Return to Albion

Published October 20, 2008

Celebrated developer Peter Molyneux and Lionhead Studios have returned at last to the land of Albion with Fable® II.

Make time for your adoring fans.

It's been hundreds of years since the events of the first game. Jack of Blades, the Hero's Guild, and the hero himself have all been largely forgotten, buried in legends so rarely told that they have fallen out of general knowledge.

You play young "Sparrow" as he or she (you can play a woman this time) is called by their protective older sister in the opening moments of Fable II. You and your sister have known only hardship in the now sprawling streets of Bowerstone (several times larger than in the original Fable), but soon, both wonder and tragedy strike as you're set on a collision course with fate, fueled by revenge, and tempered by training at the hands of a mysterious seer.

If you rush about town pointing and laughing at children, making lewd gestures at passersby, and getting tanked at the local pub, clearly there's some corruption eating away at you.

Spoiling any more of the story would do the game an injustice. Both the core story line and the ancillary adventures are filled with wit and drama best experienced, not explained.

Albion Style
The world of Albion is one of charming exaggeration. Characters project as much caricature as realism, sound effects are pleasantly over the top, and even the architecture boasts more curves than straight lines.

From the enormous moon dominating the night's sky to the golden fields of Oakvale, the moodily rain-drenched Westcliffe, and the eighteenth-century stylings of Bowerstone, Fable II brims with an aesthetic belonging more to the imagination than the real world.

Accessible Depth
Fable II offers a role-playing experience that strives at every turn to offer the player real depth without burying them under game mechanics. Every feature is easily understood while working brilliantly to add richness to both your own actions and the world around you.

Hobbes never learn.

For example, communicating with residents is handled through expressions rather than rigidly structured dialogue trees. Want to regale a nearby crowd with your most recent exploits? Simply hold a trophy over your head to earn their admiration.

Each combat style (melee, ranged, magic) uses simple one-button mechanics to execute a variety of moves. Want to shoot from the hip? Tap Y. Want to zoom in for a more focused shot? Hold down Y instead. Care to execute a devastating flourish attack? Hold down X instead of tapping it, and press in the direction of the desired enemy.

Even finding your way from place to place is made simpler with the use of the game's magical "breadcrumb" trail. If you can't remember where that blacksmith's store was, or if you're having trouble tracking down the guard that gave you a bounty hunter mission, the breadcrumb trail will lead you to your destination of choice.

Affecting Albion
Even the smallest decisions and actions in Fable II affect you, and how the world perceives you. If you wield your gold to buy houses and jack up the rent, you'll sow the seeds of your own corruption. Alienating your wife until she divorces you will throw a shadow over your reputation. Even something as simple as choosing to eat mutton pies rather than celery (you get fat) changes not just you, but how people see you.

Your actions even help determine what quests you receive or areas to which you have access. Sure, you might be curious what horrors the Temple of Shadows contains, but are you really willing to participate in their gruesome initiation ritual? Similarly, if you plunge those around you into a life of fear, more sinister syndicates may rise in the shadows and offer you access to some truly dark missions.

Looking rather pleased with yourself.

Purity and Corruption
Where the original Fable dealt merely with right and wrong, Fable 2 digs a little deeper, employing a system for purity and corruption as well. Where good and evil are more easily identified, purity and corruption involve more subtle factors.

If you rush about town pointing and laughing at children, making lewd gestures at passersby, and getting tanked at the local pub, clearly there's some corruption eating away at you. Conversely, if you give gifts freely, lower people's rent, lend a helping hand, and otherwise illuminate rather than demean the people, your motives are recognized for their purity of spirit.

Canine Impact
From the moment your hero reaches adolescence, a dog companion accompanies you and does more than just tug at your heartstrings. Your dog clues you in on the environment around you, acting almost as a more organic mini-map. They'll growl when enemies are nearby, scrabble at the earth to highlight a place you can dig to find treasure, and bark and run towards chests you may have missed.

Decapitation by musket ball. Good times, good times.

In one brilliant stroke developer Lionhead Studios has removed all the tedium and random chance normally associated with collecting and world exploration, leaving only the exhilaration of discovery as you enjoy the sights, sounds and adventures of Albion while confident that your faithful pooch will sound the alarm if there's anything of value nearby.

Just as importantly, your dog's behavior is spot-on. From the way he sprints ahead and behind you when you're wandering the world, to teaching him tricks such as fetch, beg, roll over, or play dead, to the way he limps along, paw dangling and whimpering when injured, Lionhead has infused the dog with a real, affecting personality.

A World of Heroes
Provided you're connected to Xbox LIVE® when playing Fable II, you'll spot floating orbs bearing Gamer Pictures zipping about the world. These represent other players playing in precisely the same area as you, and better yet, you can interact with these players.

Give them a gift, trade with them, and even look up their statistics to see, among dozens of other stats, how many times they've been knocked out, how much money they've accrued, how many wives they've had/have, or how evil, good, pure, or corrupt they are.

Best of all, Fable II uses proximity voice chat, so if you're near an orb/player, you can immediately chat with them. Find out what they're up to in the game world, how they beat a certain challenge, or what kinds of choices they've made. It's a simple mechanic, but one that immediately opens the doors to the community.

I feel a dodge coming.

Of course, the choice is yours. You can set the game to show orbs for only your friends, for all Xbox LIVE members, or to show no orbs at all.

A Helping Hand
The player orbs are an ingenious touch, but no doubt many players are going to want to do more than just chat with their friends, exchange items, and check stats. Enter cooperative mode, which allows a friend to join in your world and help you along with your own unique story.

There's only one true hero in Albion though, and when you're playing your hero, that's you. Therefore, when a friend joins to play cooperatively, they'll do so as your henchman. Don't think that means you have control over them though, so be careful that you trust your buddy before introducing them to your hero's family!

Cooperative play will be available offline on the same console on day one, and there's a title update planned within a few short days of the game's launch to add online co-op over Xbox LIVE.

There's just too much to experience in Fable II to begin quantifying even a fraction of the possibilities in a single article, but that's the beauty of this sequel. The world is yours, the story is yours. How will you play?

Article by Ryan Treit