Peter Molyneux is known as one of the best game designers around, but Peter has a problem. He has a habit of over promising and under delivering. The best example of this recently was Fable, a game for the original Xbox which promised to react to every decision you make in the game, either good or bad. Fable was a game before its time and did not deserve the attention it received, but half the problem was that Peter had set such high expectations that it was hard not to fall into the hype. Fast forward a few years and we have the sequel. Pretty much along the same lines in terms of story, and the hype factor was also here, but this time around there is a difference. This time Molyneux has clearly hit his target and Fable 2 is one of the best RPG games released for a very long time.

The story of Fable 2 is not its strong point. In a fairly cliché sequence, our hero (designed by yourself either female or male) sets out to avenge the death of his/her sister as a young child. To do this you will need to recruit three heroes and then fight the big boss. Cliché sure, but the story was never going to be what made Fable 2.

What makes Fable 2 is that the promises of Fable have been delivered on. You care about the decisions you make and often can regret them. There are times where this game can tell you a lot about yourself. In one sequence, a character who has befriended you can either be saved or killed which tests your psychological notions as saving him greatly punishes the main character. There is a lot of risk and reward gameplay in Fable 2 and doing the right thing generally gets your character belted around a bit, but also a lot more happy.

The other area which makes Fable 2 is its simplicity. For years gamers have purchased games and left them on the shelf never finished. The fact is, as long as you have the time and patience everyone will finish Fable 2. There is a punishment for dying, but only the experience you have gained in the current fight. You come back to life and fight on right from where you were, with no enemies replenished. This leads to a very addictive experience because no matter how hard a fight is, you know that hanging around long enough will beat the character and you will progress.

This also allows the game to put a much larger focus on the other areas. There is so much to do in this game. We like to view it as an offline single player MMO and it is of no surprise that the graphics and world very much remind us of World of Warcraft. You can buy houses and businesses to either live in or rent out, get married (and even become involved with the same sex), sleep with characters, get STDs, have children, get a job. All the facets of life are represented in the game and exploring them adds so much to the game.

And the third and final feature which makes the game is the combat. It is so simplistic yet so satisfying. Rather than relying on a complex system, each type of combat has a separate button press. As you gain experience, you gain more abilities and combat types, which allows you to gain more experience. The more visually gratifying and dominating a fight is, the more experience you gain. The balance is also perfect. Despite the lack of death punishment, the enemies are still well balanced and Lionhead avoided making the enemies too hard to compensate.

The attention to detail is astounding. Need a new weapon? You can either be honest and buy it or kill the shop owner and steal it. How you play in the world directly affects the world. If you are a mean bastard, people will not like you and cower when you come near, while prestigious heroes get cheaper food and reknown in the shops. As well as this your character is directly affected as well. While buying food is a cheaper way to gain health, eating too much makes your character fat and less appealing to the opposite sex.

This is a game that lets you enjoy it rather than become frustrated. Typically I am not a fan of role playing games; I don’t like the grind or getting lost. Fable 2 fixes these problems. As you progress the game guides you via a bread crumb trail (which can be turned off) and the balance as mentioned before is perfect. However, Molyneux has been smart and tries to get the player to explore the open world. With you is a dog companion, who will run off the linear track trying to lure the player to treasures etc. You can also develop your canine friend, and how you play the game affects your dog as well. It is worth keeping the dog healthy as there are times where he is priceless.

As mentioned before the visuals remind us of World of Warcraft and we mean that as a compliment. The world is gigantic with lots of dungeons and secrets to find and it is no doubt a game that rewards you the more you play it. The main character is highly customizable and the children you can produce do look like genuine offspring. We never really experienced a frame rate drop, and if there was one criticism to level at the game it was a lack of enemy variety.

Fable 2 is a game everyone must play. It finally treads the line between casual and hardcore perfectly and allows you to enjoy the game for what it is. It is a stunning representation of what gaming can be when developers get it so right and has the potential to change RPG gaming forever. It will tell you a lot about yourself, you will regret decisions (and the fact Molyneux only allows ONE save game, and saves as soon as decisions are made) and will struggle at times with the enormity of the decisions. Fable 2 is an experience that Xbox 360 gamers must play because ‘Peter the man who over promises’, just became the Peter who stunningly delivers.