Fable II: First Impressions

Lionhead studios, the studio notorious for its blabbermouth designer, Peter Molyneux, has released a new game backed by enough hype to fill a small moon...or a space station. I personally enjoyed the original Fable well enough, it had many shortcomings, but it was a decent game, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

(I have had the opportunity to test drive the game temporarily, on loan from a friend. I had a bit of a run-in with Microsoft which drained me of funds, so this is just a “first impression” for now...About 6 hours of gameplay gave me a taste, anyway, and this is the nit-picky version.)

Times have changed, in the land of Fable. Starting in the town of Bowerstone, which now resembles the era of London that Jack the Ripper might pop-up in, times are tough. You're an orphan child, of the gender of your choice, given the nickname “sparrow” for an unfortunate reason. You wish for life in a castle with your sister, and do some chores around town to make that wish on a “magic box”.

Times aren't all that have changed here...

Revisit Fable...kind of.

As with many sequels, there were a lot of similarities between this installment, and the first. Graphically, the game lives up to the original. Lush landscapes, detailed surroundings and garments, and the same watercolored storytelling cut scenes that I personally adored from the original are fully intact, and even upgraded in parallel with the next generation system.

Interaction with, or really just walking by, game characters in the Fable world has always been entertaining. Word spreads quickly about your deeds, good or bad, and you make a name for yourself among the citizens. You also have some form of title that people will call you, should you pay to have that nickname spread across the land, and characters greet you accordingly; “Oohhh, there goes the gunslinger” or “Chicken Chaser? You mean...you chase chickens?” depending on your title, and there are a lot more options this time.

Unfortunately, the concept of similarity is taken very literally with a sequel. Many of the starting missions have been nearly identical to Fable. There is a Hobbe mission, in a cave, with an abducted little boy. Been there. The opening mission is to complete minor tasks for people around bowerstone, to collect 5 gold coins, to buy something. Done that. Even the source of the tragedy that leads you away from your hometown directly involves your sibling. Originality is a spice of life, unfortunately, it doesn't grow as well as basil.

What the first game was lacking...

Lionhead made an attempt at covering ground that was criticized in the first visit to Fable. First, I'll start off with the primary issue – length and size. As with most men, when they're criticized about such things, they go all-out to try and fix it.

I can't say much for the length of the game, but there did seem to be a lot more quests, which is definitely good in the world of achievements, and enjoyment. Hopefully they're not all bullshit quests, like shamelessly flirting with some guy to get him to fall “madly in love with you”, or vacuuming up Hobbes all day.

Sure, the game boasts ten times the expanse of the original, but they seemed intimidated by their own growth, like you'll get lost and lose interest – so, they gave you a strange solution to the “nav point” or directional help of most games.

A sparkling gold line directs you through most areas, very distracting to those...ooohh, shiny! What was I saying? Unfortunately, the navigation dust doesn't even work properly all of the time...it'll disappear without warning, or lead you into a wall and insist that is the right course. Also, I probably wouldn't have explored any new areas because of this distracting dust trail, if my dog hadn't done it for me.

The Dog

Adventure games can be lonely at times, so giving an adventurer a traveling companion sounds like a good idea, in theory. I loved the idea of having a dog as that companion, take on enemies along side, while earning me charisma points because “Oooh, puppies!”.

But then, every time something interesting to explore came along, I heard an insistent “Bark-Bark” Which, after the tenth time in a row, translates to: “Hey, LISTEN!” Wait, I know that voice...Navi the fairy has been resurrected in dog form! They even went so far as to give the dog an icon with description above his head, telling you exactly what you're looking for. Where is the challenge, or fun of poking around behind rocks, if they dog's going to tell you exactly what you're looking for?

Also, zero customization options with the dog. Even some of the beautiful art scenes showed a slightly different variation on your dog. In the opening “Oh, your life is laced with tragedy, but you grew up strong” cut scene, the dog appeared to be a golden lab – but, in all of the gameplay, even when you meet the dog as a kid, pre-tragedy, it is a mutt of sorts with the fur pattern in three colors, primarily black.

Gender roles in video games

One of the things that bothered me about the first Fable, was the boasted “fully customizable” character was; A) Male, and B) Caucasian, and C) oh, wait, that's it. Sure, as the game progressed you could change some features such as hair, some physical attributes, and tattoos – but really, you were always a white male. I wonder what demographic was in charge of making this game.

This time, however, you do have the option to start out as a little girl. Unfortunately, Lionhead was misinformed as to what an adult female is, when programming this gender option. As you grow up, you're a very awkward looking woman, that was really lacking any femininity except breasts and long hair. The hair looks stapled on the back of her head, and her body is very oddly proportioned...add layered clothes in the mix, the result isn't remotely flattering.



Sure, you're supposed to be a warrior of sorts – but one of those “sorts” is mage-like. Mages should be refined in their art, with a sense of grace about them...doesn't that sound like it should be easily pulled off by a female character? My “little sparrow” looks like she could take the lead in a biker bar, even wearing nobles clothes! I think they did a better job of making the men-who-are-interested-in-men more feminine in the first Fable.

I'm sure making a female warrior character is a challenge in games...but I'm pretty sure I have seen it accomplished in the past, and the result has been acceptable before. In fact, the majority of the women in this game, if they're not housewives or small children, are terrifying creatures...



Nobility? No, thank you, I'm good.

Allignment

Fable had a very strange alignment system for progressing through the game as a good, or evil character. Every time you engaged any enemy of any kind, you earned oodles of good alignment points. Shouldn't that have been a neutral thing, and all of your other actions decide whether or not you were good or evil? This is one of the things they actually “Fixed” this time around.

Options to fight to help villagers, or take an offer behind their backs to do them wrong are a much more realistic way to go about deciding your alignment. You can make your decisions through the game, and your alignment will reflect that - simple, and straight forward.

Of course, you still get the quick-and-easy path toward evil by munching on “crunchy chicks” or beating your significant other into divorce...or punting chickens, and shooting rabbits. Or boost your good points (see, charisma) by being a showoff in towns by yourself, or with your trained canine performer.

The unfortunate side of hype, and wannabe overachievers

There has been a lot of buzz around the internet, and beyond, as to the sheer awesome contained in this game. I've heard a few things about bugs, including one that will have you starting your game over, and a few other things related to the mechanical issues – let me re-emphasize those, now.

The button assignment is an interface of menus, and sub-menus, that would even have a hard time being mapped out with hotkeys on a keyboard – let alone a controller. I had an unfortunate time accidentally bringing up a menu when I bump the shoulder button in a fight, which had me molested in a battle, because I couldn't switch back fast enough.

One of my favorite things about Fable, which had me wanting more for a second run, was the combat. The combat multipliers were fun to crank up, the experience was acquired much easier, and the control was very smooth. This time around, the control doesn't flow as well – for instance, hitting the sword attack button three times, means you might attack once and change your posture?

Trying to adjust your spells, or do just about anything, tends to make accidents happen. I've tried to talk to a villager with the wrong menu open, and attacked everyone with a shock of lightening in the ground. Oops.

This time around, they appeared to have tried to listen to Peter Molyneux and add all, or at least most, of the things his big head wanted in the game. Unfortunately, that makes for a very encumbering game, with a primary focus on things you don't care about (There's a sale at such-n-such market, buy now!), or entirely too many notes popping up, telling you nothing. I bought some fruit at a market, and it popped up with 3 different descriptions of what I'd just done...that was a waste of time, guys, really.

What happens when you don't get paid for your missions by a proper guild? You get a job? I suppose that's a solution, too bad the jobs are boring, pointless, and low-paying – kind of like real life. Looting areas and watching my dog dig for treasure earned more...it's a sad fiscal system, when a hero doesn't get her pay, until she loots some poor dead guy.

There were some good things, afterall!

Instead of just allowing random villagers to fall in love with you, many of them will also offer you gifts, which can be handy, since quests offer no real income. You have a whole slue of additional postures, or interactions with characters, though sometimes cumbersome, it provides a decent amount of entertainment.

There is a "run faster" button in this game; though it's slightly unnecessary, it makes a few things easier until it glitches out. It's handy for swimming, as well. Way to make the tedious tasks feel like participating in the Olympics! I'm pretty sure my Fable II character is capable of out-swimming Michael Phelps.

Fighting animations; specifically with spells, are amazingly awesome. For instance, electrocution gives you an X-ray view of your victims, as their fried in their own skin. I'm hoping for a lot more of that, depending on the spells – I love being a mage, but unfortunately didn't get far enough to unlock many spells...



I'm sure, as the game progresses, I will find a lot more to be excited about. I have enjoyed my time, but found my critique senses tingling all over. Hopefully now that it's out of my system...

Also, it's very, very, pretty.

final summary

Not a bad game, from what I played, but really – the glitches were enough to steer me away from this one...at least temporarily. There are promises that the game will be fixed, but then, Molyneux promises a lot of things. So far, I've experienced much of the original game, with a bit more umpf this time...I suppose this criticizing was really a reflection of how disappointed I was, in the way the female characters turned out.

I didn't touch much of the main storyline, I focused on side quests – as I do plan on purchasing this game someday. It wasn't an all-bad experience, it just needs a lot of patching...I won't really know, until it drops in price a bit. I will label this one an “Own it, but not before the price drops below $40”.