Fable II

Fable II is a video game that consists of 10 releases

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Fable II keeps you thoroughly entertained whether you're saving the world or unraveling it.

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An action-oriented role-playing game set 500 years after the original Fable, this sequel starts players out in the role of a street urchin destined for greatness. Choose to become a brave knight or treacherous rogue, each decision affecting your ultimate outcome.

Overview

Set in the land of Albion 500 years after the original game's story, the player once again begins the game as a hero whose development is governed entirely by his or her actions.Unlike in the original Fable, the player can choose to be female this time around, and the character will further change based on many personality traits such as cruelty, kindness, faith, and corruption. The whole point of Fable II is to provide the player with a living, breathing world which changes dynamically as the character and events in the story occur, meaning that the player's actions will have a direct effect on the world, and the world will have an effect on the character. Players can have families now, children which will look up to the player as a moral and stylistic compass, or have protected sex.

Bowerstone in Fable II

The world of Albion is estimated to be roughly ten times as large as the first game, including many more available items, armor, and weapons for the player to collect, along with new tattoos and haircuts.While being similar to this first game in most regards combat has been changed specifically to simplify and streamline the gameplay, putting all melee specific combat entirely on the X button. The various attacks and actions of the player will change depending on the location and situation in question, and the combat style will also change depending on whether or not the player is using a ranged or melee weapon. Additionally, the player will have a dog companion throughout the game, who will adapt and change as the character grows, have a personality all its own, will not be directly controllable other than through simple commands, and will assist the player during combat.

Story

Peter Molynuex and the team at Lionhead professed a desire to "tell one of the best video game stories ever told" in Fable II; whether or not he succeeded is a matter of debate.

The story in Fable II deals with the Hero's hunt for Lord Lucien. As a child, you and your sister will buy a magic box from a traveling salesman, who claims this magic box will grant your wish. Your sister wishes to go live in a castle, like Castle Fairax, where Lord Lucien lives. Later that night, guards from the castle come take you to see Lord Lucien, who is hunting for Heroes. He asks you and your sister to step into a glowing circle, which he uses to analyze your magic abilities. Lucien determines that you are both Heroes, but not the ones he is after. He takes out a pistol and shoots your sister in cold blood, then turns the gun on you and pulls the trigger. Your body is blasted out the window of Castle Fairfax, down into the streets of Bowerstone below. Somehow, you survive the fall and are rescued by a blind seeress named Theresa.. Lucien vanishes from his castle that night.

The game picks up ten years later in a Gypsy camp. Theresa sends the hero on a journey to the destroyed Heroes Guild, where he or she learns to channel Will powers. After conquering the guild, the hero is sent to Bowerstone, but discovers the road is blocked due to bandit activity. The hero takes a short detour to the nearby bandit camp of Thag the Impatient, and kills him, allowing the road to Bowerstone to be opened.

After arriving in Bowerstone, the hero explores the city for a short while, then meets Theresa in the town square. Theresa walks him or her through Bowerstone, conveying the ramifications of the fledgling hero's choices. Theresa tells the hero of the Tattered Spire, an ancient Old Kingdom Artifact powered by Will, that is strong enough to bend reality to the user's wish. Lucien has set about rebuilding the Tattered Spire, but to do so he will need to collect three legendary Heroes: The Hero of Strength, the Hero of Will, and the Hero of Skill. Theresa says that the hero must beat Lucien to securing the allegiance of these three warriors, and sends the hero to Oakfield, where she believes one of the three to be.

The Hero sets out on the road to Oakfield, but discovers that the bridge connecting Bowerstone to Oakfield has been destroyed by bandits. Seeing no other alternative, the Hero dives into the river below. After swimming to a nearby shore, the hero enters a cave infested with Hobbes. After traversing the passage, the Hero heads to Oakfield, where he or she meets the abbot at The Temple of Light. The abbot asks the hero to earn some more renown, by taking care of a bandit problem in nearby Rookridge. After disposing of the thugs, the hero is hired to ensure the success of a ritual that is about to begin in a nearby cave. The hero agrees to protect the abbot's daughter, Hannah, as she enters a sacred cave to retrieve water for the holy golden Oak.

Inside the cave, the pair is attacked by Hollow Men. The Hero fights off the Hollow Men and continues to escort Hammer. Momentarily after collecting the holy water, a monk from the Temple of Light arrives and tells Hammer that her father, the abbot, is being held hostage by one of Lucien's men. Hammer rushes out of the cave, followed by the Hero. As the Hero is ascending the path to the Temple of Light, a shot rings out as Lucien's assassin shoots the abbot. The Hero arrives just in time to see hammer rip a hammer out of a nearby statue and crush the assassin with it. The game skips ahead to the abbot's funeral where Hammer is mourning. There's a teleport to the funeral, after the monks and priests leave, and recruits Hammer for the cause, with her wily words. Theresa teleports Hammer back to the Heroes Guild and briefs her on the situation, while the Hero wraps up business in Oakfield and the surrounding areas.

The Hero returns to the guild, and is informed by Theresa of their next task. They need to obtain Lucien's diary, from his former butler Jeeves, who the player met as a child. The Hero goes to the Cow and Corset bar in Bowerstone, where they pay Jeeves 1,000 gold for a map to Lucien's diary. The hero follows the map and digs up Lucien's diary, after defeating a troll.

Gameplay

Fable II innovates on many different points from the original Fable and adds lots of new features.

The man's best friend finds its role in our Hero's adventures.

Dog

One of the most notable changes is the removal of the player's HUD. To complement that, the player will be assisted by a dog that can perform certain tasks in order to help the player get through the game. Everyone's dog will be unique thanks to different factors, such as the the alignment and fame of the player.

The AI of the dog has been worked out extensively, holding on to three main 'rules': The dog may never irritate the player, must always, unconditionally, love the player and be self-preserved. The dog's behavior is specific to the situation the player is in: If the player is hurt, the dog will stay closer, as well as in towns. If the player goes into a shop, the dog will wait outside.

The dog is trainable as well when using various expressions, giving the option to reward or punish the dog after certain actions and hiding it's toys, to allow it to find it later on in the game. The dog can perform many more tasks, such as pointing out to enemies, before they can spot the player, thus replacing the mini-map from Fable. The dog will also spot treasures if there are any nearby. The dog also helps in combat, attacking the most dangerous enemy that is facing the player.

Death

In Developer Diary Episode 6, it was announced that Death will not be permanent in the game. In fact, they have created a new system, that is supposed to prevent frustration and allow players to continue playing. When the player's health is depleted, the player can be revived, jump up and fight as if in a last heroic stand, dealing more damage, at the expense of an undermined amount of experience, gold, or in the form of scars on the player. Bosses will have the ability to leave more damaging scars on players than normal enemies. The scars resulting from these battles can elicit negative reactions from townsfolk and travelers in the world of Albion.

Family

Family is another important aspect of Fable II. The player will be able to engage in various activities in order to get someone to like them enough to marry. You can also engage in various activities including same-sex marriage and polygamy. If you or your wife are not satisfied with each other either spouse can initiate a divorce. If you become divorced or widowed then your children get taken away by social services. By visting your family often you will keep them happy and may even receive gifts from your wife once in a while.

Choice

Like a true RPG, Fable II offers many different choices the player can make, in order to affect the game and its gameplay:

Combat

Melee with swords, axes, and hammers
Ranged with guns and crossbows
Magic with physical or surround spells

You choose your path.

Look

Clothing- Dress or Overcoat?
Hairstyle- Bald or Warrior Stripe?
Food choices- Healthy veggies or fatty meat?
Exercise choices- Are you gonna go do quests and work out, or just drink beer at the pub?

Lifestyle

Marriage- Will you marry a male or female?
Children- How many little ones?
Moral Choices- Good or evil?

Multiplayer

This time around, Fable II will feature online co-op, letting you and your friends to play through the whole story together. This feature will have no restrictions regarding the level at which your friend's hero needs to be in order to join your game. Unfortunately, the player joining the co-op will not be able to use his custom made hero, but rather a henchman of the same level. If you are starting a new game and have a friend who is at level 50, he can join you from the get go. Now, in order for the leveling up to be fair, the host will be able to choose how much experience, money, and renown his friend will receive in his game. Another new feature regarding co-op is that even if your not playing with a friend, you will still be able to see them in your world, but they will appear in the form of orbs instead of the hero themselves. Fable II will also have "couch" co-op to compliment the online co-op. Many Lionhead Members call it "Couch Co-Op" in reference to having a friend or family member sitting next to the player while both players embark on memorable adventures.

Limited Edition

On August 4th 2008, Fable II's Limited Edition was announced with a estimated retail price of $69.99. The following additional content was originally announced for the

Originally promised Limited Edition

LE:

A Bonus DVD including a Making-of featuring Peter Molyneux and the rest of the team over at Lionhead Studio, as well as a concept art viewer.
Additional ingame content, featuring a new dungeon, called The Hall of the Dead, a special legendary cutlass called the Wreckager, and other bonuses such as a Master Chief-like armor.
A figurine of the Hobbe creature from the Qee Collection. A Hobbe is one of the many creatures you encounter in Fable II.
A Xbox Live Gold Trial Card, allowing new members to try out the Xbox Live Gold features for 48 hours. This allows them to visit their friends in their worlds and go quest together.
Five printed Fate Cards, that can foretell the Hero's destiny in the world of Albion.

Announced on Oct 1st 2008, the collectors edition was edited, Lionhead made a statement on their Fable 2 Dev Blog, the Hobbe figurine, the "Fate" Cards were removed from the offering and the box art would no longer be different than Fable 2's regular edition, the special edition still includes the bonus content and making-of DVD,

In place of these Collectibles Lionhead created a "Special Fable Album" which contained 'selection of Fable 1 music and 3 brand new tracks from the upcoming Fable II soundtrack', which could be downloaded from http://www.sumthingdigital.com, for a limited time, for free.

The reason for this late change was stated to be "due to supply chain issues". No further details were given.

In an update to the same blog post Lionhead announced that the Fate Cards would be available for download as a PDF for free.

On October 21st it was revealed that there were alot of problems ensuring that every copy of the Limited Edition of Fable 2 contained the Downloadable Content packs. This problem seems limited to copys of the game sold specifically at GameStop. Company spokesmen confirmed this fact stating that copies of the game with the orange "48 hours of LIVE" sticker were unaffected. Customers who have a copy of the Limited Edition without the Downloadable content code should contact the Xbox Customer Support line.

Soundtrack

Soundtrack Cover

Announced on November 6th, 2008, the soundtrack for Fable II will be given a retail release on November 25th, 2008 from Sumthing Else Music Works. It contains twelve tracks from the game, composed by Russel Shaw, head music director and composer at Lionhead studios, and Danny Elfman, a Grammy winning composer. The music was performed by a full orchestra and choir, as well as Celtic instrumentalists. The soundtrack will also be available on the iTunes Music Store. The full track listing is:

Fable Theme - Russell Shaw (Music Box Theme – Danny Elfman)
Old Town - Russell Shaw
Bowerstone Cemetery - Russell Shaw
Bowerlake - Russell Shaw
Wraithmarsh - Russell Shaw (Music Box Theme – Danny Elfman)
Fairfax Castle - Russell Shaw
Westcliff - Russell Shaw
Oakfield - Russell Shaw
Bowerstone Market - Russell Shaw
Shadow of Evil - Russell Shaw
Howling Halls - Russell Shaw
Marcus Memorial - Russell Shaw

Fable II Pub Games

Fable II introduced a new level of Xbox LIVE interaction with XBL Arcade Pub Games.
TheFable II Pub Games is a collection of 3 gambling mini games. These gamesallow the player to earn gold, which can be used in Fable II. Fable II Pub Games were released on August 13th, 2008 for800 Microsoft Points.Codes to obtain the game for free were available to those that pre-ordered Fable II through GameStop.

The games that are in the collection are:

Keystone - Fable's take on roulette.
Spinnerbox - Slot machines.
Fortune's Tower - A card game based on luck.

Developer Diaries

Outside Lionhead Studios

Lionhead Studios Ltd. started releasing Developer Diaries in May 2007 to show off the team, design, and the game of Fable II itself. The usual time between releases has been 3 months.

Episode 1- Emotions in Action Games - YouTube
Episode 2- Research, look, and feel of Combat in Fable II - YouTube
Episode 3- Central Technology Group - YouTube
Episode 4- World Design in Fable II - YouTube
Episode 5- Magic and Multiplayer - YouTube
Episode 6- Art and The Hero - YouTube
Episode 7- Music and Audio - YouTube
A Hero's Tale- Interactive Story Based "Experience" on the Microsoft Website

Downloadable Content

On November 24th the first batch of DLC for Fable 2 was announced.

Knothole Island

Title: Knothole Island
Price: 800 MS Points ($10)
Release Date: December 12
Description: "New quests, wondrous items and bizarre characters." The player must figure out what has caused the once tropic island of Knothole to be covered in snow by completing trials presented in three new shrines.

Title: Free Pack
Price: Free
Release Date December 12th
Description: Items like assassin's gloves, a weight loss potion, and a collectible silver book. The free DLC will also add support for leaderboards in 50 different categories.

Xbox 360 Game Installation

Fable II requires 6.8GB of space to install on an Xbox 360 HDD. The Fable II Limited Edition Disc requires 3.4GB of space.

General Information Edit

Game Name	Fable II
Platform(s)	Xbox 360
Publisher(s)	Microsoft Game Studios
Developer(s)	Lionhead Studios Ltd.
Genres	Add a new genre Action Adventure Role-Playing (RPG)
Themes	Add a new theme Fantasy Comedy
Original US Release	Oct. 21, 2008 need a fuzzy date?
Original US Release	October 2008 know the real date?
Aliases	Fable 2
OFLC	OFLC: M
CERO	CERO: Z
ESRB	ESRB: M
PEGI	PEGI: 16+
BBFC	BBFC: 15

Trivia

The four main skills you can exchange experience points for are:

Strength, Skill, Will, Magic
Skill, Firearms, Strength, Magikka
Strength, Personality, Accuracy, Dog Training
All of the above
None of the above

User Reviews

Platform	User Reviews	Avg. Score
All Reviews	48 reviews
Xbox 360	48 reviews
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Associated News

Fable II's Big Announcement: Downloadable Island Incoming
New island, gloves, and boots coming to Fable II next month.

Fable II Getting Some Good News
A dev blog hints at a big announcement concerning the world of Albion.

Peter Molyneux Lets Go, Has A Good Cry
Well, maybe crying is a bit much, but a brief talk with CVG gives us a bit o insight into how Molyneux's handling the reviews of Fable II.

Fable II Patch Certified For Launch Day
Microsoft confirms that Fable II will have online co-op sometime tomorrow.

Fable II - No Online Co-Op At Launch
Online co-op for Lionhead's latest will be patched in shortly after launch.

Pub Games Patched
Now you're gonna have to learn with your left hand.

Spinning Yarns With the Nearly Finished Fable II
Brad got his hands on Lionhead's anticipated action RPG and played a brand new hero for a bunch of hours.

A Boy and His Dog
Fable 2 is starting to come together, but can it meet the high expectations that players have?

Videos

	Fable II Review The rich world of Fable II is a place not easily forgotten...or summarized!
	Molyneux Uncut and Unedited We chat with Peter Molyneux about Fable 2, his past and the future!