Fable II

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Fable II
Tweet Topic Started: Jan 21 2009, 04:03 PM (192 Views)
Analysis	Jan 21 2009, 04:03 PM Post #1
Birdo Posts: 1,205 Group: Birdo Member #5,289 Joined: October 23, 2007	Developer: Lionhead Studios Platforms: Xbox 360 Genre: Action RPG Release Date: October 21 2008 Intro: Fable II is the sequel of the award winning Fable on the PC and Xbox, which is basically an adventure game with an RPG element to it, those who played Mass Effect or Fallout 3 will get what I'm saying. Fable II is set around 500 years after the events of the first Fable game. The game is set in 'Albion', and the game starts in Bowerstone Old Town, where a lovely looking cutscene triggers, unfortunately the visuals doesn't look nearly as good as this. The camera follows a bird, flying through Bowerstone, resting on a tower, only to have a dump which lands on your hero, who is referred to as 'Little Sparrow'. Thats just lovely, a nice cutscene is spoiled by some pathetic humor, I don't know what gave Lionhead the inspiration to do that. You can choose from a male or female child as a start to your epic quest, after a few lines of chit-chat, you and your older sister Rose set off into Bowerstone streets. You run into a merchant who happens to be selling magic objects, where you will run into Theresa, who is a blind hooded figure who convinces you and you sister that magic could be real, and soon enough you'll be convinced to purchase a magic box off the merchant. The only letdown is that the pair of you are bums, you have no cash, no living, nothing! So you can't buy the box right now, so you need to go around performing errands for villagers on the streets. After you acquire 5 gold pieces you purchase the magic box and you stroll all the way to the other end of the street to make a wish. Later that night, you are guided into 'Castle Fairfax', where the mayor, 'Lord Lucien' lives. By the looks of it, that was the wish your sister makes. After some random advice from the butler of the castle, you are led into Lucien's study. And this where the plot twists, after performing a sort of 'test', he realises that one of you is the fourth hero of Albion, and the two get shot, but... you survive what seems to be a 100 foot fall to the ground. You are found a nursed back to health by Theresa, and ten years later, you are ready to embark on your quest to avenge the death of your sister. Sorry if I wasted 2 minutes describing the intro, but it was just to get you interested. Gameplay: First, I'll start with the combat, which isn't very advanced at first. Combat varies from magic, melee and ranged. Seeing as this game is based 500 years after the first game, gunpowder has been invented, so you can use rifles and pistols. Crossbows are there, but don't don't provide much power, but is worth trying out if you prefer accuracy. As you gain XP, you can upgrade your ranged skills, such as accuracy, new skills, etc. Melee weapons consist of maces, swords, axes and hammers. You can block by pressing and holding X, and when you actually feel like kicking the crap out of a few highwaymen, you can start slashing the hell out of them by, again, using the X button. Combos are limited, but quickly snuffing enemies will gain you more XP, which can be used to enhance your speed, toughness and strength skills. After a while, you can start using flourishes, which can be used by holding X and quickly pushing the analogue stick in the direction you want to swing, then release the button. Flourish attacks inflict heavy amounts of damage and can break through blocking enemies, but they are marred by a small amount of recoil after the hit, making it hard to perform another one without get slashed by remaining enemies. And then theres magic, which can be leveled up with XP you gain, you start off with inferno, but after you level up a bit, you can start unleashing some pretty powerful spells, some can easily turn the tide of a battle. By holding down the B button on the spell you selected, it will start to charge up, but charging up depends on the level of your selected spell. And once its released, it unleashes a powerful burst of energy that surrounds you and blasts any enemies caught in it into oblivion. Tapping B quickly casts the spell on a nearby enemy. You can roam about Albion as much as you want, you can teleport to different regions in Albion quickly (once they have been discovered) and theres the odd dungeon and puzzle that awaits you, but don't expect much of a challenge. This game is rather easy at times, puzzles are obvious, bosses are easier and the lack of the ability to dies fails to make the battles intense. Instead, when you run out of health, you fall to the ground, sprout a scar, lose XP and thats it. After a slow motion sequence, your health bar fills back up and you're ready to start kicking teeth in again. Just like any RPG, you will need to visit the odd town in order to stock up on weapons, and if you don't have any cash you can sign up for job. Jobs involve quick and easy minigames which require timing and balance, do well and cash will start to roll in. You can purchase property in Albion, its expensive but brings in profit every five minutes, even when you aren't playing Fable. o.o The intriguing thing about this game is that you can actually marry and have children, but families need upkeep and will have to be visited frequently, so it won't come cheap. But families do provide benefits. I nearly forgot to mention that around the start of the game will receive a mutt as a companion, your dog can be useful for entertaining crowds, finding treasure and dig spots, and sometimes in combat. Performing evil and good deeds will affect your renown, appearance and your companion. Visuals: Nothing much here, its pretty plain if you ask me, you could easily mistake it for a PS2 game if you aren't playing in HD, the only good looking parts of the game is the level design and the gorgeous lush. Its far from jaw-dropping. Sounds: The SFX is impressive, I love the shockwave sounds made after casting a spell, the clanking metal after using a flourish attack, etc. Its pretty realistic and lovely when you have the volume on your TV high. Online: The online is fucking dreadful, there are leaderboards and an MMO style option which allows you to see other online players in your area. But all this is marred by the crappy co-op, you can invite a friend to your world at any time, but both characters are restricted to the same camera, so navigation is shit. The invited player cannot use his own character and gold/XP has to be shared, why couldn't XP earned be duplicated and then cut in half rather than cutting the original amount in half? Nobody wins, not online anyways. The Good: A huge world to explore Loads of quests Great replay value Fun combat The Bad: The online is shit Its kinda short for an RPG. (30 hours) Not much better than the original. Overall: 8.7 Great Edited by Analysis, Jan 21 2009, 04:05 PM.
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Vasioth	Jan 21 2009, 04:08 PM Post #2
Chemical Warfare Posts: 238 Group: King Dedede Member #11,567 Joined: December 31, 2008	Fable 1.5 wasn't that great to be honest. It was created by Peter Moloneuxs team - Black&White was probably a point when to realise they couldn't make good games. Fable 2 is just an upgrade of Fable which doesn't make it that much... new-er-er... And as Yahtzee said, "why the hell can't you marry your dog?" Actually everything he said about the game seems just about right... Nice review though thumbs up Edited by Vasioth, Jan 21 2009, 04:09 PM.



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