Review: Fable 2

Fable 2: a continuation and expansion on a fantastic concept that is unfortunately still not quite there.

Now, don't get me wrong, I've not been able to put Fable 2 down since I started playing it. The game opens up with a fantastic intro as well as a decent tutorial phase and contains all the bells and whistles of what made Fable great. However, that is just it, Fable 2 is an enhanced and improved version of Fable. Even the storyline feels like an enhanced or retooled version of the storyline of Fable. However, the game itself is not only solid, but fun. It's just it is a slightly retooled fun introduced in Fable that still doesn't seem to meet the dynamic character growth Lionhead Studios claimed it wanted to construct.

Good and Evil still exist and perhaps the best enhancement is that killing monsters doesn't provide "good" points any longer to make being evil nearly impossible. However, the quests don't provide a "choice" that brings dynamic character development to the table. The choices are all clearly good/evil. There are very few, if any, absolutely neutral choices either ending the illusion of character development rather swiftly.

There is now a pure/corrupt feature that has something to do with the way your character looks, however it is fairly arbitrary and quite often the player will be completely pure without any difficulty whatsoever. The easiest ways to be corrupt, with little benefit or detriment to show for it, is to either eat meat and drink alcohol, or to tax the life out of any tenants you have for the buildings you own. However, the system feels completely unnecessary to gameplay is it adds virtually nothing to the game other than an additional bar that depicts a minor aspect of the way your character's "alignment" is.

The combat system remains very similar to that of the original Fable, but there are a few tweaks in the system that change up the score. Will powers are now charged up over time. This change eliminated "mana" completely and makes the health bar even more important as the player cannot move, or dodge blows making each spell-cast a significant tactical consideration. I find this to be an odd way to treat a possible combat system. Will users are always faced with the difficult decision of fighting with their spells or running away because the enemies will chew them to pieces while they try to cast a spell. While there are ways to make Will more viable, they are all late game options making Will less fun to play early in the game.

The player is granted one significant improvement to gameplay over that of Fable, you have a companion that isn't out to get you the entire time: your dog. Personally, I found the dog to be one of the best, if not the best feature implemented into the game. Not only does he provide useful functions like helping you with quests and finding buried treasure, but his animations and actions feel so right that it almost feels like you actually have a dog there cheering you on to play the game.

This actually leads me to the end of the game. While satisfying to play to completion, the game's ending is so entirely lackluster that it was completely anti-climactic. Then you are confronted with a choice: sacrifice, love, or greed. Each has its own rewards, but the primary problem is the player only gets one dog, ever. In the final sequence, the player loses their dog to narrative delivery and the only way to get him back is to choose the "love" option. Good or evil in character alignment, having your dog is such a compelling reward that choosing this option feels mandatory since the rewards for the other two choices mean very little.

Choosing sacrifice awards your character with a trophy and a statue in the city. No benefits to continuing gameplay. Choosing greed gives your character money. Money that they will sink into real estate and earn all back in a day or less, making it pointless as well. Killing the dog end the entirety of an aspect of gameplay. There is nothing like having your dog around. He fights enemies with you, finds you treasure, and is an incredibly important game mechanic.

That said, Fable 2 is still incredibly fun. There are little niche aspects to gameplay that provide plenty of amusement and challenges. However, it is the same fun as Fable, with only a few new twists to spice things up. If you liked Fable, you'll like Fable 2. If you like playing a 3rd person hack and slash, shoot 'em up, and magic using adventure RPG, you'll like Fable 2. If you like watching a digital dog walk up and pee on someone you Pointed and Laughed at in the game, then you'll like Fable 2. Just don't look for anything groundbreaking about it other than the dog.