So far, I've managed to avoid riding Peter Molyneux's 21st century disappointment train, as popular opinion alone has kept me away from his post-Bullfrog work. I was a big fan of his PC games throughout the 90s--and I'm still hoping for some sort of Dungeon Keeper revival--but his self-aggrandizing nature and the vicarious pain of others didn't exactly motivate me to check out anything from Lionhead Studios. But I'm a weak man, and the years of hype for Fable 2 eventually got to me; would it be a good game? Would Molyneux actually be able to live up to his promises?
Color me surprised, because Fable 2 actually held my attention for nearly four hours last night--and my busy life makes it hard to fit in long periods of prolonged motionlessness. Fable 2 may not be quite as stellar as Peter Molyneux would have you think, but it is a surprising mix of Zelda and The Sims. You heard right.
Of course, the beginning of the game might lead you to believe otherwise; initially, Fable 2 makes you play a portion of your character's childhood, which eventually sets up the story for the rest of the game. It's meant to be a tutorial, but it honestly doesn't teach you about much, aside from the morality system--and like the shmuck I always am, I made all of the "good" choices based on my lousy moral reflex. These choices eventually affect the development of your neighborhood some ten years later (3-4 hours into the game); on returning to my town as an adult, I saw that cooperating with the introductory fetch quests made everything much more pleasant, and even gave me a significant discount in some of the shops. Note: karma only exists in the world of video games.
It isn't until you become an adult that the game actually becomes fun, and sadly, Fable 2 waits just a little too long to throw you into combat--which is one of the best parts of the game. Three of the face buttons on the 360 controller represent strength, skill, and will--Fable 2's main set of traits--which allows the relatively simple combat to expand as you put more experience points into developing these three areas. The X button starts out as only being used for simple sword strikes, but upon building up your character's "strength" skill, it can also be held in to block attacks. So far, it's an interesting and intuitive system that I'm looking forward to exploring--which won't be a chore, because I love the combat so much.
Of course, the most exciting thing about Fable 2 are the Sims-ish interactions you can have with your fellow CPU citizens. I've heard some amazing stories from various message borads, but I'm a little too early in the game to fully explore the limits of character interaction--which has mainly consisted of me dancing and farting in large groups to become the dancingest, fartingest adventurer in all of Fable. Oh, and flirting with barmaids, then having no idea where to take them for some sweet lovin'. Rest assured that I am responsible and have purchased numerous virtual condoms, just to be safe. I doubt the downstairs hygiene is up to snuff in Albion.
So far, the game has my attention, and the minor annoyances, like the lack of any useful maps, are somewhat easy to ignore after seeing only a little of what the game has to offer. I'm also pretty enchanted by Fable 2's world; European high-fantasy is one of my least-favorite settings, but Fable 2 actually has a sense of humor, along with some authentic whimsy. Any game where you can shit your pants on purpose is one I'm going to stick around for.
Related Links:
Non-Gamers Reviewing Games: Wait, What?
Screen Test: Fable 2
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