Fable II Game Review

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Synopsis

The game begins in the city of Bowerstone, where the protagonist, a young child known as Sparrow (the player is able to select their gender) lives in poverty with his or her older sister, Rose, and dreams about living in Castle Fairfax, the home of Lord Lucien. Their fantasies are cut short when they hear a commotion down at the market. A man who goes by the name of Mystical Murgo is selling 'magical' wares, such as a mirror that makes one beautiful (though only in complete darkness) and a magic box that grants a wish. Rose scoffs at the idea of magic, but an old woman named Theresa tells her otherwise, suggesting it may in fact be magic.

Interested and curious, Rose and her sibling, Sparrow, decide to collect the five coins required for the box, doing odd jobs such as collecting warrants and posing for a photograph. During this time, they save a dog getting abused by a bully. When they finally collect the money needed, they buy the box and wish that they could live in Castle Fairfax. The box then disappears in a flash of light, apparently not working. Dismayed, the two go to their hovel and discover the dog waiting for them.

In the middle of the night, they are awakened by a guard, who escorts them to Castle Fairfax on Lord Lucien's order. Overjoyed that their wish came true, the two follow eagerly. After meeting Lord Lucien and telling him of the box, he asks them to step in a circle on the floor. A blue light emits from the edge of the circle, and to Lucien's anger turns red upon his touch. Proclaiming that they are not any of the three, and one of them is the fourth, he shoots Rose, and afterward shoots Sparrow, who falls out of the window.

Upon waking up, Sparrow learns that he or she had survived the fall due to his or her heroic line, and was rescued by Theresa and the dog. Ten years later, Lucien has been rebuilding the Tattered Spire, which grants the user enormous power. Sparrow is told by the elderly woman that they are the descendant of a great hero, and destined to bring Lucien's downfall. However, Sparrow must first find three heroes in order to defeat Lucien with their combined powers. Given the quest to stop Lucien's plans, the Hero begins a great journey. He or she travels to Oakfield and finds Hammer, a monk who is upset at the fact she is not allowed to fight. When she turns out to be the Hero of Strength, she accompanies the Hero on his or her journey.

Then they set out to find the Hero of Will, Garth. When the Hero goes to his tower, they witnesses Garth's capture. He or she then becomes a guard in the Spire for ten years before they can rescue Garth. When they do, he kills the prison's warden then proceeds to the Hero of Skill, Reaver.

Reaver, who is a former pirate living in Bloodstone, tells the Hero to take a Dark Seal to his 'friends' in Wraithmarsh (the region surrounding and including the long-destroyed Oakvale from the original Fable). The Seal turns out to be an item marking its bearer for sacrifice to the Court of Shadows so that Reaver can be young forever. The Hero has a choice of sacrificing his or her youth, or the youth of a young woman who is trapped in the Court.

The Hero returns to Reaver at his mansion when Lucien and his army attack, brought by Reaver who wished to collect the bounty on the Hero. When Reaver learns that Lucien will also kill him, however, they escape together through a tunnel and Theresa convinces Reaver to join them until Lucien is defeated.

The Heroes perform a ritual on the hill above the old Guild of Heroes, but Lucien attacks them in the middle of the ritual, killing the Hero's dog and the Hero before capturing the others.

The Hero is taken to a dream-like paradise where he or she, transformed back into a child, spends a day playing with their sister, Rose. Once night falls, however, otherworldly music begins to play. The hero can choose whether or not to follow the music, while Rose pleads for him or her to stay. However, he or she must leave, forcing their way through his or her nightmares, if they ever wish to return to Albion. The Hero then acquires the music box from the beginning of the game. They are taken to the Spire where the Heroes are having their power absorbed by Lucien. The Hero defeats Lucien with the music box and then may shoot him, though delaying this too long will cause Reaver to revive and shoot Lucien instead, sarcastically asking the player if he or she had wanted to do that.

When Lucien dies, Theresa appears and grants the Hero one of three wishes: "Sacrifice", to resurrect the thousands of people killed in building by the Tattered Spire, but not their own loved ones; "Love", to resurrect their dog, sister, and if the Hero was married, his or her family, killed by Lucien while the Hero recruited Reaver; or "Wealth", the gift of 1,000,000 gold pieces delivered to the Guild Cave. Afterward, Hammer either congratulates or admonishes the player based on his or her choice and alignment, then the Heroes part ways and Theresa tells the player that Albion is his or hers to enjoy, but warns them that the Spire is hers. Only the "Love" ending allows post-credits play with the dog, though the "Knothole Island" DLC allows the player to resurrect the dog at Cheet-Ur's Crypt if one of the other endings is chosen.

In the DLC See The Future, the hero visits the spire once again, this time Theresa shows the hero a vision of the future. The vision shows the hero as King or Queen of Albion, this also hints towards Fable III as Theresa mentions that the child in the crib by the throne will become a great hero.

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Setting

Well once again the game is set in albion, around 4-500 years into the future, And this game was just amazing it is my second favourite game next to fable III, for campaign reasons. Once again the areas were great with unique enimies and the difficulty of emimies depending on what type of day it is. Also some places have differences to what they were like in the previous fable, like oakville for example. The use of demon doors were a brilliant idea, all having different scenery, one with a very frightening scenery as you will know if you have played this game, demon doors also have some very good weapons inside.Although there are fewer locations than the previous game the new world is alot larger than the last. Also the way that choices you make can change the future of the land, like at the begining giving some papers to either a crook or a policeman can change bowerston old town, to a respected place, or a complete eyesore full of tacky houses, thieves and foul mouthed civilians. This made the game make you feel like you control the story, making it a truely amazing game.

Setting Rating:9/10

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Gameplay

The gameplay was just... AMAZING. The way they kept the Good and Evil element to the game was a good choice, if you have not played this game the Good and Evil feature is, That many problems in the game come down to good and evil decisions, performing good deeds, will make your person a Smart figure and if completely pure you will have a halo above your head, but being evil will make you grow devil horns and be the stuff of nightmares.Being pure or curropted about the properties you own will either make you goodlooking, or ugly. This will affect how people see you, lowering chances of having sex. At first it was fun to just snap at a person and ultimately not paying your fine of killing 1 person, and wipeing out an intier village. One thing i actually found amazing once i found out is that what ever you spent your will points on(Will points, or orbs are collected after you have had a battle, and you use them to buy will powers, Will is magic.) affects your phisical appearance, like buying the strength makes your person have bigger muscles, buying powers that make you better at aiming with weapons make you be taller and buying magical spells make blue glowing lines appear all over your skin. Which answered quite a few questions i had in my head. The dog was a great feature, a really easy way of finding treasure, and dig spots also points you towards objects to do with quests. i loved the dog and i think i am currently on my 4th run of the campaign, as i wanted to do all 3 endings legit. and every time i would save up my money so i could buy a new breed off of murgo, I would always buy the dalmation, looked so cool. Also the way he is so attached to you his apperance changes due to you being evil or not, he also joins in on fights. The combat was great on this game due to 'Flourishes' flourishes were rewally cool slow motion attacks that were just BEAST! The DLC was great, i got mine for free because i bought the game of the year edition, and 'Knothole Island' was soo long to complete, it was like a new campaign it was brilliant, the way you could change the weather in order to get to chests and keys, and there was this one shop with really good 'easter egg' type weapons like one was a a guitar the as a weapon, the game is really imaginative which is why i love the game.

Gameplay Rating:10/10

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Graphics

The graphics on this game are actually really good, again using 3rd person made the graphics look better than they are, Lionheads artist again gained my respect by making one of the greatest games ever, have not such a smooth feel to it but amazing detail, the graphics in general are just amazing. It was a great step up from the previous games graphics. I dont think i experienced any bugs due to the graphics, therefore making it the ultimate game, having a great artist and no game bugs made this game one of the best games to ever come to xbox360 and another amazing game to the Fable series.

Graphics Rating:7/10

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Multiplayer

The multiplayer on this game almost made me shoot myself, it was so bad it was unreal, the fact that both people had to be on the same screen just ruined it, but lionhead took note of this in the making of fable 3 and made it so each character had their own screen, in all the multiplayer wasnt my cup of tea, and probably not anyone elses either. It would have been a great multiplayer but due to the same screen issue, it was awful.

Multiplayer Rating:4/10

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Game Awards

IGN Best of 2008: Best Original Score.X-play's Best Game of 2008 award.Joystiq's Best Game of 2008 award.Best Action and Adventure Game of 2008, British Academy Video Games Awards.In 2010, the game was included as one of the titles in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die. So the game was rather succesful, as you would think as the game was a great purchase and i recomend anyone buying it if they have the money, as the game is really cheap.

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Controls

Controls Rating:10/10

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Information

Overall Rating:9/10

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