Review: Fable 2

Choice, it’s something we all take for granted in real life, but how much choice do you usually get in a video game? Since their early life they have mostly been linear, simply passing from point A to B, one game that changed this (especially for console gamers) was the original Grand Theft Auto, sure you had missions to fulfil which were linear by design, but if you wanted to spend the next four hours stealing buses and trying to mow down Elvis impersonators that was your choice, and you wouldn’t be penalised for it.

Fable 2 is a game that gives you more choices than any other I have played, at its heart it is an RPG (Role Playing Game) and again like GTA it also has a linear backbone, which can be followed or ignored. You start the game as a child, probably about 9 years old (the gender of which is your choice) and you are taken through what most gamers will recognise as a tutorial section, showing you the bare minimum social interactions, control scheme and fighting techniques. After this short mission you and your sister spend your spoils on a magic music box, which attracts the attention of Lucien (The games main evil force), and ultimately ends with the demise of your sister, then the game cuts out and you awake as an adult, ready to get your revenge.

From this point onwards the game really opens up, and whilst your main quest is your primary goal there is so much to explore and do, the cities and villages are truly alive, featuring all manner of stores and people, what you do in these places is up to you totally, you can live a clean pacifist style life, getting a job and earning money to purchase items, or you can just steal them, one cool feature in the game is that you can buy literally any house or shop in the game, and once you own it you can choose to decorate, or simply rent it out to provide an income. Killing the current owners of the house drives the price down for you to buy it, but evil deeds have consequences such as the more evil you do your appearance changes, growing horns and horrid skin, not to mention the law will be interested in you and this will prevent you from doing jobs until your debt to society is paid.

I haven’t completed Fable 2 at the time of writing, nor do I think I will for some time, it’s not really one of those games I want to rush, I have been too busy seeing the effects my choices are having on the people around me, and the various places I can explore, there is a glowing trail leading me to my chosen goal, but it is often more rewarding to head off into the woods and have a look around with my trusted companion, seeing what new things and treasures we can find together. Speaking of man’s best friend he (or maybe she) is another fantastic addition to the game, as I wander around the world he warns me of danger, and alerts me to various treasure either in the form of a chest or a possible digging site, not to mention that he also gets involved in my fights, and he can be taught tricks and new abilities through the purchase/locating of various dog books. Another aspect that has stopped me getting too far into the game too soon has been the pursuit of women, trying to attract a mate, keep them happy, purchase a house, buy a ring, get married and reproducing have all taken their toll on my advancement in the game, but again I wouldn’t have had it any other way, again choice is abundant in the game, and I could have simply purchased a few books from town to learn a few chat up phrases and pursued any of the prostitutes knocking about in the city, which would have ended up with me gaining various STD’s, and losing some gold.

Fable 2 is an amazing game, I have never played an RPG so good, and I expect when I finally do finish it I will probably restart the game with maybe a different gender, or a different outlook on life to see what happens to the game and my character. Peter Molyneux the creative genius behind Fable 2, attached a letter to the review copy of the game asking that we let someone who is less experienced with video games play the title, and as I write this my wife is currently glued to the TV set playing the game, she has played a few games when she was younger, but I doubt if I had given her any other RPG that she would have stayed enthralled like she is now, at first she struggled with the control system a little, but is now quite eager to head into battle and cast various spells to get her experience points up, and is starting to catch me up a little, I just hope I get my Xbox back at some stage.

Overall
If I am honest I have never been that fascinated with Japanese RPG’s such as Final Fantasy, I find them quite boring and hard to become emotionally attached to the characters, not to mention the ridiculous amount of random fights that occur during game play, the last RPG I played was Oblivion: The Elder Scrolls, which is an amazing game, but is done in a very different way to this one, with the social interaction being far superior in Fable 2, if you have ever fancied trying out an RPG and are new to the genre, or have had a bad experience with the Final Fantasy series, try out Fable you will not be sorry!