Fable II Reviews

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Written by BuckGB on November 15th, 2008

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Early in the game, evil deeds are committed at the whim of the player, with little clarification for your character's motivations. Late in the game, you no longer need justification. With every evil act I commit, my appearance grows more hideous. Horns have sprouted from my head and men, women, and children run in fear whenever I walk into town, making human interaction nearly impossible. My devilish persona is hated, and I grow increasingly impatient with the citizens of Albion, opting to kill my way through the population rather than garner their favor to earn gifts.

Moral decisions in Fable II are simplified, offering an obvious dichotomy of pure good and pure evil. Offering little rationalization for your misdeeds, vile behavior justifies itself. Pernicious behavior is fun but often insincere.

The combat is noticibly improved over the original. Fable II introduces ranged weapons and an all-new magic system. As you level up your magic abilities, it increases the number of spells you can cast. It's not complicated in the least, as the spell you cast is directly based on how long you hold in the B button. Tap it and you'll use the weakest spell. Hold it and you'll access increasingly powerful spells depending on how long the button is pressed. Making this even better is the fact that there are no "magic points" or limit to your spellcasting.

Man's best friend is the one addition to the game that Molyneux was willing to discuss at length in the months leading up to Fable II's release. The way things work is that early in your quest, you'll find a stray pooch who then stays by your side for the remainder of the plot. He's not just decorative, either. As you work through the numerous environments, you'll watch as he goes running off the path to a suspicious group of ferns, or a likely spot of soil or an enticing garden. He'll start sniffing around and pawing at the surface, at which point you can dig to find items. Similarly, your lovable mutt will aid in combat, growing stronger as you battle more foes. He might even pounce on them while they're down, a helpful action when combat grows particularly fierce.

While the lack of exploration is a problem, what really plagues Fable II are the devastating, game-ending glitches. The most common bug occurs if you cut short a conversation with one of the NPCs. If you make that simple mistake, it will be impossible to continue the game's main plot. There are other glitches like it; many of them without known causes. The bugs are all the more unforgivable considering the game's archaic save system, which only allows you a single save slot for each character. You cannot even copy your save to a memory card. This is an unfortunate design choice in a game that encourages you to experiment and make hard decisions. But it is absolutely unacceptable in a title that's also full of glitches. If you "activate" a glitch and the auto save kicks in, you have no choice but to start over from scratch.

If you're able to play through the game without incident, you'll find an experience that is riddled with other minor flaws and shortcomings, but is ultimately satisfying. Most of the story and characters are well-written and well-acted. The character models, animations, cut scenes, and environments are all beautifully designed and implemented. The sound is crisp and artistically chosen - with the possible exception of all those nagging townsfolk who ask you for a wedding ring day and night.

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