http://www.gamezine.co.uk/previews/game-types/role-playing/first-look-fable-ii-$1232370.htm
First Look: Fable II
While Fable was a very good game, it was a little too ambitious for its own good, and many of the promises that Peter Molyneux made for the game ended up being nixed (Funny how that happens with all of his games – cynical Ed).
Still, a sequel has been highly anticipated for a long time, perhaps due to hopefully seeing some revolutionary features that were promised for the first game.
In terms of story, all we know is that Fable II is set 500 years after the original, still in Albion, in an era where guns have been introduced (but are primitive) and the world is a lot more developed.
You’re looking at an Albion ten times larger than before, with 20 fully free-roaming regions and around 30 dungeons for your hero to explore. Said character can be male or female this time, by the way.
Foible
Talking about the land of Albion, it’s looking more impressive as new screenshots are released. Fable had the best graphics on any console, let alone the Xbox, and even put many PC games to shame.
Lionhead Studios looks set to make sure Fable II doesn’t just have us nodding our heads in appreciation, but have out jaws fall to the floor in amazement. You could say it’s like Oblivion but with better character models and without the repetitive scenery.
What you do in this beautiful world can change who you are, depending on whether these actions are ‘good’ or ‘bad’. While this is nothing new, it’s been expanded upon with corruption, purity, kindness, and cruelty all now major factors.
Corruption and purity are social aspects, while there are no prizes for guessing what kindness and cruelty involve. The social and behavioural aspects are not tied down, so you can be evil, but somehow still popular (Like the Conservative Party – socialist Ed).
Furball
Of course, to make a dramatic impact on this world, you’ll have to do some adventuring and, sooner or later, you’re going to be fighting.
There are various types of weapons to be had: guns, axes, swords, hammers, crossbows, staves and maces. The more you use a weapon, the more proficient you become and thus unlock skills and combos. Pretty much like you do in the Elder Scrolls games, then.
For example, using a gun a lot will enable you to aim better thanks to a handy crosshair.
Three buttons are used for combat; melee is assigned to the X button, ranged attacks are initiated with the Y button, and magic spells are unleashed with the B button.
While that may sound rather simplistic, different melee moves are used depending on your character’s location, and to make it more dynamic, flourishes will be shown at different angles. Also, when you execute a finishing move, time will slow down.
Your character can also use the environment to his advantage and it’s been shown that you can even get into a barroom brawl, which is quite interesting.
Overall, to help you fight, there will be 100 augmentable weapons and eight basic spell types that can be upgraded to give you up to 80 spells.
Don’t expect the hero to be fighting alone, for he has a trusty companion – his dog. The beast is governed by three main conditions that it must satisfy: do not irritate the player, unconditionally love the player and keep itself alive where possible.
Before you ask, it is not some kind of robo-dog; instead, the conditions are there to make sure the dog does not get in the way unnecessarily, since it will be travelling with you throughout the journey.
Each canine will morph in different ways depending on your alignment and other factors. If you’re evil, expect a big, scary-ass dog, while if you’re good, it will be more innocent looking (but just as deadly).
The dog is trainable, to an extent, by using emoticons, and you can play around with it too, making it fetch things or play with toys, for example.
Its behaviour also depends on your action and situation; if you run, it will run. If you’re hurt, it will stay closer to you. If you’re inside a shop, it will wait outside and so on.
The creature is not just there for novelty value, as it will help out in various ways. It can alert players to enemies nearby, it attacks the enemy the player is most vulnerable to and it will go after the nearest enemy the player is not attacking.
Fir Pool
Even with the advantages you have in combat, there may be a time when your hero kicks the bucket and you have to restart, except, since this isn’t your typical RPG, that’s not going to happen.
Instead, your hero will, in exchange for experience points, be given a “burst of energy” allowing him to rise up, knock surrounding enemies away and carry on. No restarting, just simple carrying on (that sounds worryingly bad - Ed).
A hero’s life isn’t all looting, pillaging and hacking enemies to bits – it also involves raising a family. This aspect of the first game is improved in Fable II - your hero can have protected and unprotected sex, with the latter seeing the wife get pregnant.
This also goes for players whose hero is female, by the way. Can a pregnant woman battle the hordes of evil? In Fable II, she can. Will this have an effect on character stats? We don’t know yet.
Oh, and for those wondering, same-sex marriages are possible in Fable 2, just like in the first one.
Finally, if you’re sick of adventuring on your own, you can just boot up the co-op mode, in which you can drop in and out of other player’s games.
The host sets the rules, such as how much loot each player gets and whether friendly fire is on. The latter is very important - if it is enabled, it allows you to attack anyone, including the host’s family. Any NPC that is killed will not be revived. We suspect this will virtually never be turned on, incidentally.
Fable II has the makings to be one of best games on any current generation console, let alone the Xbox 360.
While there is always the chance it may end up disappointing again, one can’t help but be excited at the prospect of Fable II delivering (no pun on the pregnant hero characters here, we promise).
Its October release date means it won’t be long before we find out.
Gabriel May
Starcraft's thoughts:
Overwhelmingly positive. My one concern reading this was that combat mightn't be great, but I just saw the 1UP preview and they reckon it's supreme.
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