Everything We Know About Fable 2!

[Kschreck]

While I am sure there has been Fable 2 thread in the past I wanted to create a new one where all the information that we know so far can be posted. Fable was a game that many considered did not meet the hype. At the time I never really put much attention into Fable or Project Ego as it was called so when the game did come out I actually loved it. It is one of my favorite Xbox games.

I am very excited for Fable 2 and while we have not seen the game in action, Peter Molyneux is back with his hype. This time assuring his fans that he will only mention game features that are confirmed for the game. Lets take a look at the information we have about Fable 2.


First we have the official HD quality E3 2006 trailer:


http://download.microsoft.com/downl...-9b79-a65da6991353/Fable2_720p30_51_8Mbps.wmv


Seconly Peter Molyneux gave a 23+ minute speech on some of the features he is working on for Fable 2. It's a pretty good video and you can download that here:


http://www.msxbox-world.com/movies360/download.php?id=1160114343&file=X06-Fable-2.wmv


Here is some of the artwork for the game that has been shown:


http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20060929/fable202.jpg
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20060929/fable203.jpg
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20060929/fable205.jpg
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20060929/fable204.jpg
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20060929/fable207.jpg
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20060929/fable208.jpg
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20060929/fable206.jpg
http://www.gamebanshee.com/screenshots/fable/conceptart/screenshot6.jpg
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20060929/fable201.jpg
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/725/725561/fable-2-20060814040148631.jpg


This is a rumor that was going on. Screenshot one and two don't match the other artwork or the CG trailer from E3 2006. It is rumored that they are from an in-game build of the game. One thing I noticed from the 23+ minute video interview with Peter Molyneux was that a few small sequences appeared to be cut out. Could these really be in-game screenshots? Probably not but still neat to wonder.

Here is a few X06 previews of Fable 2 from random sites:


IGN: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/736/736381p1.html
GameSpot: http://www.gamespot.com/events/x06/story.html?sid=6158955&pid=927246&tag=top_stories;title;5
1up: http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3154082&did=1


Here is a stack of rumors for the game:

I found this on a message board that got it froma French Fable site which apparently leaked reliable Fable 1 info. The info was pulled recently after posting... it sounds "realish" only because some features were confirmed in the recent Molyneux interview...

· Movie Like Combat in Real Time - Live the movie like combat in real time without health points or bars. Now, only one cut of a sword can become a mortal blow for your enemy. However, if you miss your blow, your life will be nothing more than a memory.

· Character Transformation - Fable 2 enhances the innovative system which consists of transforming your character according to your actions. Your look depends on two dimensions: the good and evil, and now also by nobility and corruption. Good deeds and evil deeds will modify your physical look, but with corrupted deeds, for example, to drink too much, or noble deeds, for example, to work hard in your employment, will modify the look even more. Where your friend’s evil hero could be a slim and fine young man and as threatening as Dracula, who has made evil and noble deeds, your hero could be as hideous and malicious as Quasimodo following his corrupted ways.

· Reacting World – Day and night cycle mark the passage of time. Watch as the spring, the summer, the autumn and the winter go by. As the years pass, see the effects of your actions in the world. See how a village develops and thrives through the years. Sow terror among the inhabitants and see the village being reduced and finally become a ruin and a ghost town. In this world, even a modest purchase will transform the local economy.

· Life of the Hero - Live a life of a hero, from childhood to old age. Will you become a nice muscular colossus, or a master-robber? Would you like to become a covetous big landowner, a champion who sacrifices themselves for the masses or to simply direct a modest inn to provide for the needs for your family? You decide.

· Man’s Best Friend - Your best friend in the world will be a faithful four-legged companion. A pup that will reach adulthood as you do. By giving him compliments and by punishing it, he grows into a frightening attack dog, a playmate to impress the others, or a partner, who, thanks to his sense of smell, will avoid problems and help you find treasures. Observe as your best friend transforms to reflect what kind of hero you are.

· Use the Environment to Your Advantage - Fight on a shaking rope bridge, and unbalance your enemies so they fall the over edge to their death. Fight in a narrow cave passage and resist the attempts of your adversaries to surround you and realize that the very low walls and ceiling constitute serious obstacles. Fight when you’re surprised and you are likely to be surrounded. The location of battle will play an essential part for your survival.

· The fair sex - Play the game while begin a heroine. You can even get pregnant.

· Customization - Choose your sex, the color of your eyes and you are ready to play. Also, you can personalize your character like you want: let the hair or beard grow, change the color of your clothing, get tattoos, buy accessories, dye and cut your hair, or even do make up. Create the hero or the heroine, you wish to be.

· Careers - When you are not doing an epic RPG quest to kill the baddies and to progress in the game, stop for moment to test one of the various careers in the game. Hero’s job doesn’t always pay that well, so there are many means of increasing your income while working part-time. Perhaps you would like to become professional gladiator for one day, or a barkeeper, or a blacksmith, a gambler, or a farmer or even a burglar. It is for you to choose what you do and it is always possible to earn money by doing things simultaneously.

· Offline Multiplayer - Those who don’t have an access to the Internet can always play together by bringing their hero in their friend’s world (via a memorycard) and by transforming it into a spirit, a powerful creature which can fight the monsters, cure friends, curse the enemies, divert the masses, find hidden treasures and take the place of the main hero when the action becomes too hard!

· Online Multiplayer – Join a group of players sharing the same interests and objectives, which can appear in their respective world in the capacity as "phantoms", share resources, fight each other in very diverse challenges, bury treasures so that the other players can find them in turns, to trade objects and much more.

· For each choice a consequence – Discover the causes and the effects behind each of your actions. Eliminate all the inhabitants from a city and become a wanted fugitive and disguise yourself to escape from the police. Make yourself an idiot and notice that everyone shows you the finger, makes fun of you and that nobody will give you any serious work. Have sex like there’s no tomorrow and discover that you became a father or a mother, if you didn’t use protection.

· Freedom – It’s a world of adventures: give up on the roads and travel through fields to surprise your enemies, swim across the lakes and dive in to find treasures, pass by the windows and the balconies in an immense tactile world.

The Article:


http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=927246&topic=30926455


Before you dismiss these rumors I can confirm that a lot of what is being said in there is actually true. A lot of this stuff has been confirmed throughout a handful of previews and videos. These could very well be true.

Peter Molyneux gave a short demonstration of a combat engine earlier this year at Leipzig and while he claimed that it's not for Fable 2, GameSpot and other sites do think it is indeed from Fable 2. This video does not have graphics in place but the concepts shown are pretty cool. Check it out here:


http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/5194


October 5, 2006: Milestone 3 - Lionhead Delivers Playable Fable 2 to Microsoft:


http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3154223


Here is Milestone 2 which talks about the game being way more open then Fable 2. By the sound of it just one forest area region is bigger then all of the forest regions combined together in the first Fable. Sounds very awesome and you can check out all of the other details here:


http://www.lionhead.com/news/community32k6.html


Peter Molyneux talks to Spong about a few more secrets hidden away in Fable 2 as well as how he wants the graphics to be jaw dropping:


http://news.spong.com/article/10506?cb=959


Here are a few older previews from around E3 2006:


IGN: Peter Molyneux Talks Fable 2:
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/708/708147p1.html

GameSpot: Molyneux: This is NOT Fable 2:
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/fable2/news.html?sid=6156154

1up: LGC 2006: Peter Molyneux on Next-Gen Combat:
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3153034

1up: Brief Fable 2 Update from Lionhead:
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3152852

Wikipedia: Random Details Updated Anytime:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fable_2


So there we have it. Here is a gathering of most of the information we have regarding Peter Molyneux's most ambitious project. While most people don't care for Fable or it's upcoming sequel I for one am excited to see what the team comes up with. If I am missing anything then please feel free to post it below. Oh and if you guys like these little previews then perhaps I will do them for some other highly anticipated games. For those who have not played Fable then I recommend you purchasing Fable: The Lost Chapters for the Xbox which includes Fable plus several hours more worth of game content. It's only $20 and can be found anywhere. Even works on the Xbox 360 through backwards comapatibility.

I recommend Fable fans to keep an eye on these websites for up to the minute Fable 2 news:


http://alterego.vault.ign.com/
http://www.lionhead.com/news/

and of course the official Fable 2 page though it only hosts the trailer:

http://www.fable2.com/


Well thats all I have found so far. If I see anything new I will post it in here. Hope you all enoy my little preview here.

 

[Gargantou]

Very nice thread.
LionHead = <3 A tip for you is to join #xbox360 and #lionhead on Quakenet via an IRC client.. Sam(Whose name is mentioned in some of the article), PR d00d at LH and Neil(Main guy in charge of sound) both hang in the channels, very nice chaps, sometimes they 'hint' at some secret stuff and they're very nice to talk to.

Anyway as I said, incredibly good thread mate, you have my gratitude ^^

 

[VictimOfScience]

Indeed. Very nice thread. I was thinkning about this game yesterday when I read some of Peter's comments on Gamasutra. This is one time when I think all of his ideas might actually be possible in a game. I just hope they don't end up trimming it too much. This is what the next-gen is all about and I would love for Lionhead to be the ones to show everyone that! :thumbs:

 

[Bad^Hat]

Feels like every time I come to the games board now and end up wanting to kiss my 360...

 

[VictimOfScience]

Feels like every time I come to the games board now and end up wanting to kiss my 360...

I'll kiss mine after the first price drop when some of these games we have been drooling over are actually out.

 

[DeusExMachina]

Oh look, all the features that were supposed to be in Fable...

It sounds exciting and great, but with Molyneux, you have to wait till the game comes out to even confirm any of this.

 

[Adrik_Senturu]

I can see it now :x.

Fable 2: Those other chapters.

 

[Kschreck]

For those interested Team Xbox has released recently a new preview for Fable 2. Nothing new however:


http://www.lionhead.com/images/cupd22k61.jpg


Also this new artwork was shown in the September Milestone (October 5th for us):


http://www.lionhead.com/images/cupd22k61.jpg


This artwork shows the ruins of some antient building. Could this be a building that was originally in Fable 1 but now has passed through 500 years of age? It looks like a room in the Hero's Guild in the original Fable:


http://guidesmedia.ign.com/guides/16526/images/27.jpg


Molyneux, Zeschuck and Jackson discuss the future of gaming at the X06 "The Future Of Storytelling Panel". It's a little over 40 minutes long and you can download it here:


http://movies.teamxbox.com/xbox360/x06/x06_peterjackson.wmv