Fable II's legendary creative director Peter Molyneux has a lengthy resume, bringing to the gaming world such classics as Populus, Dungeon Keeper, Black and White, and the original Xbox RPG Fable. Molyneux is also known for, at times, being a little too overexcited about a game in production, announcing features in the game that do not actually end up in the finished product. Despite missing some features Molyneux promised for the original Fable, the end result proved to be a hit with Xbox gamers, selling more than two million copies worldwide.
Fable II released for the Xbox 360 in 2008; is it a worthy successor to the original? For the most part, yes.
The game takes place 500 years after the events of the original Fable. Albion has changed quite a bit in these years, and the world has not known of a Hero for centuries.
After selecting from a male or female character, the game begins with your avatar as a child, a street urchin living hand-to-mouth with his (or her) sister. Your character has no name, just the nickname of "Sparrow."
The opening of the game serves as a tutorial, guiding the player through the (mostly) intuitive controls. One new feature in the game is the introduction of "glowing bread crumb" trail which guides the player where they need to go. This option can be disabled for the more adventurous player, but I never found the trail to be distracting, and certainly made it easier for me to head off in some other direction to explore before resuming whatever quest I was on.
The opening segment ends with the introduction of the game's antagonist, Lord Lucien, who of course is plotting to take over the world. Lucien kills your sister, and attempts to kill you, but as it turns out, you have the blood of a Hero flowing through you, and survive.
Article comments