Several years ago when a little Xbox game called Project Ego was announced, I was right on board. The game was an ambitious project that would immerse the gamer in a dynamic and constantly changing world, where every action had a consequence. The game was soon renamed Fable and was built up to an insane level of hype that all but guaranteed disappointment. Sure enough, the game shipped and didn’t quite deliver on a lot of the expectations. The game was far more linear than what had been promised, with limited and predictable social interactions within a traditional fantasy setting. Now, the game’s sequel, Fable 2, is looking like it will make good on many of the promises made by its predecessor so many years ago.

My first taste of actually playing Fable 2 was on the bustling E3 show floor, where we got the chance to briefly run through a swampy area in co-op mode. As you’re probably aware by now if you’ve been following the game, you can invite a friend into your game world and play cooperatively (or not so cooperatively, as your guest’s actions will permanently affect your game, for better or for worse). Our time with the game was somewhat underwhelming, as we were just walking on a straightforward path fighting random enemies here and there. Later on we got to sit down with some guys from Lionhead for a more in-depth tour of the game.

This time I was playing by my lonesome, wandering around a similar area with my dog. The controls will feel very familiar to players of the first game. You have three main buttons for combat: the X button for melee attacks, Y for long-range, and B for magic. The longer you hold down one of these buttons, the stronger the attack will be (but, of course, the more open to attack you will be while preparing.) This allows for instant adaptation to different situations within battle; if an enemy runs in the opposite direction, there’s no need to switch equipment or anything - just tap Y and shoot him with your gun. There are also several “levels” of magic to use, depending on how long you hold in the B button. These can also be changed and adjusted rather easily from right within the game, without having to go through crazy menu screens.

Then I got the chance to explore around a small village area. Social interactions are deeper this time around, with your actions eliciting more specific responses, rather than a simple “positive” or “negative” response. As with the first game, you can marry anyone of either gender (and have multiple spouses - just don’t let them find out about each other!) and unprotected heterosexual sex may result in a bun in the oven (as well as other such unpleasantries as an STD.) You can buy shops (as well as houses) and adjust the prices the goods go for and impact the local economy. These Sims-esque interactions look like they’ll easily suck up hours of play time, and will also guarantee that no two playthroughs will ever be the same.

So that’s all well and good for extra little quirks and details, but what about the story? The story starts out with you as an orphaned child who doesn’t have two coins to rub together. After some life-changing events take place, you’re set loose on the world of Albion - set 500 years after events in the first game - to save or terrorize the land. There are “about 35″ dungeons in the game, and Lionhead QA testers have reportedly been finishing the game in about 12-15 hours (so it should take quite a bit longer for everyone else playing the game, especially for the first time). There is a “breadcrumb” feature that will lead the player in the right direction for main story-related quests, but that will disappear if you go off the path and decide to wander a bit on your own away from the main story.

While I only got a small taste of the smorgasbord of flavors in Fable 2, I definitely liked what I saw, and it looks like Fable 2 will finally deliver on many those promises that its predecessor failed to make good on. The game is slated for an October release for the Xbox 360.

Write a comment