Console(s):
Xbox 360
Story (6/10):
Heroes the land over are gone, a forgotten memory that people fondly admire. Yet a hero has not graced Albion for many years, until you come along. Starting as a street urchin with your older sister rose you set about deeds to earn gold to purchase a mysterious music box which you are assured by a mysterious blind seeress can grant wishes. You purchase the music box and make a wish, to your great dismay this causes nothing but for the box to disappear. Returning to your bed you are awakened by a guard and escorted to Fairfax Castle wherein you are revealed to be of Hero descent and subsequently shot, along with your sister. Only you survive.
Story is bland and flavorless following the same revenge scheme as the previous title with some more emphasis upon the Old Kingdom and heroic bloodlines. However the path follows the same series of boss fights in different scenarios. The only profound thing lying in the story is the intricacies of Theresa's seemingly two faced words that may or may not portray her in a different light, depending on how you view it.
Controls (10/10):
No problem with the controls, everything's as smooth as a baby's bottom. However with little variation battles never introduce anything new unless you spice things up with spells or ranged weaponry. Ultimately it's what good controls are, glitch free and responsive.
Graphics (9/10):
Pretty neat lighting most of the time makes up for a lack of the realism most gamers have come to expect. The camera angle also largely being third-person naturally doesn't get the same attention as a first-person game does but it still paints the scene rather nicely. Theres some problem with framerates and choppy movement but other then that sit back and enjoy the visuals, not many games take this approach anymore.
Sound/Music (10/10):
Most of the time you won't even realise it's there, and thats good ambient music. But when it counts the music will really set the mood. Especially the requiem-esque music the music box plays. It made a lovely tune to the seemingly unorganized ending.
Replayability (8/10):
The choices in this game are much less enjoyable and don't give the same feeling as the first. You'll largely replay for two reasons: To see if the game is different as a woman when the answer is not really. And reason two being to get all three endings, which are not really worth it unless you like gamerscore.
Online/Multiplayer (if any) (4/10):
Horrible fixed camera angle that impairs the ability to fight through the internet? Why they decided upon that is beyond me but it really lowers the efficiency of fighting in a pair. Furthermore when a person pauses or goes to buy something the other is stuck paused waiting for them to finish. It ruins any fun by just implanting a randomly generated henchman that inhibits youjr fighting ability and gets in the way. Really a let down, only amusing if you and your friend want to go make obscene gestures at the citizenry.
Game-play (9/10):
It's fun but it lacks a lot of the lounging features I enjoyed of Fable I, such as the ability to get myself and entire village shit hammered without gaining any weight and then getting in bar fights or playing card games. Instead one drink makes me a gellatinous tub of blubber who looks like he ate the village and beer comes in small, inconvenient to drink numbers. Battle has taken simplicity and bitch slapped it to the extent it submitted some more, creating an appallingly easy to master battle system that allows for some rather uneventful fights. Gathering money and NPC interaction though are gaming peaks. As long as you ignore inherent economy flaws such as massacring a village to crash the economy, then buying werapons below half prices then selling full price at a good economy for a quick million dollars. All in all fun but it added only a little more fun and took out a little more negating a greater impact then it's predecessor.
Overall Score (9/10):
Like many games it has a large amount of flaws but it's fun and you'll get some time out of it. Instead of increasing greatly upon it's predecessor it became a mix of drops and additions that made it equal in my mind. Character appearance has degraded to the point where you may not become an old wrinkly mess but you'll not look nearly as cool as that old wrinkly mess. Yet the extensive collection of dyes and mixing clothes can create cool cosplay appearances for roleplaying. While the battle system is a bit dull and too easy you'll find yourself enjoying it the first time through.
Linear Mode
