, fat impish creatures of a sort of goblin design. The tales say that children taken by the Hobbes will turn into one...which is what happened to the mans son. This reflects the darker nature that the game may take, and the moral choices that you will face and affect your character.

The combat system isn't deep, it's slightly hack and slash but a bit more balanced. The best thing about it is that it doesn't grow old. You don't level your character in this game, rather you level your combat and Will (magic) skills using Orbs you collect from your fallen enemies, each color orb corresponding to a certain combat skill (Will, Melee and Ranged). Attacks are executed with ease, the controls mapped exceptionally well, and as you level your Melee and Ranged attacks the more things you can do with your weapons, for instance once leveled you can use a zoom feature with ranged weapons and eventually free-aim. Getting head-shots wipes your enemies out much faster than aiming at the body.

There are many weapons available to buy, and you can "augment" them as well granting them special abilities, usually at a price depending on the augment. Some of the cooler, more interesting weapons come from the Knothole Island DLC. I spent half the game using an electric guitar like an Axe, which is pretty metal and extremely enjoyable to swing at enemies. I did however want more of the unique weapons, as well as the desire to craft my own weapons

You do have a quest log, and many quests will remain in your quest log as there are usually many different parts to the quest. Unfortunately, the number of quests seems low which may or may not impact your feeling toward the game. I myself was hoping for a bit more.

There is also an economy system in place. Do good things for Albion, like taking jobs and killing off bandits will help the economy flourish. Doing evil things usually sends it spiraling a little bit. You are able to purchase pretty much every building and place of business. One of the achievements includes purchasing a castle, which is about a million gold. I'd urge you to take some jobs and buy up as many buisnesses as you can.

The soundtrack in this game is one of the best things about it. It feels very melancholy at times, and it works well with the style and lore of the game. The title/menu screen music is both alluring and lulling. It truly is a beautiful piece of music, as you may find yourself soothed, even relaxed. If you're like me your mind will tumble through it's own universes as it plays, but that's just kind of mindset I seek in my daily life, so thats perfectly fine for me.

There are a few things about this game that needed improvement. I haven't played an evil character yet, but it felt like your character couldn't really "change" much, which is sort of what this game advertises. I wanted this system where, If i did a very specific thing, then a very specific consequence would happen to my body. Like say specifically, you sacrifice enough people at the dark temple, you grow horns. Lure people out of town and kill them in a remote area and your eyes start glowing red. I wanted more "morph" mechanics.

I also found that the wardrobe and hairstyles were lacking. I pretty much wore two outfits the entire game which I found to be kind of lame because I wasn't attached to any of the outfits in the first place. There just simply weren't enough of them.

As I stated before, I wish that there were more quests. But you can only level your skills to a certain point, so the game is kind of justified in not having more quests than it does, and any quests you really need you can just get from the DLC, which is enjoyable.

The story isn't exactly what you'd call original, but it's ok. Most of the time you won't really even care that much about the story, as it takes a back seat to the gameplay which is where the cake is at.

Fable still has a lot of things to work on, but the things it needs to improve aren't horrible. While playing you feel that the game is very wide and broad. The series really has the potential to be something truly great as the technology, ideas and concepts continue evolve. Peter Molyneux seems very faithful to his creation, and I believe he will work to the best of his abilities to make Fable III something truly remarkable.

Fable II shot for incredible; it didn't quite make it that far, but it did make it to excellent. Which is why Fable II wins.