I'm pleased 'Albion' now has gunpowder; because that dog is going to have to get used to being shot in the head !
GDC 07: Fable 2 Impressions
By
Justin Calvert, Executive Editor
Peter Molyneux shows a playable version of Fable 2 for the first time and makes good on his promise that one of the game's key ingredients will be unconditional love.
Game Presentation
See Molyneux's pre-GDC Fable 2 presentation for yourself in this movie.
Earlier this week, during a pre-GDC event thrown by Microsoft, we had an opportunity to meet with Lionhead Studios' Peter Molyneux and see Fable 2 in action for the first time. The demo took place in a test level that had been specially designed to show off one of the game's previously unannounced features--a pet dog. You heard right, the focus of Molyneux's presentation wasn't combat, or questing, or the fact that you'll have the option to purchase any building in the massive game world; it was a canine whose devotion to you, the player, knows no limits.
After kicking off his presentation with a series of disclaimers about how sequels are tricky things and certainly aren't his specialty, Molyneux talked about how he wants Fable 2 to be something other than just "more" and "better" than the first game. "I set up Lionhead to innovate and push...that's why we exist. I hope that's why Microsoft acquired us," he said at one point, before talking about his most memorable moments in gaming (his favorite being the ending of Ico) and his desire to fill Fable 2 with equally affecting content. Not simply by penning an epic story, he wants to get you so emotionally invested in other characters that their happiness and pain become your own.
We've known for some time that one of Molyneux's goals for Fable 2 is to make you experience unconditional love, but at previous presentations, the only characters cited as examples were your offspring and, to a lesser extent, your husband or wife. The pet dog that was introduced during today's demo is, perhaps, a character that you're even more likely to bond with, because while your family will welcome you back with open arms when you return home from a quest, your dog will be fighting alongside you every step of the way.
Without wishing to give too much away, you'll acquire your pet dog (or it'll acquire you, at least) early on in your Fable 2 experience when you're still a child. Like you and your in-game family, he'll age as you progress through the game, and his appearance will change to reflect the way you're playing. If you play as a good guy, you might end up with a mutt that looks like a big, fluffy Old English sheepdog, for example, while those of you with a Molyneux-like mean streak will end up with a vicious-looking Doberman or something. Lionhead's self-imposed design rules when adding the dog to the game were that it must love you unconditionally, its presence must never aggravate you, and you must never be required to look after it. Based on what we saw during the presentation, none of these rules appear to be in danger of being broken, and the canine companion promises to add an awful lot to the Fable 2 experience without ever detracting from it.
One of the most intriguing things about your pet dog is that you'll have no direct control over it whatsoever, while almost everything that you do will influence its behavior. When you're walking around, he'll rarely stray too far away from you, but he'll actively explore the area and, in doing so, he'll draw your attention to points of interest and anything that has changed since the last time you were there. Furthermore, when he senses danger, he'll move ahead of you and start barking and growling to alert you. Your dog will be your guide through the free-roaming world that Fable 2 takes place in, and he purportedly performs that duty so well that Lionhead has seen fit to do away with the first game's minimap.
Regardless of the promises that Fable 2 will let you start a family and invest in properties, its focus is, of course, still on completing quests by doing battle with all manner of enemies. When you engage bad guys or monsters in combat, your dog will do everything in its power to protect you, which basically means that it'll attack the enemy that poses the greatest threat. To demonstrate this, Molyneux unsheathed his sword in front of a small group of enemies, at which point his dog decided that the guy carrying a gun was the most immediate danger and charged at him. When Molyneux put his sword away and readied his rifle (Fable 2 takes place some 500 years after the original game), the dog figured out that the enemies with melee weapons were now the most dangerous and leapt at one of them instead.
The dog was injured during the battle that ensued, and we'd be lying if we said that seeing it limping around with only three working legs didn't tug at a few heartstrings. As a hero in the Fable 2 world, you'll have the ability to heal it with a simple magic spell, but before doing that, Molyneux opted to show just how evil he is in the games he creates by simply walking off and leaving the dog behind. Much whimpering and limping ensued, and when the camera was repositioned so we could see the hero moving farther away from the dog's point of view, it became clear that mistreating this loyal canine companion will be a tough thing to do. Had Molyneux proceeded to leave his pet behind, we're told that it would never give up looking for him and might very well have shown up weeks later, still carrying injuries and still hopelessly devoted to its cruel master.
Even Peter Molyneux has a soft side, and he claims that one of his favorite things to do in Fable 2 right now is to play with both his dog and his young son. We've yet to meet his Fable 2 family, but we did get to see Molyneux playing fetch with his dog using a squeaky ball that he'd purchased previously. The dog's movement and behavior during this game, as at all times during the demonstration, was remarkably convincing, and it was only after Molyneux used a few stern "expressions" to discipline his companion that it stopped wagging its tail and dropping the ball at his feet in the hope that it'd get thrown again. The dog even ran off to relieve itself against a tree at one point during the demo, and we're told that particularly evil mutts will enjoy soiling the bodies of slain enemies in the finished game.
With just a few minutes of the presentation remaining after the dog had been fully covered, we were treated to a brief video fly-through of different areas from the Fable 2 world. The most memorable location that we saw was undoubtedly the large city of Bowerstone, which you might remember was only a small town in the first game. The city comprised more buildings than we could even begin to count, including everything from small market stalls and houses through to a pub and a large castle. You'll have the option to purchase every single one of these structures if you've got enough gold, and each of them will have at least one quest attached to it.
Molyneux, who openly admits to becoming somewhat infamous for making and not delivering on promises about his games in recent years, ended the presentation with just one: "I promise you will feel moved," he said. We're not inclined to doubt him on this occasion, and we look forward to bringing you more information on Fable 2 as soon as it becomes available.
By
Justin Calvert, Executive Editor
Justin's youth was largely misspent playing Commodore 64 and Amiga games. He left the UK's Official PlayStation Magazine to join GameSpot in 2000, believes that he's one of the best Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe players in the world, and puts HP Sauce on everything.
506 comments
I think that adding the element of a dog makes the game that much more enjoyable, because hopefully, if your human, and you like dogs, it will make you more attached to the story.
you can attck it and leave it but it will enventually catch up with you....... sorry.........
I hope that the dog you get isnt just some generic one so that everyone has the exact same looking dog. because so far in all the videos it has been the same dog, and i dont like it. i want a HUSKY! theyre the best dogs ever! and im not allowed to get on ein real life because its so expensive so i hope that i can get one in my favourite fictional world!
I'm so jazzed for this game. If I'm right, and I usually am, this will end up making my top 10 all time games list.
The only problem I'd have with the dog is that I'd never be able to leave it behind. So if I had to flee, I'd end up getting killed 'cause I'd run back and save the poor thing. No such problems with the kids, of course...I'd probably eat them.
This is cool. I always thought in Oblivion it would be cool if you could buy dogs, since you get one for a reward on a quest.
fable has grown & changed from its original. im impressed. looking forward to playing fable 2. :]
I have this ugly feeling the game, like many canine movies, is going to end with the death of one loyal puppy. I REALLY hope they don't choose to move me using that technique. It's tantamount to cheating.
Damn I can't wait for this game to come out! The dog sounds like an interesting aspect to be added to the game and might be a lot more helpful than having those mercs follow you around, draining your funds and only to have them die a few hits later. I also am really looking forward to family part. I was kind of disappointed about this aspect in the first game, that while little ones were running around, the hero could have none of his own. Might end up having a bunch of them too; make up for lost time. lol.
I think it'll be nice to finally have an ally that is helpful, and not a pain in the ass.
I think it would be cool to be able to customize the way your dog changes according to good and evil.
sound great but i dont know what 2 think until i will play and i dont know if i could play on my pc : amd sempron 2800+ 1.6 Gh , ati radeon 9550 series 128 mbram , 512 ram and 80 Gb im not sure , what u think ??
I played the first Fable on pc and it was great. Now that I have an Xbox 360 I cant wait to see how things have progressed in the world of Fable. I think adding a faithfull dog to the mix is a really cool idea. everybody loves pets and from what I saw of the demo you will probably spend alot more time just hanging out with your dog. Just hope that Peter finally lives up to his promises and if so, there's no stopping this game being the best in its field... :)
Molyneux is truly a visionary. He can take whatever is in his head and put it into a game flawlessly. I can't wait for Fable 2. I just hope it's longer than Fable 1 =/
Molyneux is the man, some of the things he says he wants to do are exactly the things I want. he truly understands gamers. I love his games. I want dogs and sons for my evil hero. Sounds awesome.
Sweet i love the dog aspect but never am i going to be mean to it. Pointless to be mean to something that risk his life for you every night and day. My dog will be the happiest and loyal dog ever!
My only hopefor this game is it to be fully free roaming like oblivion and morrowind and not like the original fable with the damn fences and cliffs etc.
Molyneux is god.I like the idea of having a dog. Just can not wait till it released 30 of october 2007 in europe I don't think only too hope
I still havent got to play Fable yet I just played a tidbit of it. But I cannot wait for this game and the leaving ur dog behind thing....=[ I want this!!
I played Fable, I then fell in ove with it and role-playing games. one thing bad about fable was there was not enough freedom so I hope this is the thing they focus on in this game is freedom
Good... Fable was one of my favorite games ever for the XBox... it will be nice to have a new and improved game. If they fixed the flaws, it will be an amazing game. I will be waiting for it...
I CANT WAIT FOR THIS GAME IT'S GONNA BE SWEEEEET, but apparently im gonna have to wait a while
My biggest question is about the way your body changes while you up grade your self because if I chose to have a female character I dont want her to have cock-diesle styled muscles like when you have high-level stats on fable 1
THIS GAME IS GOING TO ROCK MAN I'M GONNA HAVE ME A LOAD OF KIDS AND AS SOON AS I GET THAT MUSKET I'M SHOOTING SOMEBODY LOL I'M GONNA OWN EVERYTHING LIKE I DID IN THE FIRST TWO ONE's IT'S GONNA ROCK I'M GONNA BE RICH WITH A LOAD OF KIDS AND MAYBE A PITT BULL DOG!!!!!SWEET!!!!
This dog is going to annoy me, I hate having stuff follow me around if I don't want it around me.And eventhough the dog seems to wander off, I have no doubt it will distract. If we can't love the dog please...please...let us torture it and hate it. Perhaps let us tie it up somewhere.He seems to get the concept that a character such as this will get boring after awhile.There are only so many times you can enjoy watching it peeing on a corpse.
Even though fable 1 was short, easy and didn't deliver everything, it was (and still is) my favourite game. Most of the things Peter Molyneux talked about are things that were good in the first fable, but were not finished. If everything that was said is true, this will be one of the best games ever.
i already loved this game, i wish it'll have for pc-players also. i have been expected this game since i played the first one. i love the game story and emotional feeling. ( i spent many hrs in the first one to play fishing; that was really hooked me up)
I need to agree with bawa_almighty, this game is deffinately a niche. The genre in general isn't just a rpg, it's almost like, the sims, with killing and such.. not to say that I like the sims or anything, but the aspect of growth is deffinately a punch in the bag. Peter really isn't an idiot, i wouldn't have a hard time beleiving that he didn't keep his promises for fable1 so he can gather hype for fable 2 to tie up the loose ends, who knows? All i know at this point is this game, is gunna get my respect in terms of sexual reference stated on the Mass Effect topic. Fable2 is going to be better, and more exciting then drunken sex.
Sweet. My second favourite game of all time gets an amazing sounding sequel. Let's just hope that Peter Molyneux can keep his promises this time around.
My favorite game was the first fable even though it was really easy (the first game where that was half the fun). This game looks like it will be the greatest game of all time. FABLE ROCKS!!!!
Conversation powered by Livefyre
Fable II
Not Following
- Downloadable Game
- Publisher(s): Microsoft Game Studios
- Developer(s): Lionhead Studios
- Genre: Role-Playing
- Release:
- ESRB: M
Fable II Navigation
Games You May Like
Fable (1996) (PC)
Kameo: Elements of Power (X360)
Perfect Dark Zero (X360)
Fable (XBOX)
Faery: Legends Of Avalon (X360)
Catherine (X360)
Users who looked at content for this game also looked at these games.
