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Video Game Review: Fable II

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By ROMMIE JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 7, 2008

System: Microsoft Xbox 360

Publisher: Microsoft

Reviewer's rating: ***

ESRB rating: Mature

Game type: Role-playing

Kind of like: "Fable"

Best feature: Huge world to explore.

Worst feature: Ultimately, it doesn't feel like much of an upgrade on the first "Fable" — just more of the same.

The bottom line: Admittedly, we've never been huge RPG fans. Maybe they're just too daunting in scope. Maybe they're just too slow and drawn out. Or maybe the implicit otherworldly escapism of these sword-'n'-sorcery fantasies has always just seemed way too, you know … pathetic.

But "Fable II," like its predecessor, adds a level of accessibility — not to mention engrossing detail — missing from your typical dungeon-crawler. You don't just take on the role of a powerful hero; you take on the role of a powerful hero who, between battles, has to maintain a normal day-to-day life in civilized society.

While the main narrative follows your quest to build a coalition of heroes and stop a cruel lord's bid for ultimate power, the game puts a huge emphasis on freely exploring the world of Albion and interacting with its citizens. You don't really "speak" to them, per se, but you have an array of "expressions" at your disposal. You can belch and fart, laugh with friends, play fetch with your dog, growl at unsavory characters to scare them away, or woo women with gifts and pick-up lines. And if you're successful with the latter, you can get married and start a family, too.

Of course, your wife (or husband, if you choose to play as a female character) will eventually nag you to get a job so they can buy better furniture or move into a bigger home. Most employment is tedious (bartender, blacksmith, wood chopper, etc.), so you may prefer to try your luck at the casino games available in and around most Albion bars. But the best way to raise funds (other than hiring yourself out for dangerous side quests) is to buy properties — rental homes and retail shops — and watch the gold roll in. Because Albion is a persistent world where life goes on with or without you, you earn money even when you're not playing. (Ka-ching!)

One of the game's prominent features is the main character's internal conflict between good and evil. Every choice you make in the game affects your "purity," and the game is supposed to play out differently depending on whether you're a saint or a sinner. What we found, though, is that — other than random townspeople reacting to you differently — it doesn't make much of a difference whether you're a kind-hearted angel or a total jackass. Besides, while the good-vs.-evil thing isn't exactly played out, it's hardly groundbreaking — "Fable" creator Peter Molyneux first used it in his 2001 game "Black & White."

And that's really the main problem with "Fable II." It's a good game, sure. But from the first hour to the 20th and beyond, you just can't escape the feeling that you've played it before.

Games are rated on a scale of 0-4 stars.

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