Fable 2 is an open-world action/adventure game, although it could be argued just as well that it is an RPG. You play as an unnamed, herioc person who goes from a small child to the hero of the land, using swords, ranged weapons and magic.
Gameplay: 8.5
Unique gameplay concepts - What drives the game, and what is it similar to?
Fable 2's combat is similar to a lot of whirl-and-slash button mashers, but they at least redeem themselves by offering alternatives to just using swords and pressing the same button over and over. The feature attack is actually your character's magical abilities, which can be obtained via a traditional leveling/upgrading system.
Fable 2 is anything but challenging. It's literally impossible to die or lose any progress, which makes you wonder why you'd expend effort into being efficient, other than the sake of saving time. And if you're so worried about saving time, then that likely means the game just isn't all that fun, right? I felt this a lot in Fable 2, unfortunately.
This game also has a method of communicating with NPCs via a rudimentary conversation system. You gain different expressions throughout the game and can ask people to do all sorts of things - follow them, talk to them, sing, dance, or... invite up to your room. This can be fun and there's actually an achievement to have a large group... in your room... at the same time. This will provide for a decent amount of gameplay.
Marrying people and moving them into a house is also a fun concept that comes from their conversation system. Your partner can also give you gifts, children and just amuse you with silly things they say. The children are hard to keep your attention on though and most of the time they hated me. I was too busy saving the world and stuff. I was such a jerk.
The thing that is really disappointing about the conversation system is that once you get famous enough and wear enough expensive clothing, everyone loves you on sight, making the conversation system all but obsolete. If you still had to work for your rewards later in the game, socially, it would have provided for a lot more replay value and more fun later in the game, instead of mission/quest hopping and not paying attention to anybody.
I'm not going to mention how the Fable series always promises more than they deliver, but their concepts in Fable 2 are similar to the first, but they are still pretty solid.
Presentation: 9.0
Graphical and audio presentation (animation, texturing, overall look & artistic style)
Fable has always had a storybook style, and it's looked good. Things are overly shiny and surreal, but it makes for a pretty charming environment. Character modeling could be better.
Theatrics: 8.5
Story, Dialogue, Cut-Scenes and Artistic Use of Camera
Fable 2 follows the story of your character's life, from being a poor child on the streets to a hero that everyone loves. Your job throughout the game is to follow a mysterious person who saved your life and help save the kingdom by finding powerful heroes throughout the kingdom that specialize in each form of combat.
While the story isn't incredible, it'll at least hold your interest. Their characters are decent and the voice acting throughout the game is good, and actually pretty fun to listen to.
Cut-scenes are sparse, but they are well crafted and advance the story nicely.
Controls: 7.5
Ease of Use and Smoothness of Controls
Fable's controls are okay. Not a ton of big problems in combat but they can be a little unreliable or awkward here and there.
Easily their biggest problem is the 1st-person aiming feature on the ranged weaponry. When entering 1st person, your aiming method is your movement stick, and the controls cannot be reversed or changed. That's absolutely piss poor design and something that should never, under any circumstances, happen in games today.
Replay Value: 7.5
Total Gameplay Time versus Expected
I played through Fable 2 once, and doing almost everything in the game it gave me about 15 hours. I didn't have a desire to play through again and thought co-op play was tacked on and didn't offer more than what single player would. A rental would be fine for this game.
Fun: 8.5
How much fun was the game?
Fable 2 is a reasonably fun game. Killing stuff, talking to people and exploring has it's down points, but overall, it's decent.
My Overall Rating: 8.3
Appeal and Recommendations
For fans of RPGs, I don't think I can say you would love this game, but it's not terrible. It has a pretty generic appeal and the gameplay is obviously a product of over-simplification. If you've overlooked this game, I can't say you'd gain a lot by going out of your way to play it.
Gameplay: 8.5
Unique gameplay concepts - What drives the game, and what is it similar to?
Fable 2's combat is similar to a lot of whirl-and-slash button mashers, but they at least redeem themselves by offering alternatives to just using swords and pressing the same button over and over. The feature attack is actually your character's magical abilities, which can be obtained via a traditional leveling/upgrading system.
Fable 2 is anything but challenging. It's literally impossible to die or lose any progress, which makes you wonder why you'd expend effort into being efficient, other than the sake of saving time. And if you're so worried about saving time, then that likely means the game just isn't all that fun, right? I felt this a lot in Fable 2, unfortunately.
This game also has a method of communicating with NPCs via a rudimentary conversation system. You gain different expressions throughout the game and can ask people to do all sorts of things - follow them, talk to them, sing, dance, or... invite up to your room. This can be fun and there's actually an achievement to have a large group... in your room... at the same time. This will provide for a decent amount of gameplay.
Marrying people and moving them into a house is also a fun concept that comes from their conversation system. Your partner can also give you gifts, children and just amuse you with silly things they say. The children are hard to keep your attention on though and most of the time they hated me. I was too busy saving the world and stuff. I was such a jerk.
The thing that is really disappointing about the conversation system is that once you get famous enough and wear enough expensive clothing, everyone loves you on sight, making the conversation system all but obsolete. If you still had to work for your rewards later in the game, socially, it would have provided for a lot more replay value and more fun later in the game, instead of mission/quest hopping and not paying attention to anybody.
I'm not going to mention how the Fable series always promises more than they deliver, but their concepts in Fable 2 are similar to the first, but they are still pretty solid.
Presentation: 9.0
Graphical and audio presentation (animation, texturing, overall look & artistic style)
Fable has always had a storybook style, and it's looked good. Things are overly shiny and surreal, but it makes for a pretty charming environment. Character modeling could be better.
Theatrics: 8.5
Story, Dialogue, Cut-Scenes and Artistic Use of Camera
Fable 2 follows the story of your character's life, from being a poor child on the streets to a hero that everyone loves. Your job throughout the game is to follow a mysterious person who saved your life and help save the kingdom by finding powerful heroes throughout the kingdom that specialize in each form of combat.
While the story isn't incredible, it'll at least hold your interest. Their characters are decent and the voice acting throughout the game is good, and actually pretty fun to listen to.
Cut-scenes are sparse, but they are well crafted and advance the story nicely.
Controls: 7.5
Ease of Use and Smoothness of Controls
Fable's controls are okay. Not a ton of big problems in combat but they can be a little unreliable or awkward here and there.
Easily their biggest problem is the 1st-person aiming feature on the ranged weaponry. When entering 1st person, your aiming method is your movement stick, and the controls cannot be reversed or changed. That's absolutely piss poor design and something that should never, under any circumstances, happen in games today.
Replay Value: 7.5
Total Gameplay Time versus Expected
I played through Fable 2 once, and doing almost everything in the game it gave me about 15 hours. I didn't have a desire to play through again and thought co-op play was tacked on and didn't offer more than what single player would. A rental would be fine for this game.
Fun: 8.5
How much fun was the game?
Fable 2 is a reasonably fun game. Killing stuff, talking to people and exploring has it's down points, but overall, it's decent.
My Overall Rating: 8.3
Appeal and Recommendations
For fans of RPGs, I don't think I can say you would love this game, but it's not terrible. It has a pretty generic appeal and the gameplay is obviously a product of over-simplification. If you've overlooked this game, I can't say you'd gain a lot by going out of your way to play it.
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