Fable 2 Member Review for the Xbox360

Fable 2 is the long awaited sequel everyones talking about. Along the way Fable 2 has gotten alot of hype,espicialy by me because I was such a fan of the first. And believe me it does not let you down.

Campaign/Story

5/5

Fable 2 picks up 500 years after the original. You start off playing as a mere child (male or female) with your older sister. The two of you live in the slums of Bowerstone by yourselves and try to maintain something of a life. One day a merchant comes to town carrying "magical" items, one of which being a music box that could grant one wish to its user. You and your sister doubt its powers at first but a mysterious stranger convinces you that it could be worth looking into. After you do some work for gold you eventually buy it and wish to live in a castle. Sure enough at nightfall, a few guards come to you and say that the owner of the local castle, Lord Lucien, wishes to speak with them. Once they enter the castle, Lord Lucien runs a test to see if you are "the ones". Upon the strange result, Lucien panics and kills your sister and you. It turns out your a Hero, and so is the mysterious stranger named Theresa who convinced you to get the music box. Now, you are living to avenge your sisters murder. Overall the story is very well done, with many plot twists and great acting.

Audio

5/5

The audio in Fable 2 is absolutly beautiful. Danny Elfman makes his triumphant return to the series and compiles great music once again. The voice acting too is great. They have there serious moments and of course the humor Fable is famous for. The in-game music really gets you into the mood. Whenever you get into a fight, you really feel enaged into it. All the sound effects sound perfect. The clanking sounds of swords hitting each other, the sense of power from the guns and the pure amazing sound of Will all together sound very good.This could very well be the best audio put together for a video game.

Graphics

4.5/5

The graphics for Fable 2 are also stunning. You could very easily just spend time gazing at the beautiful surrondings and not even play the story. All the creatures get a brand new graphical  update, most notably the Earth Troll. All the creatures have their own distinct look and for the mostpart look great. The effects from the spells look amazing, espicially when you get it fully upgraded. Even though the graphics get alot of glamour, it does have its flaws. I found some areas where the side quests took place looked too generic. For example. alot of the forest areas look identical almost to the point I would de ja vu almost everytime I went there. This is not a big negative but still important enough to mention.

Gameplay

5/5

The gameplay in Fable 2 is one of the most oustanding Ive seen in a long time. The controls get a drastic makeover from the original. All the weapons are assigned to a seperate button which allows you to pull of various combo's. I havent seen such great controls since Assassins Creed. Fable 2 is also one of the most free roaming games out there. You can honestly just roam around and find out new quests. Since there is no Heroes Guild in Fable 2, you have to do jobs around town such as blacksmithing,bounty hunting,bartending and others. This all works very well and is a great change of pace from other RPG's.  Fable 2 also has a great morality aspect to it. Depending on the in-game desicions you make, your appearence changes. Also your choices affect parts of Albion. This is all very effective and very original.

Online

3.5/5

For such an innovative game, I was dissapointed with its online play. The aspect of co-op is very good but it seems rushed. A secondary player can join your game at any time via Xbox Live but theres not too much to it. The second player gets a choice of default models and basicly follows the host's character around. It wouldve been nice to see some different modes for online like an arena where players could compete against each other or perhaps objective based games. Even though these are just idea's, the co-op does work well but its just lacking what some other games have.

Overall A-

Fable 2 is deffintly a must buy for RPG fans and fans of the series. This game supplies many hours of enjoyment even after the main story is finished. I highly recommend this game.