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Game Played: Fable 2
Played on: Xbox 360
Person Playing It: Jaye Scott

One brilliant thing about Fable 2 is the amount of control you have over what type of hero your character will be. You can be good or evil, corrupt or pure all depending on your actions. For example; you can donate money to the Temple of Light to become good and sacrificing to the Temple of Shadows will make you evil. I found it incredibly difficult to be a good character in Fable 2, how can you resist all of Albion’s temptations? There is a consequence however. If your character is evil and corrupt, they develop a bad completion and horns although I always thought that the horns looked pretty awesome. On the flipside, good and pure characters will have a clear completion and a halo.

There are other ways to customize your character, there are many variations when it comes to clothing in the game. From robes to chicken suits and there are no gender restrictions, unlike in games such as Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion as male characters can wear skirts if they are so inclined and female characters can grow a facial hair.

By gaining experience you can decide which type of fighter you would like your character to be. By increasing your will, your magic power increases. By increasing your skill, you become a better marksman. By increasing your strength your characters melee combat can be greatly improved and there is nothing stopping you from become an expert in all three areas. By increasing your will you also develop bright blue eyes and veins, skill makes your character grow taller and strength gives your characters muscles.

One of Fable 2’s greatest assets, in my opinion, is how beautiful it looks. When you first start the game your hero is still a child and it is snowing. The falling snow is absolutely breathtaking and a great introduction to the games incredible graphics. Each region is unique with it’s own environments, towns and other locations such as farms and bandit camps. The environment varies from the vibrant forests of Brightwood to the dark and sinister region of Wraithmarsh. Bloodstone is home to criminals and thugs and is full of prostitutes, in Fairfax Gardens the posh high class residents of Bowerstone gather while Westcliff attracts bandits and fighters hoping to compete in the Crucible.

Despite the fact that the storyline is quite short, easily completed in 24 hours, you can still spend many hours having fun with this game. You can settle down and have a family, gamble away at the local pub, do jobs for money, complete side-quests and locate some of the many items Albion has to offer including legendary weapons, expression books and augments which can have some interesting effects when attached to your weapons. Back to the storyline itself… The characters you encounter have their very own unique personality are voiced perfectly. Ron Glass, who plays Shepherd Book from the amazing TV series Firefly, does the voice of Garth: the neutrally aligned hero of skill. Julia Sawalha, who has featured in many different TV shows over her career, does the voice of Hammer: the hero of strength who is aligned on the side of good and finally Stephen Fry who voices Reaver: the hero of skill aligned on the side of evil. It’s hard to say much more about the story without giving too much away but trust me, it’s pretty damn good.

I would give this game 8/10. It’s addictive and fun to play but I can’t help but think Lionhead could have put a bit more effort into it. The lack of armour was one thing that really annoyed me, the story line could have been longer, more side-quests would have been good and I wouldn’t mind more variety in weapons. Don’t let this stop you though, Fable 2 is still a game well worth playing and Lionhead have sequels lined up for the future.