Blast From the Past is one of our new regular features at Completexbox, it’s a chance to look at a game from the yesteryear era that’s featured on Xbox at some point, that may be via original Xbox Console, The Xbox 360, or via Xbox Live Arcade. The one thing that is key to this feature, is that game must be available to play via backward compatibility on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One Consoles respectively.
In this walk down memory lane, we will be sharing our views of the game, our memories, lots of screenshots, and of course a link from the Xbox marketplace, so that you can add it to your game collection if you wish.
One thing we do hope, is that you enjoy the nostalgia, and the look back at the game of choice, maybe you can suggest a game for us to look at in the future that fits the bill of this feature.
Today’s Blast from The Past is Fable 2
Fable 2 is a best-selling action role-playing game, in which you take on the role of a Hero in the fully realised land of Albion. Play through an epic story, become the world’s greatest fighter, gunslinger, or mage. Explore dozens of open, unique environments with your faithful dog. Make friends, fall in love, and start a family. Meet hundreds of characters and face some very tough decisions. In Fable II, everything you do has a consequence.
Fable 2 is available on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One Via backwards compatibility, and you can download your copy here Fable II (xbox.com)
I have very fond memories of Fable 2, it was amazing game to play in the 360 era, the perfect role playing game, that you could sink many hours into, and the experience never got old. I personally thought this game was the best out of the original three, and I can’t wait to see what playground games come up with for the fourth instalment of this wonderful franchise.
The Details
Fable II is a 2008 action role-playing open world video game, developed by Lionhead Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360 The game is the second installment in the Fable game series, and the sequel to 2004’s Fable.
The story takes place within the fictional land of Albion, 500 years after the first game. Players assume the role of a young hero who is destined to stop a former ruler turned madman from destroying the world. The game features several prominent actors portraying major characters in the game, including Zoe Wanamaker and Stephen Fry. The game’s setting takes inspiration from the historical late colonial era, in terms of architecture, social quality and basic firearms such as flintlock pistols.
The game made several improvements over its predecessor, updating existing gameplay and offering larger locations to explore. Alongside the main story, players can engage in several side quests and repeatable jobs to earn money and rewards, build up a property empire, and customise their character with various clothing items, hairstyles, tattoos and makeup. Players also can make decisions on how they act, affecting their characters’ morality and appearance as a result. New features to the game included the opportunity to choose between playing as a male or female character, a fast-travel system, and a canine companion who can detect treasures and alert the player to nearby enemies.
Fable II was released in October 2008 and achieved critical acclaim, many citing its adherence to the original while praising the changes that redefined the game system. The game later received two downloadable content packs – which introduced new locations, items, and quests – which were released in a compilation with the main game, titled Fable II: Game of the Year, in September 2009. The game proved a commercial success, becoming the bestselling title on Xbox 360 following its release. A sequel, Fable III, was released in 2010.
Gameplay
The world in Fable II is fully dynamic, interactive and mostly free roaming with no set quest path to take. Since the game takes place over a hero’s lifetime, many things can change; Molyneux gave an example of a trade camp that the player could either help or destroy. Trading in such camps would increase their profit, resulting in a small town growing around them.
Additionally, every accessible property (those that can be entered by the player) in the world can be purchased (except for the Tattered Spire), and ownership of unique buildings can unlock further quests. In addition to purchasing and renting homes, businesses and stalls are now available for purchase. These businesses produce income for the player every 5 minutes, depending on the quality of the business, the economy level of the town, and the opinion of the shop owner for the player (a shopkeeper with a high opinion will work harder), and the rent or goods prices set by the player; this happens even while the Xbox 360 is turned off. Rent is also accumulated every 5 minutes.
Also, if the player visits his own shops, the quality of their goods will improve, and improve the quality of the shop. Players can furnish the houses with furniture and other items available for sale. In addition, titles will be awarded for buying property; if one were to buy every building and piece of land in a town, he/she may become the mayor of that town; owning more land leads to higher titles such as king/queen, and eventually Emperor of the entire land of Albion. Players can become purer by setting prices and rent low, or more Corrupt by increasing them.
The environment in Fable II features trees with branches and leaves that are individually animated according to their own physics, each tree having roughly 120,000 leaves. There are also around 15 million poppies in Albion. There are both interactive and non-interactive cutscenes in the game. According to Lionhead Studios, the non-interactive cutscenes consume less than five minutes of game time.
In the fully interactive cutscenes a player can use their expressions during the dialogue or even run away from the scene, thus skipping it; afterward the player can return to the cutscene location to start it again. If the player runs away from a cutscene which contains important information, the character will await the player’s return.
The player’s companion is a dog which the player befriends as a child. This dog follows the player almost all of the time during the game. The dog can learn tricks, fight enemies and find treasure, and lead the way to quest objectives (when required, though this is rare; typically, the player is led to objectives via a sparkling gold “bread crumb” trail). It can also aid in combat situations by attacking downed enemies. The dog cannot be killed, but can become injured and ineffective, requiring healing by the player.
The appearance of their dog will also mirror the player’s choices and changes colour depending on the player’s alignments; if the player is neutral, it will remain grey, being good will turn the dog’s coat to golden and evil will turn it to black. There are no other animals in the game, save for neutral rabbits and birds, a fact commented on by one NPC who notices the oddness of carriages with no horses.
Albion
Fable II takes place within the fictional land of Albion – a large continent consisting of several settlements, the largest being the city of Bowerstone, surrounded by lawless stretches of land, including forests, marshlands, and coastal roads. The story and events take place 500 years after the first game, in which the relative safety and peace brought about by the defeat of Jack of Blades led to Albion’s citizens deeming heroes to be corrupt and no longer being needed, effectively leading to many to disappear and the Heroes’ Guild being destroyed in a riot. Since then, the land has seen changes to science and philosophy, with new religions replacing the old ones of medieval Albion, and new technologies being developed, including the creation of firearms. In effect, Albion has now evolved into a society resembling that of Earth during the late colonial and early modern period.
The game’s story provides further background upon the “Old Kingdom” which existed centuries ago, but was destroyed following the activation of a large structure constructed by its inhabitants to magically grant a single wish to its user. The player’s character (nicknamed by default as Sparrow) is a descendant of a hero from a bloodline traced back to the Old Kingdom and takes place over three separate time periods (much like the first game): childhood, which acts as a prologue and training section of the game; young adulthood; and adulthood.
The Story
During a cold winter in Bowerstone, a young child known as Sparrow lives in poverty within the city’s poorer district alongside their older sister Rose. Both dream of one day living in Castle Fairfax, the home of Lord Lucien that towers over the city. One day, the pair witness a travelling seller offering ‘magical’ wares to people, amongst them a musical box that can grant anyone who uses it a wish. An old woman convinces the pair to acquire the money needed to buy it by doing odd jobs around the district, during which time Sparrow rescues a dog from a local bully. Upon buying the box, Rose uses it to make their dream to come true. That evening, guards arrive to bring the pair to the castle, who are overjoyed that their wish comes true. However, the pair soon discover that Lucien brought them to his home to determine which of them were the three “Heroes” he seeks to fulfil his ambitions. Discovering that one of the pair is the fourth Hero who will stop him, Lucien kills Rose and wounds Sparrow, sending them out onto the city streets.
The old woman soon finds Sparrow with the help of the dog they rescued and takes them away from the city to recover. Ten years later, now that Sparrow is a young adult, the old woman instructs them to enter a cave system beneath a large lake, which houses the ruins of what was left of the Heroes’ Guild. Once inside, the old woman introduces herself as Theresa, a blind seeress, who explains that Sparrow is a descent of the Hero of Oakvale who defeated Jack of Blades. After they prove themselves by defeating a prominent bandit leader in the region, Theresa reveals that they are the only ones who can stop Lucien from destroying the world with an ancient structure known as The Spire – a building that channel magical energy to grant its user any wish they desire. Theresa reveals that Sparrow is destined to defeat Lucien by finding the three heroes he seeks, each defining a specific parameter – strength, will, and skill.
Sparrow begins with finding the hero of strength from the village of Oakfield. Discovering her to be a monk known as Sister Hannah, they work to prove themselves to her father the local abbot, before providing her with protection as she undertakes an important ritual. However, Lucien sends men to find her, who kill her father when he refuses to let them to take her. Angered, Hannah kills his murderer before offering her help to Sparrow, renaming herself as Hammer. With her help, Sparrow proceeds with tracking down the hero of will – a scholar known as Garth, who worked with Lucien to rebuild the Spire, but fell out with him over time. Lucien kidnaps him before he can be recruited, and Theresa reveals that he was taken to the Spire as a prisoner. Sparrow and Hammer head to Westcliff where Lucien is recruiting new guards from competitors that survive several harsh rounds at a local arena. Successfully winning a place amongst the latest recuits, Sparrow leaves their possessions and dog with Hammer and travel to the Spire to find Garth.
Made a slave in their new role, Sparrow endures ten years of servitude, making a number of tough decisions in the process. Eventually, Garth creates an opportunity for the pair to escape from the Spire and return to the mainland, where he agrees to help in the battle against Lucien. Hammer soon reveals that during Sparrow’s absence, she sought out information on the hero of skill, discovering it to be the pirate lord known as Reaver – a skilled marksman who rules over the pirate town of Bloodstone in the south. With Garth’s help, Sparrow uses a cullis gate – a teleportation system used by the Heroes’ Guild – to reach the marshlands that border Bloodstone, dealing with the undead in the process. After impressing Reaver with their fame, Sparrow undertakes a request from him, only for him to attempt to betray them to Lucien to claim the bounty on them. However, Reaver is soon double-crossed himself, and finds himself forced to help Sparrow and the other heroes in order to survive.
With the three heroes found, Theresa reveals that all of them need to channel their energy in a ritual to acquire a weapon needed to defeat Lucien. However, the seeress soon goes missing after the ritual is completed, whereupon Lucien arrives and kills Sparrow and their dog before kidnapping the others. Rather than die, Sparrow is taken to a dream-like paradise to reside within as a child, with Rose alive and well. Although the location is peaceful, Sparrow hears the music box playing and seeks it out, against Rose’s advice, fighting against the ensuing nightmares to locate it. Upon touching it, Rose reveals it was a test, allowing him to use its power. Finding themselves back in the Spire, Sparrow tracks down Lucien and uses the music box to defeat him, whereupon he dies at their hands or Reaver’s.
Theresa soon offers Sparrow a wish from the Spire that they can have as a reward: resurrecting the thousands of people that died building the Spire, and thus becoming a true hero in Albion; resurrecting their sister Rose, their dog, and, if they had one, their spouse and family; or being granted an immense fortune. After making their wish, Theresa then offers to send the others where they wish to go – Garth opts to return to his homeland, with Reaver deciding to join him, while Hammer decides to head north to find some monks to help her avoid further violence. After they leave, Theresa leaves Sparrow to enjoy Albion, but proclaims that the Spire is now hers to own. If the player has downloaded the See the Future pack, Theresa allows them to visit after cleansing two cursed items, to see a glimpse of their future. In this vision they now rule over Albion as monarch, and it is hinted that a child of theirs will become a hero to save Albion after their death, setting the background for Fable III.
We hope you enjoyed this look back at Fable 2, and we can’t wait for the next installment of the series