Fable 2 (X360)

I'm really torn on Fable. On one hand, it's fun to play, gives you a ton of play style options, and is fairly open ended. On the other, it has a great deal of shortcomings, and really doesn't meet my expectations. At times I can only describe it as a "Kiddie" or "Fantasy" Fallout but I'm not sure if that's quite correct.

I think the game really struggles with what it wants to be, and that's why I'm struggling to make up my mind about it. You've got this incredibly simple combat system, which while it is pretty fun, doesn't provide any sort of challenge for a core gamer. Each style of attack has one button - sword is X, gun is Y, magic is B. You earn some new abilities as you gain XP, which make you do such challenging combinations such as "hold X to block, and release for an unblockable flourish" or "hold Y to aim." So obviously it's meant for kids, right?

Well it certainly seems that way for a while. The graphics are reminiscent of World of Warcraft's cartoony style, you get an incredibly annoying dog pal that spots treasure for you, and the bloodless combat is simplistic enough for a four year old. You're given an array of actions to impress or belittle people, such as dancing, farting, whistling, or threatening. There's nearly no penalty for death, just the loss of some experience points that you haven't spent (no skill loss) and you are revivied on the spot within a couple seconds. So challenging.

Well if that's the case, why do fat whores proposition me for sex in old town? When I beat down someones door to use their bed for fulfilling this business arrangement, why am I given the option of protected or unprotected sex? Why do I get bonus points for sacrificing my wife at the evil temple, or given missions to slaughter an entire town of innocent people? When I'm caught breaking the law, why am I allowed to skip out on my community service over and over again (just like real life)? Certainly not a kids game then. So what is it?

I guess the only way it fits is as an adult casual game. Grown men and women who are so busy with their "lives" that they can't learn a combat system that takes more than one button, or can't be bothered spending their leisure time in a serious game. So is this really where the intention lies? The RPG equivilent of Wii Sports? I'll pass.

Moral dilemmas aside, it is a fun game to play. You can hack up just about anyone you come across, buy and rent houses, whistle and fart in front of girls until they want to marry you (and then sacrifice them to the dark lord), or just murder guards over and over until you have massive horns growing out of your face (just like real life). The story isn't super interesting, but there's plenty of side quests and jobs to take along the way.

The co-op is pretty terrible. It's great to be able to play with a friend, but it's severely limited by bad camera control, and only the hosting player gets to use his actual character, the other player is just a "henchman." I believe xp and items carry over, but it just seems pretty cheesy.

Achievements are given out for just about everything. I think in four hours of playtime (co-op) we got about 25 achievements, mostly worth 5g each.

I'm not wholly disappointed in Fable 2, as it is a good time, but I think the features that make it fun are found in other, better games. I would check out Fallout over Fable, unless you're really big on the casual style play or the fantasy setting.

If you do pick this up, going full evil might be better saved until later in the game, as things can get weird when the entire town runs away screaming when you walk by. You get a few discounts and things for being feared, but I imagine items are even cheaper when you're just well liked.