Well, I would have had this out much sooner but I wanted to make sure I did everything I could possibly do in the game. That way, when I say the game sucks later, no one can challenge me on something I didn’t try. Stay with me, Jimbo.
To say the game sucks is a bit unfair. I had a good time playing it for the entire two days it took me to do everything. The game is a good just not spectacular like it was made out to be. When I’m checking out a game sequel there is one key thing that I look for in order to ascertain how good it is. This one thing can make or break a sequel for me and, in this case, it broke it. The main thing I look for is “Was it better than the original?” Fable 2, sadly, isn’t.
The hype involving Fable 2 began circulating well over a year ago. I know Peter Molyneux is famous for making promises he can’t keep but I couldn’t help myself. I got excited. Longer story than the first Fable? Check. More to do? Check. Bigger world to explore? Check. And the grand-daddy of them all….MULTIPLAYER? Check, baby!
Now, here we are post Fable 2 launch and none of those things really appeared or, if they did, they were really crappy versions of the things promised. The story was only longer by barely two hours. So an eight-hour story became a ten-hour story. Well, thanks for going all out there, guys. Really appreciate the hard work and effort it took to add in some crap no one really cares about to extend the story just so you can “truthfully” say it’s longer than the first one. Reeeeeal professional.
The “more to do” aspect became chopping wood and forging weapons. That sounds cool at first until you realize they mean a timed button-pressing mini-game. What does that mean? Watch the bouncing ball in a colored meter and stop the ball inside the colored area when the meter turns green. That’s almost as much fun as clipping my toenails. But only because they also happen to be green.
The bigger world wasn’t really that much bigger. If I had to guess, I’d say they added about 30% to the first world and threw in two very small instanced areas for the “story”. This isn’t something I would normally care about except that the Fable world was pretty freaking small to begin with. Do you know if you add 30% of 3 to 3 you get four? That’s what the bigger world was. A freaking four.
Bear with me here because it’s hard for me to talk about the supposed multiplayer without screaming for Molyneux’s head on a pike. Multiplayer in this game couldn’t suck more if it was a black hole. Player A wants to join Player B’s game. Player B accepts. Player A now has to leave all of his gear and appearance behind while he/she chooses one of a few pre-designed minion characters who are all wearing the coolest clothes in the game. Those clothes are also completely unavailable to you, by the way. Player B can then determine what percentage of his xp and gold he allows Player A to have. Player B is a complete jerk so Player A gets nothing. Player A then spends the next couple of hours following Player B around and killing mobs for him though A will receive nothing for his efforts. Multiplayer in this game is a joke, if jokes were made of feces and thrown at your face.
All in all Fable 2 is a pretty good game, though it doesn’t really stand out any. They even took armor out of the game so you no longer have the option of outfitting your character with extra defense. Awesome. This game is basically the first Fable all over again with a multiplayer thrown in to make you vomit. Save yourself the money and play the first Fable again. You’ll have more fun.
Score 7/10
