Fable II

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Title	Fable II
Series	Fable
Developer	Lionhead Studios
Composer	Danny Elfman, Russell Shaw
Publisher	Microsoft Game Studios
Engine	Proprietary (graphics)Havok (physics)}}

}}}} |genre = Action RPG, sandbox |modes = Single-player, cooperative gameplay |ratings = |platforms = Xbox 360 |media = DVD-DL |requirements = |input = Gamepad }}

Fable II is an action role-playing game (RPG) in the Fable game series developed by Lionhead Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360. The sequel to Fable and , it was originally announced in 2006 and released in October 2008. A compilation of the game, and its two downloadable content packs, was released on October 7, 2009, titled the "Game of the Year" edition.

The game takes place in the fictional land of Albion, five hundred years after Fable's original setting, in a colonial era resembling the time of highwaymen or the Enlightenment. Guns are still primitive, and large castles and cities have developed in the place of towns. Unlike the original, the player may choose to be either male or female, while also choosing a character's sexuality, allowing for marriage and sexual liaisons with male and female NPCs.

Creative Director Peter Molyneux played a major role in presenting this game to the public, as he did in the lead-up to the release of the original Fable.

Gameplay

There are both interactive and non-interactive cutscenes in the game. According to Lionhead Studios, the non-interactive cutscenes consume less than five minutes of game time.

In the fully interactive cutscenes a player can use their expressions during the dialogue or even run away from the scene, thus skipping it; afterward the player can return to the cutscene location to start it again. If the player runs away from a cutscene which contains important information, the character will await the player's return.

The player's companion is a dog which the player befriends as a child. This dog follows the player almost all of the time during the game. The dog can learn tricks, fight enemies and find treasure, and lead the way to quest objectives (when required, though this is rare; typically the player is led to objectives via a sparking gold "bread crumb" trail). It can also aid in combat situations by attacking downed enemies. The dog cannot be killed, but can become injured and ineffective, requiring healing by the player.

The appearance of their dog will also mirror the player's choices and changes color depending on the player's alignments; if the player is neutral it will remain gray, being good will turn the dog's coat to golden and evil will turn it to black. There are no other animals in the game, a fact commented on by one NPC who notices the oddness of carriages with no horses.

In the downloadable content "See the Future", it is possible to change the dog's breed with potions. The three choices are Dalmatian, Bloodhound and Husky.

Family and relationships

In Fable II, it is possible for the player's character to get married (including same-sex marriage) and have children. Divorce with the player's spouse can occur, and can be initiated by either the spouse or the player themselves. As with a real family, time spent around and interacting with them will keep the bond between them strong and reduce the chance of them leaving. It is also possible to become widowed through the death of a partner.

The relationships, as in the original Fable, are initiated by flirting, gift-giving, and the common expression. By performing a potential mate's favourite expressions, or giving them their preferred gifts, they will become infatuated more easily. Beyond a certain level of interest (or payment, in the case of prostitute characters), a character may proposition the player for sex. Unprotected sex may lead to the birth of a child, but can also lead to sexually transmitted disease, though this does not affect the player in any way. If the player has purchased or found a condom, they will have the option of protected sex, though one is not required for gay sex. No sex is actually shown, the screen is black when the option is selected.

Character morphing

Fable II enhances the system of morphing one's character based on their actions as introduced in Fable. Character morphing revolves around two major alignment scales: Good and Evil, and Purity and Corruption.

Good players will enable a pleasant looking Hero, with tanned skin and light hair, while evil players will have a more frightening look, with pale skin and black hair. Pure players will find that their hero will have a clear complexion and a halo, while corrupt players will find their hero with a flawed complexion and horns. These scales are independent of one another, meaning that it is possible to be both good and corrupt simultaneously or any other variation.

Also related to character morphing is the character's slimness or fatness, determined by what foods the player eats; fruits and vegetables (mainly celery), make the player thinner, while alcohol, meat and pies make the player fatter. In addition, fruits and vegetables give the player purity points (because no animals are harmed in their creation/consumption), while meats and alcohol give the player corruption points (because animals were harmed in their creation/consumption and they can cause drunkenness, respectively). This has no effect on game play other than attractiveness or the lack thereof in the eyes of NPCs.

Leveling up stats also will alter the player character's appearance. Increasing the Physique level will make the Hero more muscular. Increasing the Skill stat will make the Hero taller. A high level of will power and spells create glowing blue markings, called Will Lines, all over the body.

Jobs

Unlike Fable, the player does not acquire money through doing quests, but by doing jobs around Albion. These are Blacksmith, Woodcutter, Bartender, Assassin, Civilian Displacement (Slaving) and Bounty Hunting. The first three involve correctly pressing the A button during certain times, and the last three are combat related. The jobs become available depending on how much renown the player has and story progression. The trade skill jobs can be done over and over again for a certain number of days, but the sidequest jobs are single use, requiring the player to wait for another task to become available. The trade skills can be leveled up to five stars via promotions, allowing for more money to be made.

Recreation

Exploration plays a primary role in the game. Like the original Fable, game play is very linear, however main story-advancing missions may be performed whenever the player chooses and there are additional missions that do not affect the storyline. The player may also choose to perform any of the many different jobs, gambling-based mini-games, participating in the arena-style minigame called the Crucible, explore dungeons, tombs, and caves, or roam the countryside. The player may even choose to kill innocents in town. All of these optional diversions can result in rewards for the player in the form of additional wealth, items, experience points, or character-altering attributes. Exploration is essential to discovering much of the game's hidden content, in the form of 51 silver keys, special treasure chests, 9 Demon Doors, and 50 gargoyles that can be destroyed.

Co-operative play

Players are able to drop in and out of other players' games at will. The host player can set certain rules; e.g. how loot gained is split between the players and if friendly fire is active. The joining player cannot load their custom hero; they must select a premade male or female character. This "henchman" cannot buy property or gamble in their friend's world, nor can he/she accept quests. Co-op can be achieved through Xbox Live, System Link, and by playing on a single console.

Fable II did not ship with online cooperative, but a free patch has been available from Xbox Live since the European and American release date which adds this functionality. Without the patch, players cannot play online due to being disconnected from Xbox Live.

On July 14, 2008 at E3 2008 lead designer Peter Molyneux demonstrated 'Albion Orbs'. These orbs show where other players are in their worlds and allows bringing them into their world to co-op with. Only orbs for friends are initially viewable, with all players viewable if an in-game setting is changed. Online chat is automatically enabled between players that can see each others' orbs.

While on the same console, a second player with their own account can drop in and out as a "henchman" to the first player. If the second player on the same console does not have an account of their own, the henchman is made in a brief character-creation screen that pauses the game. Henchmen created this way are not saved into the main player's game. The first player also decides how much bounty the henchman will obtain, e.g. gold and experience. The second player will also be able to port any experience, renown and gold to their own Fable II Hero via a memory card if they have imported their character and not created the henchman from scratch. Also, it is possible to use a profile on the Xbox 360 itself to create a henchman, the earned gold and experience being transferred there.

Synopsis

Setting

Like the first game, Fable II takes place in the land of Albion, about 500 years later in a setting resembling the early modern period. The Heroes' Guild no longer exists; after the defeat of Jack of Blades, Albion entered a period of relative safety and stability during which the increasingly corrupt Heroes were no longer needed. Ultimately the people of Albion revolted against the Guild and destroyed it. Firearms of exotic design now dominate the art of war. Cities such as Bowerstone have now greatly expanded, and the old ideas and religions of medieval Albion have since been ousted by modern ideals of science and philosophy.

There are fewer locations than in the first game, however they have been expanded upon greatly. The islands of Witchwood and Hook Coast, as well as the Northern Waste have been rendered inaccessible. There are also many references to the land of Samarkand in the game, though the player never travels there. At the beginning of the player's childhood, they start out in Bowerstone's slums, then grow up in a Gypsy camp near Bower Lake.

The world in Fable II is fully dynamic, interactive and mostly free roaming with no set quest path to take. Since the game takes place over a hero's lifetime, many things can change; Molyneux gave an example of a trade camp that the player could either help or destroy. Trading in such camps would increase their profit, resulting in a small town growing around them.

Additionally, every accessible property (those that can be entered by the player) in the world can be purchased (except for the Tattered Spire), and ownership of unique buildings can unlock further quests. In addition to purchasing and renting homes, businesses and stalls are now available for purchase. These businesses produce income for the player every 5 minutes, depending on the quality of the business, the economy level of the town, and the opinion of the shop owner for the player (A shopkeeper with a high opinion will work harder), and the rent or goods prices set by the player; this happens even while the Xbox 360 is turned off. Rent is also accumulated every 5 minutes. Also, if the player visits his own shops, the quality of their goods will improve, and improve the quality of the store. Players are able to furnish the houses with furniture and other items available for sale. In addition, titles will be awarded for buying property; if one were to buy every building and piece of land in a town he/she may become the mayor of that town; owning more land leads to higher titles such as king/queen, and eventually Emperor of the entire land of Albion. Players can become more Pure by setting prices and rent low, or more Corrupt by increasing them.

The environment in Fable II features trees with branches and leaves that are individually animated according to their own physics, each tree having roughly 120,000 leaves. There are also around 15 million poppies in Albion.

Characters

Fable II includes various characters both new and old to the series. These include;

The Hero of Bowerstone: The game's protagonist who is destined to bring together the Heroes of Strength, Will and Skill to stop Lucien from using the Spire. At the start of the game, the hero is known as Little Sparrow (Sparrow when the Hero reaches adulthood). Early in the adventure, the hero meets a dog, which will remain loyal for years. It is implied that The Hero is a descendant of the Hero of Oakvale, the protagonist from the original Fable, and the younger brother of Theresa.

Theresa (Zoë Wanamaker): A blind Seeress whom the player first meets in Old Town in his/her youth, she encourages Rose to buy the magic box. She is the same Theresa from the previous game, apparent because of her abilities acquired through the Will, her blindness, her casual mention of Oakvale being "Different than when she'd last seen it" when it had been destroyed several hundred years prior to the beginning of the game, and her knowledge of the Oakvale hero. In the game guide, Art Director John McCormack reveals that it is the same Theresa in both games: "We used a few hooks and links to the original Fable in the sequel. One of the main ones was the use of Theresa, who was the Hero's blind sister in Fable. She is now a strange, ageless, wandering fortune teller in Albion who acts as the player's guide throughout the game... but there's more to her than a simple tutorial, quest giving device... she has secrets and her motives aren't particularly clear."

Rose (Gemma Boyle): An orphan and older sister of the Hero. Barely surviving on the streets of Bowerstone, she holds little faith in anything, and vehemently believes there to be no such thing as magic. However, this changes when Theresa tells her that a musical box may indeed be magic. She is shot and killed by Lord Lucien at the end of the childhood section of the game, and though she had heroic blood, like the player's character, she is not one of the three, although the hero is the Fourth. If the player chooses the "Love" ending, it is implied that Rose is also resurrected along with Sparrow's family and dog, and that she is with a mysterious man whose name she can't remember despite having been told it, and whose appearance is implied to be similar to that of Scythe.

Lord Lucien (Oliver Cotton): The main villain of the story and Lord of Bowerstone. Lucien's wife and daughter died some years prior to the beginning of the game, filling him with fear. His quest to control the Spire is believed by some to be motivated by the desire to resurrect his family. At the end he is killed by either Reaver or the Hero before he can activate the Spire. His madness seems to have been known about by others than the four heroes and Theresa, as there was a controversial book written about his state of mind.

Sister "Hammer" Hannah (Julia Sawalha): The Hero of Strength, she is the daughter of the Abbot at the Temple of Light in Oakfield. Despite being known for her incredible strength, she starts the game as a pacifist, as per the beliefs of her religious order. However, she soon changes and joins the Hero's quest to stop Lucien after one of his men kills her father. Although she is always ready to fight she eventually realizes that it is causing violence which makes her sick. At the end of the game she chooses to leave Albion to go study with the Warrior Monks in the north. She always has the best intentions, and wishes peace for the world.

Garth (Ron Glass): The Hero of Will, he was previously associated with Lucien, but after learning of Lucien's malicious intentions, violently leaves him to reside in Brightwood. An incredibly powerful will user, he is a scholar of the Old Kingdom, delving into the history and learning much of the will. At the end of the game he returns to Samarkand, an unseen land and his home country.

Reaver (Stephen Fry): The Hero of Skill and the ruler of Bloodstone; he is vain, selfish, and arrogant, and is only concerned with himself. He is also bisexual as evidenced by mentions of his former partner, Andrew. Having worked his way up the ranks of Bloodstone as a pirate, his excellent skill with a pistol has served him well. He often tricks or coerces others to do his bidding, and has very little patience. In his youth he sold the population of Oakvale to the Shadow Court for eternal youth, being over two hundred years old by the time the story begins. At the end of the game he goes to Samarkand with Garth, though Garth warns him to keep his distance. He later makes a reappearance in Fable III.

Lady Grey: The evil Mayor of Bowerstone from the first Fable game, she cameos in a quest where an admirer desires to reassemble and reanimate her (her body having been dismembered and buried in multiple places by witch hunters). If this optional quest is completed, she is brought back to life. The player can choose to allow her to elope with her admirer or marry her, breaking the man’s heart. When she comes to life again she is immortal and can’t be harmed, and she can have children with a male hero.

Plot

The game begins in the city of Bowerstone, where the protagonist, a young child known as Sparrow (the player is able to select its gender) lives in poverty with his or her older sister, Rose, and dreams about living in Castle Fairfax, the home of Lord Lucien. Their fantasies are cut short when they hear a commotion down at the market. A man who goes by the name of Mystical Murgo is selling 'magical' wares, such as a mirror that makes one beautiful (though only in complete darkness) and a magic box that grants a wish. Rose scoffs at the idea of magic, but an old woman named Theresa tells her otherwise, suggesting it may in fact be magic.

Interested and curious, Rose and her sibling, Sparrow, decide to collect the five coins required for the box, doing odd jobs such as collecting warrants and posing for a photograph. During this time, they discover a dog getting abused by a bully. When they finally collect the money needed, they buy the box and wish that they could live in Castle Fairfax. The box then disappears in a flash of light, apparently not working. Dismayed, the two go to their hovel and discover the dog waiting for them.

In the middle of the night, they are awakened by a guard, who escorts them to Castle Fairfax on Lord Lucien's order. Overjoyed that their wish came true, the two follow eagerly. After meeting Lord Lucien and telling him of the box, he asks them to step in a circle on the floor. A blue light emits from the edge of the circle, and to Lucien's anger turns red upon his touch. Proclaiming that they are not any of the three, and one of them is the fourth, he shoots Rose, and afterward shoots Sparrow, who falls out of the window.

Upon waking up, Sparrow learns that he or she had survived the fall due to his or her heroic line, and was rescued by Theresa and the dog. Ten years later, Lucien has been rebuilding the Tattered Spire, which grants the user enormous power. Sparrow is told by the elderly woman that they are the descendant of a great hero, and destined to bring Lucien's downfall. However, Sparrow must first find three heroes in order to defeat Lucien with their combined powers. Given the quest to stop Lucien's plans, the Hero begins a great journey. He or she travels to Oakfield and finds Hammer, a monk who is upset at the fact she is not allowed to fight. When she turns out to be the Hero of Strength, she accompanies the Hero on his or her journey.

Then they set out to find the Hero of Will, Garth. When the Hero goes to his tower, they witnesses Garth's capture. He or she then becomes a guard in the Spire for ten years before they can rescue Garth. When they do, he kills the prison's warden then proceeds to the Hero of Skill, Reaver.

Reaver, who is a former pirate living in Bloodstone, tells the Hero to take a Dark Seal to his 'friends' in Wraithmarsh (the region surrounding and including the long-destroyed Oakvale from the original Fable). The Seal turns out to be an item marking its bearer for sacrifice to the Court of Shadows so that Reaver can be young forever. The Hero has a choice of sacrificing his or her youth, or the youth of a young woman who is trapped in the Court.

The Hero returns to Reaver at his mansion when Lucien and his army attack, brought by Reaver who wished to collect the bounty on the Hero. When Reaver learns that Lucien will also kill him, however, they escape together through a tunnel and Theresa convinces Reaver to join them until Lucien is defeated.

The Heroes perform a ritual on the hill above the old Guild of Heroes, but Lucien attacks them in the middle of the ritual, killing the Hero's dog and the Hero before capturing the others.

The Hero is taken to a dream-like paradise where he or she, transformed back into a child, spends a day playing with their sister, Rose. Once night falls, however, otherworldly music begins to play and, forcing through his or her nightmares with their sister pleading for them to stay, the Hero acquires the music box from the beginning of the game. They are taken to the Spire where the Heroes are having their power absorbed by Lucien. The Hero defeats Lucien with the music box and then may shoot him, though delaying this too long will cause Reaver to revive and shoot Lucien instead, sarcastically asking the player if he or she had wanted to do that.

When Lucien dies, Theresa appears and grants the Hero one of three wishes: "Sacrifice", to resurrect the thousands of people killed in building by the Tattered Spire, but not their loved ones; "Love", to resurrect their dog, sister, and if the Hero was married, his or her family, killed by Lucien while the Hero recruited Reaver; or "Wealth", the gift of 1,000,000 gold pieces delivered to the Guild Cave. Afterward, Hammer either congratulates or admonishes the player based on his or her choice and alignment, then the Heroes part ways and Theresa tells the player that Albion is his or hers to enjoy, but warns them that the Spire is hers. Only the "Love" ending allows post-credits play with the dog, though the "Knothole Island" DLC allows the player to resurrect the dog at Cheet-Ur's Crypt if one of the other endings is chosen.

In the DLC See The Future, the hero visits the spire once again, this time Theresa shows the hero a vision of the future. The vision shows the hero as King or Queen of Albion, this also hints towards Fable III as Theresa mentions that the child in the crib by the throne will become a great hero.

Marketing

Tales of Albion

Lionhead Studios released a section on their website entitled "Tales of Albion", which provides a back-story to Fable, Fable: The Lost Chapters, and Fable II. In "Fragments of the Old Kingdom", it details how the Archon came to power in Albion, and how the Heroes' Guild was founded. "Tales" also chronicles the end of the Heroes and ruin of their Guild in "Fall of the Heroes", and "Travels in Today's Albion" (which has been completed since its release) describes where some places are and has a little description of each notable area/artifact.

Online competitions

Just as Lionhead has done with The Movies, online competitions were made available through Lionhead's forums. One such competition was naming a title to be used in the game, similar to the first game wherein a character was addressed by various titles that the character purchased from a "Title Vendor" Lionhead has stated these titles will be bought but they have to be earned first. They are bought from a town crier in Fable II; the winning title was Lionheart, which can be bought for 2000 gold or earned for free by winning in The Crucible. An "insult the hero" competition is also taking place and the winner is yet to be announced. On May 30, Lionhead held a competition for artwork that would be used in the game; there has been no winner announced to date.

Video diaries

On May 24, 2007, episode one of The Lionhead Diaries, examining the love and emotion aspect of Fable II was released. On July 30, 2007, episode two was released, highlighting the one-button in combat system, and featured the Lionhead staff playing a game of football against fellow Microsoft satellite Rare and winning. It also included a professional combat specialist instructing the animation staff. and features a new map, with new items and quests. The DLC includes 3 new achievements worth 100 points. A free update allows players who haven't purchased "Knothole Island" to still play online with others who did. "Knothole Island" is available for 800 Microsoft Points. The DLC has received average reviews by critics, who praised the overall quality of the new items, and the production values of the island itself, but have criticized the shortness of the quest.

The second DLC, "See the Future", includes the ability to change the player's dog's breed. It was released May 12, 2009 The DLC includes a quest based around three cursed items from Murgo the Trader. In addition to these new quests and items, one new area is included and players have the ability to change the breed of their dog as well as the ability to get their dog back if players chose not to resurrect their dog at the end of the main storyline. The DLC includes 13 new achievements worth 250 points. The DLC was met with positive criticism: "[See The Future] should be an essential purchase for Fable fans. It doesn't change things enough to win over anyone who didn't enjoy the main game, but as an expansion it extends the game in ways that are certainly worth experiencing."

As of September 2009, the entire Fable II game is available for download through Microsoft's Xbox Live Game Marketplace. When first released, the downloadable version of the game was broken up into 5 game episodes that play identical to the disc version of the game, and the first episode of the game was free to download, while Episodes 2, 3, 4, and 5 could be purchased within the game. Any player who purchased the disc version after the first episode can transfer all save data. Currently, only the entire game can be purchased, and Episode 1 is no longer available as a demo. The downloadable version features the complete version of the disc-based game, as well as full compatibility with the previously released game add-ons, "Knothole Island" and "See the Future".

On September 7, 2009, a compilation of the Fable II disc with all the downloadable content was made available in Europe, sold as "Fable II - Game of the Year Edition".

Limited Edition

Before the game was released, there was a production problem resulting in the Hobbe figurine, special box, and fate cards being removed from the collectors edition package. Due to the loss of these items, the suggested retail price was decreased to the normal game price in some stores. As an apology, Lionhead Studios created a free music album available for download over the Internet (not Xbox Live) that contains several songs from Fable and three songs from Fable II, as well as printable pdf versions of the fate cards to be released. There was another supply chain issue that occurred in North America that caused some Limited Edition games not to have the token card for in-game content.

A Limited Edition was available on release date with the following extra features:

Alternative packaging including cardboard slip cover

1 token card code for in-game content (downloaded over Xbox Live)

Bonus disc containing the "Making of Fable II"

There was also a 2nd European release of the Limited Edition game which featured the extra features minus the token card code for downloadable content.

Technical issues

A number of users, writing on the Fable II message board, have experienced technical issues with the game. The most notable were the freezing, and progression bugs.

Reception

Critics generally gave the game positive reviews citing its adherence to the original's recipe, while praising the changes that redefined the game system. As of November 6, 2008, Fable II displays an overall score of 89% on review aggregate website Metacritic, and 88.7% on GameRankings.

Gamepositive gave the game 2.5 stars out of 5, citing "show-stopping bugs" in the game and that "the prevalence of online access is not an excuse to release broken content and fix it later." They commented on the "ingenuity and artistry" in Fable II but stated that "the carelessness of Fable II's execution is an insult to what it could have been."

Eurogamer welcomed the "bread crumb" trail feature in the game, "as leads you ever onwards to your next objective, but even though you can't get lost it still allows for deep exploration." OXM lauded the game as "probably the most consistent sequel ever made" and suggested combat is "great when you're winning and nothing but irritating when you're losing."

There are currently no plans to release Fable 2 on the PC.

Awards

IGN Best of 2008:

*Best Original Score (Xbox 360)

X-play's Best Game of 2008 award

Joystiq's Best Game of 2008 award

Best Action and Adventure Game of 2008, British Academy Video Games Awards

Sales

According to NPD, the game attained the status of best-selling title in the United States across all platforms for its debut month of October 2008 with 790,000 copies sold. Such sales volume occurred despite the game's release on October 21, consequently allowing only nine days of sales before the end of the month. The game was a success, and, with approximately 3.5 million copies sold as of March 11, 2010, it is a best-selling RPG title for Xbox 360.

Sequels

Fable III was officially announced at Gamescom on August 19, 2009. It was released on Xbox 360 in October 2010.

References

External links

Official UK website

Official U.S. website

Developer website

Video diary site

Category:2008 video games Category:Action role-playing video games Category:Lionhead Studios games Category:Lua-scripted video games Category:Microsoft games Category:Video game sequels Category:Video games with expansion packs Category:Xbox 360-only games Category:Xbox 360 games Category:Open world video games Category:Video games developed in the United Kingdom