Whether good or evil, you are always accompanied by your faithful pooch.  Name him as you choose, berate him, love and cherish him, ignore him, you can act how you want with your dawg. Your actions also have a direct impact on your mutt. Mine had started with a handsome coat when I was virtuous, but after my killing spree and other subsequent misdemeanours he resembled a flea-ridden tramp's accomplice. All that was missing was a ‘no home and hungry’ sign hanging from his neck. I felt truly guilty and I have to admit I had formed a relationship with my four-legged pal. Whether or not everyone will bond with their pixellated furry friend remains to be seen - some may view him as a pain in the proverbial. But I was drawn to my ‘Bugger’ (in hindsight probably not the best name for a pet… Bugger the dog anyone?) and he does have his uses, as he can sniff out treasure for you to dig up and gets better at this as the game progresses. Although I found him somewhat flagging in combat, more often than not finding the poor fellah limping around after my more energetic battles, of which there are plenty.

Combat and stating up is a straight forward simple affair. Your hero has three basic attacks: melee, ranged and magical assigned to the X, Y and B buttons respectively. These also represent your three skill classes: strength, skill and will. Equip a cutlass and you press X to attack with it, equip a crossbow and fire it with Y, equip a spell and cast it with B. Simple. Maybe too simple. You do not consume ammo or any kind or magic points when using skill and will attacks, so more often than not during the heat of battle you end up button mashing. To stat up, you gain orbs from fallen victims that correspond to the colour of the buttons on the controller. Use more strength/melee attacks you get more blue orbs etc. These orbs can then be used to boost up your three skill classes, opening up more combos, better aim, more devastating spells and so on. This does mean as the game goes on you acquire better moves and abilities, but it does not detract from the fact that the combat and stat system all seems a little too effortless. It seems that Lionhead was trying to make this game accessible to everyone. My nine-year-old could deal with this, whilst if I tried to explain to her Oblivion’s stat system, I think her head would implode.

Graphically, the world of Albion is a beautiful place. There are some stunning vistas to take in on your travels and the attention to detail is great. The character customisation options and the diverse range of NPCs you encounter all add to the game. The sound is nothing to be sniffed at either -  it is beautifully rendered from the subtle unobtrusive background music to the rousing battle tunes as danger approaches or you engage in combat. The voice acting is equally impressive; the yokels are forever spouting amusing dialogue in stereotypical but hilarious regional British accents. Stephen Fry and Zoe Wannamaker even make appearances lending weight to the aural experience, voicing two of the major characters that make up the world of Albion.

There is a lot more to talk about, but that would inevitably lead to spoilers. The main mission is on the short side (10 to 15 hours should see you safely through without much grief), but take your time and breathe in the sights, sounds and people of Albion and this will be substantially lengthened. The multiplayer unfortunately is a conundrum to me, as far as I am aware you can hop into other peoples worlds and play as a henchman (after all it is there world) although all the experience, gold and items you gain get transferred to your hero on your return to your game. This is achieved by turning on the show orb option in the menu. These orbs represent other players on your friend list or set it to show everybody. You then can approach an orb and if they accept you can jump into their game. I tried, but when I had the orb option on I had was a lot of other journalists following me around seeing what I was up to. I blew a number of farts in their direction courtesy of my expression wheel, then gave up and turned the option off. Once it’s up and ‘live’ properly things may be different. However, Fable II’s replay value resides in the excellent game design and choice that it offers the gamer. Play through as a goody two shoes, then go back and do it all again as a bona fide psychopath. The scope is endless.   

Comment

Add a comment using your Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Google or OpenID accounts.
blog comments powered by Disqus