StompingFreak
25-09-2008, 10:10 AM
SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!It all starts with a lump of bird poo. Seriously. All this time, energy, effort and sweat has gone into making Fable II and it starts off with a lump of bird poo.
This is how the opening cinematic ends, after the camera has swooped past castles, villagers, through Bowerstone and sets the stage for one of the biggest sequels this year. A bird flies overhead and squeezes out an aerial bomb that lands square between the eyes of your character. And thus, Fable II begins.
Here's a warning in case you weren't already aware - this is MAJOR SPOILER territory from now on in.
You choose whether to play as a boy or a girl, with the game starting out with you as the younger sibling of your teenage sister Rose (she refers to you as "little sparrow" or, with a ye olde Cockney twang, "little sparra'").
You're both poor and dream of living in Lord Lucien's castle on the horizon far away. Venturing into town, there's a salesman peddling a magic box for five gold pieces. A mysterious hooded woman implores you to buy the box if you believe in magic, and so the quest begins.
The tutorial sees you completing tasks which earn you a gold piece each, and these tasks cover the basics from exploration (find five Wanted posters), interacting with characters (you have to deliver a love letter), combat (saving a dog from bullies) and morality (do you clear the bugs from the stockroom or destroy the stock?).
The controls are built around the idea of context sensitive buttons, with the A button in particular serving various purposes. The controls seem to have been given a thorough examination by Lionhead since the original - there are lots of touches, such as cancelling conversations by holding down B for a second to get to the point. This avoids accidentally cancelling the conversation but also means you don't have to sit through all the dialogue. Nice touch.
Box office
Then you buy the magic box, which supposed grants wishes. The magic box disappears in a flash of light when you try to use it and you both go to sleep, thinking how ripped off you've just been. The dog you saved earlier also curls up to sleep beside you.
Then during the middle of the night, some guards wake you because Lord Lucien requests to see you. You both head to Lord Lucien's castle, where he asks you both to step on some sort of pentagram inside his office.
http://medialib.oxm.co.uk/screens/screenshot_6329.jpg
Lord Lucien then seems to be in disbelief as the pentagram-style symbol turns red and he then draws a gun and apologises for what he's about to do. He shoots your sister, then shoots you as you tumble out of Lord Lucien's castle tower through the nearby window.
A cutscene then shows your dog licked your lifeless body on the streets as the hooded woman appears again, saying it is not your time yet. The passage of time shows you growing up - the art here is pretty damn clever here, with back shots and a unisex haircut meaning that Lionhead can get away with the same cutscene whether you use a male or female character.
It starts...
And so, Fable II is cast as a tale of revenge. The opening hour is a fairly well disguised tutorial and there's still some further learning to be done when the game finally begins. You have your dog at your side, a sword in your hand and the hooded woman sends you off to a nearby tomb to finish your training.
It's here that the last of Fable II's tutorial takes place, as you learn advanced combat moves and see your dog sniffing out treasure and helping during battle.
You leave your camper village for Albion to finally begin your adventure properly, where the same mechanics of Fable come into play again - showing off trophies to adorning crowds, romancing men and women (if they're into that, of course) and taking on side jobs to boost incomes.
Fans of Fable will find themselves on familiar territory here. Besides the massively revamped controls, Lionhead hasn't pushed the boat too far, running with if it ain't broke, don't fix it. However, the streamlined controls, dog sidekick and closer attention paid to the impact of moral decisions you make should make for a far stronger game.
There are still some weird kinks and flaws that need to be ironed out, most notably a framerate that would choke and stutter regardless of what's happening onscreen. It would also be extremely impressive if Lionhead could keep the tight pace and diversity of the opening hours running throughout the entire running time of Fable II. Still, if they pull it off, this will easily be one of the best games of 2008
Source (http://www.oxm.co.uk/article.php?id=6276)
This is how the opening cinematic ends, after the camera has swooped past castles, villagers, through Bowerstone and sets the stage for one of the biggest sequels this year. A bird flies overhead and squeezes out an aerial bomb that lands square between the eyes of your character. And thus, Fable II begins.
Here's a warning in case you weren't already aware - this is MAJOR SPOILER territory from now on in.
You choose whether to play as a boy or a girl, with the game starting out with you as the younger sibling of your teenage sister Rose (she refers to you as "little sparrow" or, with a ye olde Cockney twang, "little sparra'").
You're both poor and dream of living in Lord Lucien's castle on the horizon far away. Venturing into town, there's a salesman peddling a magic box for five gold pieces. A mysterious hooded woman implores you to buy the box if you believe in magic, and so the quest begins.
The tutorial sees you completing tasks which earn you a gold piece each, and these tasks cover the basics from exploration (find five Wanted posters), interacting with characters (you have to deliver a love letter), combat (saving a dog from bullies) and morality (do you clear the bugs from the stockroom or destroy the stock?).
The controls are built around the idea of context sensitive buttons, with the A button in particular serving various purposes. The controls seem to have been given a thorough examination by Lionhead since the original - there are lots of touches, such as cancelling conversations by holding down B for a second to get to the point. This avoids accidentally cancelling the conversation but also means you don't have to sit through all the dialogue. Nice touch.
Box office
Then you buy the magic box, which supposed grants wishes. The magic box disappears in a flash of light when you try to use it and you both go to sleep, thinking how ripped off you've just been. The dog you saved earlier also curls up to sleep beside you.
Then during the middle of the night, some guards wake you because Lord Lucien requests to see you. You both head to Lord Lucien's castle, where he asks you both to step on some sort of pentagram inside his office.
http://medialib.oxm.co.uk/screens/screenshot_6329.jpg
Lord Lucien then seems to be in disbelief as the pentagram-style symbol turns red and he then draws a gun and apologises for what he's about to do. He shoots your sister, then shoots you as you tumble out of Lord Lucien's castle tower through the nearby window.
A cutscene then shows your dog licked your lifeless body on the streets as the hooded woman appears again, saying it is not your time yet. The passage of time shows you growing up - the art here is pretty damn clever here, with back shots and a unisex haircut meaning that Lionhead can get away with the same cutscene whether you use a male or female character.
It starts...
And so, Fable II is cast as a tale of revenge. The opening hour is a fairly well disguised tutorial and there's still some further learning to be done when the game finally begins. You have your dog at your side, a sword in your hand and the hooded woman sends you off to a nearby tomb to finish your training.
It's here that the last of Fable II's tutorial takes place, as you learn advanced combat moves and see your dog sniffing out treasure and helping during battle.
You leave your camper village for Albion to finally begin your adventure properly, where the same mechanics of Fable come into play again - showing off trophies to adorning crowds, romancing men and women (if they're into that, of course) and taking on side jobs to boost incomes.
Fans of Fable will find themselves on familiar territory here. Besides the massively revamped controls, Lionhead hasn't pushed the boat too far, running with if it ain't broke, don't fix it. However, the streamlined controls, dog sidekick and closer attention paid to the impact of moral decisions you make should make for a far stronger game.
There are still some weird kinks and flaws that need to be ironed out, most notably a framerate that would choke and stutter regardless of what's happening onscreen. It would also be extremely impressive if Lionhead could keep the tight pace and diversity of the opening hours running throughout the entire running time of Fable II. Still, if they pull it off, this will easily be one of the best games of 2008
Source (http://www.oxm.co.uk/article.php?id=6276)