by Alex Ramirez

Created on: December 03, 2008   Last Updated: November 16, 2011

Anyone who has followed any game by Peter Molyneux knows of the famed designer's habit to promise a bunch of unique features but he nearly always fails to deliver on everything he hoped he could deliver. The first Fable was probably the worst victim of this horrible habit. Fable was a great game in its own right, but when failed miserably when compared to everything that was expected of it. Hopefully learning from his mistakes, Peter Molyneux did his best to stay as tight-lipped as possible about the title, so now the real question is just how successful is the sequel to one of the most anticipated games of the year.

You can tell within moments of starting the game that this is every bit of the game Peter Molyneux wanted the first Fable to be. The world is ten times larger than the last game, and features some of the most breathtaking landscapes since I first popped in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Fable II defines the franchise's ability to create a unique atmosphere among the very best in the industry. The cities have a refined and detailed look to them. I believe this is the only game I've ever played that made me say, "Wow! Look at those cobblestones!" I guess there's a first time for everything though.

The few cutscenes are rendered beautifully and help play out the story wonderfully. The character models are incredibly detailed but are plagued by some awkward animations at times. Luckily, your spells will keep you enticed enough to where you will barely notice. Explosions occur with such visceral bliss that even the most avid pyro might retire after watching the fireball manhandle opponents in Fable II.

Anyone who played the first Fable will automatically be familiar with the soundtrack. While there are a few orchestral scores that are new to the game they all feel instantly familiar and very much a part of the Fable universe. All the voiceovers are handled wonderfully and prove to be quite humorous. The reaction of some of the citizens provide for some very ridiculous tongue-in-cheek humor very similar to the recently released Saints Row 2. The game gets to showcase the talent quite often since there is a lot of dialogue but at times there just appears to be too much. Fearful that I would miss something important, I never skipped any conversations, but I found that your typical conversation was about 60% useful with the other 40% just being nothing more than pointless rambling.

Combat in Fable II feels and plays very similar to the way it did

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