Fable II Xbox 360 game review

Yet another Molyneux masterpiece

“If you want to spend three hours chatting up women and then getting married and having protected (or unprotected) sex and starting a family and buying a house and decorating that house, then you can do that”.

Sounding more like the life of Joe Public you find sitting next to you on the way to work, these were the words of Peter Molyneux on the genuine human qualities you can dabble in within the realms of the supremely vivid world he has created in Fable II. True to his word through this painstakingly developed title we bought a house, settled down, got caught up in some sexually promiscuous antics only to face a public shunting, as this engrossing title drags you in and is in no rush to let you back out.

Working yet again to the cause and effect principle it is a game about choices and inducing such levels of realism, that you will soon find doing a favour for that dodgy Fagin-looking character in exchange for a handful of gold, will not exactly shower you with great prestige amongst your fellow town folk.

Your path is littered in gold to guide you to your next logical port of call, but straying from the path, is not only an encouraged act to seek out the many widespread secrets, (some tied to seeking out the Fable II website), but more symbolic of the moral fortitude placed upon our young hero in the quest to seek revenge against the mighty Lord who has plummeted the kind of tragedy which bears heavy on the shoulders of an orphan boy. (We can sense that vengeful tear in your eye)

The world in which your roaming adventures are consumed, Albion, is set hundreds of years after the original, adopting the kind of environmental guise which lays home to affable street urchins and ladies in pretty petticoats as fodder for your repertoire of flirtatious skills, which is inclusive of striking a muscle bound Arnie pose. The English setting is reminiscent of the type of Eric Idle riddled humour last seen in retro point and click favourite Discworld as Fable II similarly captures the snappy, sharp British style wit.

With every journey to seek vengeance, you need yourself a hefty satchel of armoury, and as boy turns to man, the wooden dagger becomes a fully fledged sword. In essence battling your way through this long journey does become a case of rapid button bashing, though you can build on your sporadic fighting style. Anyone seeking for complex button memory combinations would be best carting themselves off to the land of Mortal Kombat.

Wagging beside you every move is your doggy companion who overseas your transition from orphan boy to hero destined for greatness. Train him up to be adored like Well’ard, or prime him into a lean mean fighting machine, the choice is yours. He is your honourable mate on your travels, so he requires you constant attention as yet another test of your moral fibre.

Key to any stress-busting RPG which demands substantial amount of your consoling attention, Fable II gamers could with consummate ease, pick this game up a few months down the line as you do, having found yourself stuck in medieval England horse manure like difficulty, and once again be drawn in by its character consuming environment as trading angry insults at the town crier one again throws you into the Fable II mix.

Far from being bogged down with the incessant need for intricacy, Fable II is proof that simplicity can also be as desirable, as it refreshingly draws on tangible emotional realism and delightfully and delicately ties it up in a ball of vast fantasy with a big bow of charming on top.

Link: Fable II

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