Fable 2 is one of those titles that a lot of gamers have been heavily anticipating. Gamers have waited years to get the chance to return to Albion. Set 500 years after the original Fable, Fable 2 begins with you as a child, having only your sister around to protect and provide for you. You will be presented with choices pretty early on that will have a consequence once you become an adult. One such choice has to deal with the criminal element where you live. Are you going to help out the authorities or help out the criminals? Each choice will have a consequence, including how Bowerstone will look when you return as an adult. Throughout your journey you will be presented with choices. Some of your decisions will have a lasting impact on the world of Albion while some other decisions won’t seem to have much consequence at all.

The world of Albion is a beautiful place. Whether it stays that way remains up to you. That also goes along with how you are perceived among the other citizens. Are you an evil person who will terrorize towns and kill innocent people? Are you a hero where you help out the poor and help free people who have been captured? As you go into towns the people will react accordingly. If you are viewed as a hero people want to be around you and shops will be more likely to give you a discount on goods. Once you have enough gold you can buy anything you see from a small cart selling fruit on the side of the road to a house in the middle of a city to a big castle. Once you purchase a business you will receive a regular income during adventures. If you keep your prices low you will help out the economy and everyone will love you. If you raise your prices and try to rip people off, you will slowly become hated and seen as a slumlord.

Throughout all of this you have your faithful companion, your dog. No matter how you treat him, he will always be by your side. He will help you locate treasure chests as well as find spots where you can dig for treasure. As you level him up he will also alert you to impending danger as well as physically helping you to finish off adversaries. Like everything else in the game you can either continually scold your dog or pamper him by complimenting him, giving him treats and also playing with him. He is a faithful companion and will always remain at your side. With that being said the dog is never a nuisance and does a great job of staying out of the way, if that is how you want to play. Lionhead Studios did a fantastic job in creating him and insuring that the gamer will develop some type of connection with your canine companion.

The combat system in Fable 2 also works really well. You can use your melee weapon with the “X” button, your ranged weapon with the “Y” button and cast magic spells with the “B” button. You can mix and match at any time allowing for some really cool looking combos. As you progress you will gain more experience which will allow you to acquire new abilities and spells. You can also either find or purchase books that will teach you new expressions or that could teach your dog new tricks. There is also a safety feature that is turned on by default which won’t allow you to harm innocent people or animals roaming the world. However, if you decide to be evil, you can simply turn this option off and wreak as much havoc as you see fit. Then of course there is the co op feature. This title features both online and offline co op. While this is definitely a cool feature, it does have some flaws. With the offline co op there are obviously two heroes on the same screen. With that being the case the camera is pulled back a little too far. You won’t really be able to zoom in when you would like to. However with that being said one very cool feature is the division of gold and experience. The player who is hosting the session can choose how to divide the gold and experience that is earned. Maybe the only thing you are interested in is gold. If that is the case you can set it up to where you get all the gold but your partner gets all of the experience points.

The social system in Fable 2 is also very intriguing. If someone doesn’t like you for whatever reason you can go up and talk to them and change their opinion. You can either dance in the street to entertain them, give them a thumbs up or do a variety of things to impress them. Conversely you can also do things to get on their bad side. Your character can actually fart as well as perform a number of other rude gestures. You also want to be careful when you are running around other people’s houses. If you come barreling down a staircase and run into someone, their opinion of you could sour. If you choose to, you can also have a family in this game. You can flirt with someone and invite them back to your place. Your character can get married and the two of you can have sex and have a baby. Yes, there are condoms you can buy in Fable 2 and if you have unprotected sex you can acquire a STD and/or get someone pregnant. As your baby grows up he will worship you. You can come home from a long adventure and your kid will be thrilled to see you.

Overall, Fable 2 is a fantastic game. Lionhead did a great job in bringing the world of Albion to life on the XBox360 and you could spend many, many hours simply exploring the world of Albion. The “bread crumb” trail concept is also a thing of brilliance. You can explore the world at any time and go anywhere without the risk of getting lost. Whenever you are ready to continue on with your quest, simply follow the trail to the next destination. Combat works really well and the world definitely feels alive. It feels like things are happening, even when you are not there. Fable 2 is one title among many this holiday season but be sure to give this one a try. For gamers who enjoy RPG titles, you will get a kick out of how deep this game can be. If you are brand new to the genre, you can also play this game as casually as you would like without getting overwhelmed.

Score: 9/10

Originally posted on Totally Gaming Network