REVIEW
Fable II
By Kate - November 15th, 2008
I’ve been in the spire ten years. Ten years during which I witnessed and was forced, sadly, to commit some horrible acts. Bruised and worn with a new haircut and makeover, I’ve returned to my devoted husband and the nine-year-old child who has never known me. My husband is pleased to see me. After he introduces me to our child, I take him to the bedroom of our cottage and make love to him. During this he nervously asks, “What did they do to you in there?” He also assures me that he will love me whatever I look like but then points out that even I have to admit that right now I don’t look that great. I guess ten years in the spire has left me more scarred than I thought. With a comment like that I guess he didn’t really deserve the emerald I just gave him.
Born into a medieval world and orphaned, the young protagonist grows up and, with her loyal dog at her side and under the guidance of a gypsy witch, she sets out upon a quest to unite three heroes and fulfill her destiny. A fairly straightforward premise enriched by a level of interaction I can’t remember ever experiencing on the Xbox before.
Choices and repercussions are a fascinating and major aspect of Fable II. A lot of the marketing push has been about how your character transforms in the game and this is impressive. For a game that is ostensibly quest- and accomplishment-based, there is an unusual level of attention paid to the appearance of your hero. You can decide your hero’s facial hair, make-up, clothing, and hairstyle “Oh, that mullet really suits you.” These are largely customizable due to the number of dyes available to be bought or found. Also playing a role in your appearance is your battle ability as, instead of a traditional “death” in the game, your character passes-out and awakes with fresh battle scars that diminish how attractive the villagers find you. Sure, people might respect a pure-of-heart hero with a face full of shrapnel but will they fuck her? Well, the weirdoes still will, obviously.
It isn’t just battle scars that can affect your luscious looks but also your actions. Kill loads of people; be a crappy landlord; eat live, cute, little baby chicks; and fornicate with everyone—everywhere—and you’ll get yourself some horns and a terrifying reputation that keeps villagers either ten feet away or close enough to say something cheeky. Cheeky enough for you to slap them. To death. Be nice to the kiddies, save some slaves, and go vegan; chances are you’ll find yourself with a halo that your stalker-ish legion of fans will be willing to polish.
There is something equally absorbing about the way the world of Albion changes based upon your actions. How you use your power and whom you align yourself with can mean that towns either develop into bustling marketplaces sound-tracked with lute-song and laughter or that they degrade into feudal San-Andreases.
I played the game as a good girl. Apart from kicking the odd chicken and slapping wenches when it pleased me, my time in Albion was spent giving kiddies autographs, playing fetch with my dog, freeing slaves, offing Hobbes, and eating the best tofu money could buy. Although I was rewarded with store discounts, suitors, and a booming economy the game designers didn’t make my road to virtue an easy one. Aside from the threat of shitting yourself when you are attempting to amuse your son with some classic loud flatulence, Fable II also tempts personal disaster with the titillating possibility of bigamist or extra-marital relations, steak dinners, and more. The game also sets-up some pretty hard quest decisions culminating in an end of game choice that was harder than anything I have faced in a video game before. Choosing the right thing was often the hardest thing to do. I don’t want to give anything away but I cried at the end of the main quest and if you choose what I chose without swallowing back a tear then you have either never owned a dog or are just a bit of a bastard.
Fable II is a game that it is easy to get lost in. Not geographically: the useful “golden breadcrumb” trail always keeps goals and locations in order. Figuratively though, you can get lost in Fable II, spending hours longer than intended exploring the game-world. Lionhead have done a splendid job of giving players a game in which exist numerous fuck-around opportunities with a multitude of mini-quests and mini-mini-quests if you decide to find all of the Demon Doors, buy up all of Bloodstone, or find just the right shade of blue dye for your warrior hot pants. All of these hours spent on side quests add greater gravitas to the main goals.
Gameplay is fluid but nothing extraordinary. Admittedly, I have never played Fable so have no reference for comparison, but in its own right, the targeting mechanism works simply and well as does the spell-casting tool. The ability to access the menu screen mid-battle was also a godsend when things got a bit scary/stressful and I needed another sip of tea. . . I mean when I needed to tactically rearrange my spell caster. Skills are developed through accumulation of experience points or won by slaying opponents or drinking potions and can be used to equip your hero with whatever area of expertise you feel most fitting: either strength, skill, or will (get those zombie-crack veins a-glowing). My only complaint would be with the use of the D-pad to direct expressions. Sometimes the pad was too sensitive or didn’t seem to register at all, leading to some unintended altercations among villagers and guards.
There is a pretty marvelous glut of good games on the Xbox right now and I think that Fable II is probably my favourite. Even if I find a puppy to follow me in Gears of War 2 I doubt it will be as good. Running though landscapes, decapitating bandits, and smashing hollow-men (not invisible Kevin Bacons) was a great deal of fun and something I’m sad to have exhausted.
