Hero?
When Fable 2 was first announced I had no interest in the game until I began to talk to one of my friends who was a Fable obsessive. Anyway the first game sounded like a lot of fun and as I looked at Fable 2 I decided I was going to take a bit of a gamble and give it a try.
Fable 2 starts you out as little boy who just seems to be called little sparrow either way you start out with a few small quests that not only introduce you to the world but also help you shape it in some pretty drastic ways. This childhood section is extremely short but serves its purpose well. You then get thrown into the story and adulthood. The story itself is one of the weak parts of the game however it gives the game a bit of a purpose which I felt it lacks throughout.
You're then thrown out into the big wide world and Fable's world is rich with colour and character. Everybody you meet is interesting and a lot of the dialogue is well written and often hilarious. You can get a job and earn money, buy realestate, get married, have kids or join dark cults, kill inoccents, hire prostitutes, steal. Its all great and you could spend hours of gameplay just living out your life.
As you do all of this your character evolves I was playing as an evil character and so I was hidiously scarred and grew some lovely horns. If your good on the other hand an angelic halo. The characters in the world will also react differently to you depending on how good or bad you are. After I slaughtered a village for example many people screamed and ran away whereas men tended to threaten me and guards arresting me. This really gives a weight to your actions and for someone like me sometimes it felt difficult to do these evil things and I was kind of annoyed I didnt get to keep my pristine looks.
When exploring the world and completing the story you meet a few nasties along the way that you have to take care of. Combat in Fable 2 is split into 3 different areas as is your characters stats. Strength; this is basically swordplay which you control using the X button it is simply button mashing but you can hold down to increase the strength of your attack. Skill; this is shooting dudes which is done with the Y button and plays the same as swords really. Will; This is magic and involves you upgrading different spells to different levels and then charging up your spell with B means you slowly build up to the more powerful attacks. Combat is extremely simple in fable 2 but works well and with practise you can really master it. When you kill enemies they leave experience orbs which can then be used to upgrade your abilities. The character creation isnt as in depth as I expected meaning as you get more good or evil your appearance gets more generic.
I thoroughly enjoyed playing Fable 2 however the story is shallow considering I remember Peter Molyneux saying it would make me cry. The world is extremely artistic but technically not graphically stunning and the games functionality means your never quite as in control of you path as you would like. I recommend Fable 2 to anyone who wants a fun RPG and the rich vibrant world makes it easy to see past its floors.
