Fable 2
Review
Superb RPG to keep you occupied for a very long time
by MarvellousG
reviewed on X360
Solid combat
But then, an RPG lives or dies by it’s combat system, so does Fable 2 have what it takes to topple the Oblivions and Final Fantasies of the gaming world? Well, mostly. It definitely has Oblivion beat when it comes to combat, but there’s not quite as much depth as you’ll find in most turn-based games. However, there’s still a lot to learn here, and with many different approaches to combat you can still fight the way you want to.
Combat is neatly mapped to three face buttons; X is your standard melee attack, B controls your spells and Y takes care of ranged combat. Each section has many intricacies, with enough experience really yielding worthy benefits as you unlock new abilities, such as being able to lock onto individual body parts with your ranged weapon, gaining new levels for your magic, or just powering up the swing of your sword. Basically, the combat is quite satisfying and feels quite meaty, but ultimately it’s a very solid system, if not a revolutionary one.
Going too far with emotion controls
Moving onto a system not quite as well implemented, we have the socialising aspect of the game, which is a big part of the gameplay. Pressing the RB button will bring up a wheel of different types of expressions, while selecting each will bring up up to eight different things you can do in front of, to or with each villager. So whether you want to fart in the mayor’s face, give your wife the finger or tell a prostitute to follow you back to your place, the expression wheel has got you covered.
Where the system loses ground, though, is the actual application of the expressions. Simply pressing the A button over one of them will trigger it, but doing something so simply isn’t going to make anybody fall madly in love with you any time soon. Holding down A, however, brings up a scale with an ever-decreasing target area in the middle. Hold down A until the target area turns green, and then try and let go when the marker is in the ‘sweet spot’- simply meaning the middle. For the first hour or so of the game it’s mildly fun, evoking memories of The Sims as you go. However, after a while it really begins to grate, to the point where you’ll wish you could just press A once for the same effect. Even if it’s only a small blemish on this great game, it’s a blemish all the same.
A lot to explore and experience
And you’ll probably be playing for long enough to get annoyed even with small blemishes. The game is enormous. Sure, you could probably bulldoze through the main quest in about ten hours, but that’s not how games like this are meant to be played. Take your time and do every side quest that pops up, buy every property you can, finish every job, find all of the legendary weapons, open all of the mysterious demon doors and get every achievement, and you’re looking at at least fifty hours of gameplay here. And that’s just on one playthrough. With good and evil to toy with, choices to make each time, not to mention three different endings, and you’re looking at a whole lot to keep you shut in from the cold this holiday.
Superb fun
So yes, Fable 2 is fantastic. It’s much better than most were expecting from it, and is even good enough to rival the upcoming (probably released by the time you read this) Fallout 3, perhaps even bettering it. You can look now, Peter Molyneux; your game is superb.
9.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time
