It's time to be honest. As you perhaps might remember lately I played Fable 2 due to the fact that I missed it for Dead Space in last year's fall. Dead Space was definitely worth getting.
For christmas I decided in wishing myself Fallout 3 as present and Santa delivered, haha! At first I was skeptical, Oblivion was my first 360 game, I played it on my 30cm SDTV (upgraded in the meantime) back then and never really understood what to do or how to level. I hated the german synchronization voices and played the game only a few hours. In the end I played Fallout 3 over 3 months 55 hours before seeing the ending screen. I've been amazed by the huge believable post apocalyptic world, the excellent narration and of course, the ultra brutal VATS system. I stopped only because I reached level 20 and I needed to play something else, I couldn't bare missing some highly anticipated games, Street Fighter IV and Resident Evil 5. I saved Fallout 3 before the point of no return, with lots of undone quests and undiscoverd locations and most important, with the knowledge that a download content is on the horizon that removes the game's end and raises the level cap to 30. To sum it up: I love Fallout 3 and it was clear for me that I will return to the wasteland once Broken Steel is out.
And then I began playing Fable 2. A game of which I've heard only good. It even got Game of the Year awards on some sites, in a year that brought us GTA IV, Gears 2 and... Fallout 3. So my expectations were high. I didn't play Fable 1, but I am familiar with Peter Molyneux' works like Black And White. I know that the man is one of the most spiritual game designers of our time. He tries to achieve things in his games that other games don't do. From the simple look of trailers and screenshots Fable 2 always reminded me of The Legend of Zelda. How much I loved Zelda Twilight Princess! It was the only game I really played on that piece of crap Wii. Should've better gotten it for the Gamecube.
But back to Fable 2: After spending the last month with this game I just recognized that, and now I have to be honest, that it didn't captured me as much as I wished. Sure I had lot of work to do in my real life, but there are some things in Fable 2 that disappointed me and didn't make me play it no matter what, if you know what I mean.
- I expected a real open world as in Fallout 3, this wasn't the case, I got a collection of tubes put together. But that's something you can live with.
- The fact that there is no real world map that guides me through the world of Albion is much worse - damn, how much I've gotten used to my Pip Boy 3000. In Fable 2 I don't know where is north, where is south and some written information on the loading screen doesn't make me happy (Road to Bowerstone, 80 Miles, 20 hours, for example).
- The story is mediocre. Fable 2 begins with, well let's say, much potential. As a child your sister gets killed on purpose and you survive only hard. Avenge is your goal and when you grow up you become the tool of an old gipsy witch. Okay so far, but it works out unsatisfying. Most frustrating for me was this 10 year scene in the prison where 10 years nearly nothing happened and when you come back it's like nothing has changed.
- I think the focus of this game is much more about marrying NPCs and playing father, mother, child. Sure, it's cool that you can do this, but there's nothing like an emotional connection to your wife - she only costs you money.
- You can buy nearly every building in the game. It's like Fantasy Land Tycoon and not like Zelda, what I hoped. Too much micro management for me.
- Ranged weapons comebat is too hectic to use. When you shoot without zooming in it is too slow and when you zoom in against multiple enemies you are attacked from behind. God, I wish every game had VATS!
- After playing a game like Fallout 3 which is clearly aimed at a mature audience, Fable 2 feels a bit too friendly. No f-bombs, no gore, no dismemberment. Yeah, I didn't expect it, but I miss it.
- Only thing in which Fable 2 is better, is with the dog. In Fallout 3 I always lose Dogmeat having no idea where he is. In Fable 2 the dog is sticked to you, works wonderfully. But right now in the wastes I have my own super mutant bodyguard Fawkes. Pretty much compensated, right?
Don't get me wrong. Fable 2 is anything but a mediocre game and I don't think it is bad, but it is simply not what I want to play right now. Thing is that my gaming time is very limited and I am rushed with so many good games availlable for the 360. Fuel, Op Flashpoint 2, Prototype, hell I even still need to play april's Riddick. Don't know which of those retail games to get next in June! So you get the idea that I need to move on. For this month I decided to get The Lost And The Damned to freshen up my GTA IV experience and right after that I will return to the wastes with getting all of the three 360 exclusive DLC packs for Fallout 3. The wastes will have their lone wanderer from Vault 101 back. War never changes.
My Games for May 2009 will be:
GTA IV: The Lost And The Damned:
All Fallout 3 DLCs:
No comments:
Post a Comment