Like a good book, a great movie, a meaningful song, or that Mexican meal from last night, Peter Molyneaux wanted the player to take something away from Fable 2 long after the game is complete.
When they were creating the sequel to Fable, Peter told us that the good folk at Lionhead Studios began with a shopping list. They then proceeded to boil it down, over and over, until they had only three things on the list - three things which they believed would make the sequel stand out in a crowd of good video games.
The first of these is drama. Peter told us how he recalled spending the afternoon on the driving storyline behind a game - they spent as long on the storyline for Fable as they did actually making it.
Peter went on to say that the biggest claim that Fable 2 can make is that it will make you care. This is a bold claim to make against a legion of gamers numbed by video game violence. To help Lionhead achieve such a feat, they have given you - drumroll please - a dog. Like it or not, you’re also stuck with it for the rest of the game. The dog is there for the player to care about something - or not. Treat it right and it will be like Goose to your Maverick, attacking enemies who are a threat to you and helping you seduce civilian defence contractors. Early on in the demo, I found a ball which I could hold out to the dog and throw in a game of fetch - provided he wanted to play.
You see, that’s one of the more brilliant aspects of the Fable series. Peter Molyneaux seems to enjoy developing games with a litmus test quality to them. Remember Black and White? Alignment morphing not only applies to your appearance, it applies to Rover as well. Playing goody-two-shoes by saving people and being nice will have your dog looking like Lassie. Playing naughty by killing innocent villagers and catching STDs from unprotected sex will give you a hellhound.
I suppose, if you are frustrated and you are evil enough, you can always kick it.
There’s a palpable sense of “life” to the world of Fable 2. If you act like a jerk by attacking a villager, they won’t like you. Make a big enough jerk out of yourself by using too much armed aggression and the town guard comes for you. You can be an outlaw, if you so choose. Conversely, you can also bring riches and prosperity to a town. You see, part of the drama in Fable 2 is the fact that your actions aren’t sitting on rails. When you choose, it makes a difference.
Whether in defence of an innocent villager or razing a village, combat comes into play. Combat in Fable 2 has been modified to a single-button system, and Peter tells us that they went in this direction so that even casual gamers feel like a great hero. There is a single button for melee, a single button for ranged attacks, and a single button for magic. Flashy, well-timed kills sometimes yields the ubiquitous slo-mo death scene, but the combat felt like it still needed some tuning - you certainly can’t switch between a ranged attack and a melee attack as fluidly as a certain red-trenchcoated half-demon.
Button mashing seemed to be the best method to get along if you don’t feel like collecting orbs. But as you level up and customize your character, you can work more subtlety into the combat adding more “swash” to the player’s “buckle”.
Peter goes on to say that the ability to share the experience is another key feature of Fable 2. A friend can come in at any time, hit “start”, and be in the thick of whatever tomfoolery you’ve been up to. There’s also an online mechanic for online play goodness. The only thing that the second player doesn’t have is a trusty mutt by his side. Aside from having a second sword at your side, co-op play also lets you tag-team an enemy. Pulling off slicker kills such as launching an enemy in the air (with a nice flourish animation) while your team mate blasts them like so much Duck Hunt will result in bigger glowing reward orbs. And as all gamers know, bigger is better. A “henchman” as the second player is called, can open up side quests and hit on the local women or men.
Molyneaux’s presentation of Fable 2 felt too brief, but only because there isn’t that much time when it’s the last day of E3. The demo also didn’t give us enough chance to play with the alignment of our character, but the element of “choices” in the game is definitely intriguing.
If you decide to play Fable 2 when it gets released this October, how will you choose to roll?
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Want more? Check out the official E3 2008 trailer over at GP Downloads!
