While I enjoyed Fable 1, I never finished it. Like many of Lionhead’s games, it fell victim to the overhyping of Peter Molyneux. So when Fable 2 was announced, I watched the reviews carefully before buying. In the end, I thought it sounded interesting enough to give it a shot, and I’m glad I did. Most of the annoying aspects of the first game are gone (in fact, there are several funny references to the “Your health is low” message from the first game), and what’s left is a core of simple, but effective gameplay. Leveling your character is simple enough that you could put plenty of points into whichever discipline you wanted, though like most fantasy RPGs, the game is dramatically easier if you focus on physical strength and swordplay. The world is absolutely beautiful, and even with a fast travel system, I frequently found myself walking between towns to enjoy it. My only complaint in this regard is that they removed the map, so it’s hard to keep track of where the towns are in relation to one another. Best of all, the game has a great storyline. You must gather up several reluctant heroes to prevent the villain from destroying the world. As you progress, you gain fame so that while townspeople are indifferent towards you at first, by the end of the game, they worship the ground you walk on (assuming you play a good character).
I’m going to break my own rule here and add a second paragraph, because in addition to being a fine game on it’s own, Fable 2 made me realize how disappointed I was in Fallout 3. I remember the first two Fallout games as being incredibly compelling worlds with clever stories, interesting scenery, and hilariously violent combat. The new version managed to retain the violent combat and some clever story elements, but set it in a next-gen gray and brown world that sucked all the fun out of it. For me, at least. My coworker recently beat the game and absolutely loved it, so maybe this is a personality thing, but I just found the world oppressive after awhile, and stopped caring about it. The Oblivion engine’s mannequin-like faces may have been part of this. Fable 2, in contrast, seems over-saturated and cartoony, like a caricature of medieval life, but because it wasn’t taking itself so seriously, I found it was much more fun to play.
