Fable II Review
For those interested, my wife has a pdg review at Asserting Reality.
Immersion:
Pros: I was initially skeptical about the economic system in Fable II, but the ability to take a job (and the jobs themselves) was strangely addictive early on in the game. By halfway through I had become a 5-star woodcutter, blacksmith, and bartender. An easy way to gold if you're willing to sit through very mundame mini-games. Having a job helped immerse me in the world of Albion, and also gave me something to do when I felt like playing the game but not necessarily do questing (something that would be interesting to see added to an Elder Scrolls V, if that ever comes around). Plus, it forces you to interact with the world because the only real way to make big bucks is to invest in real-estate and become a veritable mogul (like my wife :P).
As far as graphics go, the engine seemed relatively stable with little noticeable texture pop-in (not that I'm as sensitive to that as, say, the folks over at IGN). Sound was good, but not terribly involving even in 5.1 digital. The music was decent, but not as period appropriate as had initially been hinted at during the trailers with the heavily classical score in the intro to the game (and while in Castle Fairfax). But then, maybe that's for the better for most players. Definitely NOT a game that wowed me with its sound design.
Cons: A lot of these I mentioned in my last post, so I won't repeat myself. My main issue was the map system.
Replay Value: Practically non-existent. Despite the fact that your hero can evolve in very different ways, there are few truly story-changing choices (and, actually, almost no story at all--especially for an RPG) to make me want to go back and find out what would have happened otherwise. The ability to continue playing in Albion after the "end" is just another knock on replay value.
Balancing: A big negative in Fable II is the utter lack of a difficulty level. If it was challenging, that would be different, but it's not. Enemies scale to some degree, but enemies (and combat) end up being terribly repetitive by the end of the game.
The AI is incredibly stupid. My favorite combo was casting Raise Dead (which draws all the enemies towards my summoned creature, even if they'd already begun attacking me!) and then charging Shock to level 5 (which kills pretty much anything in one shot). Enemies have basically no tactics except running up and starting to hack at you (or your summon). Sometimes I tried different combos not because they were better but simply because I became bored.
Fights largely become a matter of being surrounded by massive numbers time and time again. The rare one-on-one fights are with trolls--and, to be honest, Lionhead found a way to make trolls simultaneously easier and yet much more tedious to fight than in Fable I.
The two main brightspots are the Crucible and the attempt to rescue Garth at Brightwood Tower (both of which are aspects where the combat is actually exciting).
One thing which would have helped was a difficulty level slider a la Oblivion--and Fable II is a stat-heavy enough game that something like that would work quite well.
Final Impression: I definitely have no desire to replay it any time soon (and probably never again). Would I have rather never played it at all? That's a hard question. The weak story and the totally lame, anti-climactic (and quite non-sensical) ending was a huge let down after what was a mostly enjoyable game (until the final few quests--basically everything after meeting Reaver).
I think I'd still have played it, but to get me to play a Fable III, Lionhead has to come up with a more engaging storyline and more variety in combat. And PLEASE! get rid of the stupid social system and abolish marriage. It's sooooo pointless!
One final request: if the Hero has to have allies/sidekicks, either a) make them interesting or b) make them helpful. For example, Garth is supposedly the greatest Will user of all time, but with the exception of one scene in the Tattered Spire, he's basically useless. Same goes for Hammer, and especially for the jag Reaver (god, can I kill him in the next game? Please?!!!)
Immersion:
Pros: I was initially skeptical about the economic system in Fable II, but the ability to take a job (and the jobs themselves) was strangely addictive early on in the game. By halfway through I had become a 5-star woodcutter, blacksmith, and bartender. An easy way to gold if you're willing to sit through very mundame mini-games. Having a job helped immerse me in the world of Albion, and also gave me something to do when I felt like playing the game but not necessarily do questing (something that would be interesting to see added to an Elder Scrolls V, if that ever comes around). Plus, it forces you to interact with the world because the only real way to make big bucks is to invest in real-estate and become a veritable mogul (like my wife :P).
As far as graphics go, the engine seemed relatively stable with little noticeable texture pop-in (not that I'm as sensitive to that as, say, the folks over at IGN). Sound was good, but not terribly involving even in 5.1 digital. The music was decent, but not as period appropriate as had initially been hinted at during the trailers with the heavily classical score in the intro to the game (and while in Castle Fairfax). But then, maybe that's for the better for most players. Definitely NOT a game that wowed me with its sound design.
Cons: A lot of these I mentioned in my last post, so I won't repeat myself. My main issue was the map system.
Replay Value: Practically non-existent. Despite the fact that your hero can evolve in very different ways, there are few truly story-changing choices (and, actually, almost no story at all--especially for an RPG) to make me want to go back and find out what would have happened otherwise. The ability to continue playing in Albion after the "end" is just another knock on replay value.
Balancing: A big negative in Fable II is the utter lack of a difficulty level. If it was challenging, that would be different, but it's not. Enemies scale to some degree, but enemies (and combat) end up being terribly repetitive by the end of the game.
The AI is incredibly stupid. My favorite combo was casting Raise Dead (which draws all the enemies towards my summoned creature, even if they'd already begun attacking me!) and then charging Shock to level 5 (which kills pretty much anything in one shot). Enemies have basically no tactics except running up and starting to hack at you (or your summon). Sometimes I tried different combos not because they were better but simply because I became bored.
Fights largely become a matter of being surrounded by massive numbers time and time again. The rare one-on-one fights are with trolls--and, to be honest, Lionhead found a way to make trolls simultaneously easier and yet much more tedious to fight than in Fable I.
The two main brightspots are the Crucible and the attempt to rescue Garth at Brightwood Tower (both of which are aspects where the combat is actually exciting).
One thing which would have helped was a difficulty level slider a la Oblivion--and Fable II is a stat-heavy enough game that something like that would work quite well.
Final Impression: I definitely have no desire to replay it any time soon (and probably never again). Would I have rather never played it at all? That's a hard question. The weak story and the totally lame, anti-climactic (and quite non-sensical) ending was a huge let down after what was a mostly enjoyable game (until the final few quests--basically everything after meeting Reaver).
I think I'd still have played it, but to get me to play a Fable III, Lionhead has to come up with a more engaging storyline and more variety in combat. And PLEASE! get rid of the stupid social system and abolish marriage. It's sooooo pointless!
One final request: if the Hero has to have allies/sidekicks, either a) make them interesting or b) make them helpful. For example, Garth is supposedly the greatest Will user of all time, but with the exception of one scene in the Tattered Spire, he's basically useless. Same goes for Hammer, and especially for the jag Reaver (god, can I kill him in the next game? Please?!!!)
0 Response to Fable II Review
Post a Comment