I think we figured by now there'd be no Fable II for PC but Beefjack has some comments on the reason from Senior Designer Mike West:

“With Fable III the team and time was right to create a PC version,” he told BeefJack. “Once the game went to submission the content creators started working on DLC and therefore the coders were free to start on the PC version.

“Unfortunately for Fable II fans, those same coders are already working on new projects and going back to a Fable II conversion isn’t a priority I’m afraid.”

"Not a priority" is the important bit, I think.

Kotaku others are reporting Fable 2 is free on XBL at the moment - it isn't clear if this is a  marketing stunt for Fable 3 or just an error but check it out if you have an Xbox and don't already have the game.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.  Here's a snip from Molyneux at Develop, according to Eurogamer:

Microsoft exclusive RPG Fable II was "terribly messy", "rushed" and suffered from "huge design flaws", creator Peter Molyneux has admitted.

Speaking at the Develop Conference in Brighton this afternoon, the Lionhead Studios boss went through a long list of Fable II features that he hated, before telling the audience how Fable 3 will improve upon them.

"Fable II, let's be honest about it, it has some terribly messy things about it," he said.

Microsoft has announced the first part of an episodic release of Fable II starts today on Xbox Live and the first part is free:

Enter the World of "Fable II" One Episode at a Time, First One on the House

"Fable II: Game Episodes" debuts today with the first chapter available for free on Xbox LIVE

Any “Fable II” fan can share experiences of their life in the rich world of Albion, and wild stories about glory or mischief they’ve gotten into as consequences of their choices in the game. For everyone missing out, Microsoft now presents a completely new way to experience “Fable II” through the power of Xbox LIVE and Games on Demand: “Fable II: Game Episodes.”

Debuting today on Xbox LIVE*, “Fable II: Game Episodes” gives players the choice to purchase and download “Fable II” one episode at a time. This marks the first time in Xbox history that a major blockbuster title will be distributed not only digitally, but episodically as well. “Fable II: Game Episodes” delivers the entire “Fable II” experience in five consecutive installments, with all the Achievements, challenges and excitement of the disc-based game, as well as full compatibility with the previously released Game Add-ons, “Knothole Island” and “See the Future.”

As an incentive for those curious about the adventures that await them in “Fable II,” Microsoft Game Studios is making the first episode free to download. In this initial episode, players are introduced to the vibrant world of Albion where every choice has a consequence, and are able to experience childhood and the trials of being a young adult. Players can then choose to purchase additional episodes on Xbox LIVE at their own pace.

Players who decide to purchase “Fable II” either digitally or on disc after a foray into the first game episode will find their saved progress, character profile, and items from the first episode will be transferred seamlessly as they continue their journey. All editions of the game offer cooperative play with friends on the same couch as well as on Xbox LIVE.**

...and Edge Online has an interview on the subject with Peter Molyneux.

Worthplaying has a critique of Fable II's See the Future.  The main criticism is the shortness for a score of 7/10:

The thing that hurts the most about See the Future is the fact that the new missions are incredibly entertaining, but they end far too soon. At about the 30-minute mark of each task, I was so excited to see what came next, only for the next thing to be the end. It's sort of soul-crushing to be having such fun one minute and then be completely done the next, but that's what this DLC pack does to you not once, but twice.

GameBanshee writes they have kicked up a walkthrough, equipment list and Achievements for Fable II's See the Future DLC.

GameZone reviews the new See the Future DLC for Fable II, awarding a score of 9.4/10 because of all the awesomeness:

Fable II: See the Future offers more than just new missions to the game, it also offers many new items for players to experiment with. The best items are four potions that will change the appearance of your canine friend to either: Husky, Dalmatian, or Bloodhound (and one to change him back). There are also new hairstyles, make-up, clothes, expressions, and more items to obtain.

Fable II DLC See the Future will be released tomorrow says Lionhead's development blog:

Tomorrow, May 12th, Fable II's game add-on See The Future will be released. I've seen some reviews come out already, but we'll link to those tomorrow (after the embargo!). You can of course always search for them yourself. Anyway, tomorrow is the day, which is pretty exciting. There will be updates during the day on the blog tomorrow too, plus we have on REALLY big surprise arriving tomorrow (no not a new game, so relax) but something you (the communities out there) should enjoy. Everyone loves something for free, even if it's just The One. Still.

Lionhead has kicked up their 9th video diary, this time going behind the scenes on the See the Future DLC for Fable II, due for release on May 12th.  You can check out the diary here.

If you are interested in the Achievements in the upcoming Fable II DLC, The Future, head over to the Fable II dev blog for a list.

The second Fable II DLC addon has been foreshadowed by Lionhead but now it has been officially announced:

“See the Future” of Albion With the Much Anticipated Second Game Add-on for "Fable II"

The future of Albion awaits discovery. In the latest game add-on for "Fable II," the award-winning role-playing game that has sold more than 2.6 million copies worldwide, players will encounter challenges unlike anything a hero has faced before. Available in May exclusively on Xbox LIVE Marketplace, Microsoft and Lionhead Studios keep the “Fable II” adventures going in “See the Future,” an action-packed journey that requires players to lift the curses placed on three mysterious items that have come into the possession of Murgo the Trader.

In “See the Future,” players will be given the chance to heed the call for a hero to restore color and balance to the world, or let Albion fall to the wayside. Those who emerge victorious will receive the ultimate reward: a quest that provides a vision of Albion’s future and what lies ahead for those born into the heroic bloodline. The fantastical new quests in “See the Future” will bring players face-to-face with new characters, creatures, events and legendary artifacts, including:

Murgo: Having first met him during the childhood sequence of “Fable II,” Murgo returns to Bowerstone Market to bring an amazing array of new wares, including potions that can transform canine companions into new breeds.

The Ghosts of the Snowglobe Quest: Holding a disturbing secret, the small model village inside it was once a real town in Albion. The people who once inhabited it are now ghosts condemned to endless torment until the shadowy threat that cursed them is defeated.

The Cursed Knight Quest: Forever banished to a land beyond the dead, the Cursed Knight awaits a hero who has the strength and will to dress up in convincing costumes, even imitating a hobbe or balverine, to save him from his fate.

 

The Colosseum: The Colosseum puts even the Crucible to shame. Only the greatest heroes have triumphed here. Players’ abilities will be put to the test to prove themselves in combat once and for all, to win the ultimate in prizes.

In addition, “See the Future” offers free unique items* to all, including Welley’s soldier helmet and other clothing, a braided ponytail and other hairstyles, psycho Jester make-up, a new hero expression, the back flip trick for canine companions, and a collectible Murgo the Trader gold statue.

The “Fable II” “See the Future” game add-on will be available for download exclusively on Xbox LIVE Marketplace in May for 560 MS Points for the premium content package. “Fable II” is available exclusively on Xbox 360 and is rated “M” for Mature by the ESRB and PEGI 16 +. Three new screenshots from “See the Future” are available at: http://www.lionhead.com/Fable2/SeetheFuture.aspx. For more information, visit http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/f/fable2/.

Skavenhorde sends a link to a less-than serious interview with Peter Molyneux at Gamespot about some DLC for Fable 2. There's a trailer also, but here's part of the description:

My Pocket Pets is described by Peter Molyneux as a companion to Fable II that allows you to breed and raise dogs and eventually import them into the world of Fable II. The most compelling feature of this DLC is the price; the download itself will cost nothing. However, there is a small, reoccurring service fee for the expenses that go along with keeping your pet alive. That fee is one dollar a day. Or your pet dies.

Thanks for the tip, skavenhorde.

Peter Molyneux tells Kotaku the next Fable II DLC - titled See the Future - is coming soon:

The next DLC comes out in the spring," he said. "We're in the spring now so don't think months, think more like weeks. It's called See the Future."

Molyneux says that the new DLC will be much more story driven and give gamers a glimpse of things to come.

The official Fable II blog writes they about their 2.6M sales to date, a few statistics about the Achievements unlocked and more DLC:

Finally we’d like to address a question that comes up a lot;
 
“Will there be any more DLC for Fable II?”.
 
The answer is quite simple;
 
“Yes”.
 
The team here in Guildford is working on some new content right now! More information will be shared in the coming weeks.

Shamus Young gets back to talking about Fable II's good bits in a relatively spoiler-free piece:

So I’ve just spent four posts and seven thousand words excoriating the plot of Fable 2. It probably sounds like I hated the game, but the truth is I spent more time with Fable 2 than I did with Mass Effect. While comparing the story in Mass Effect to the story of Fable 2 is like comparing 2001: A Space Odyssey to the BJ and the Bear fanfiction Uwe Boll wrote in high school, the truth is that Fable 2 held my interest for longer because it had more gameplay and less filler. Yes, the plot is awful, but it’s also not a very large portion of the time you spend with the game.

There is a lot to do between plot points, and when it comes time to endure a little plot in order to open up the next playground you can comfort yourself with the fact that you can hold down a button to skip most of the dialog. I realize this sounds like heresy coming from a “story is king” gamer like myself, and I’m as surprised as anyone to find myself liking the thing.

The scourging continues.  Since this is a detailed examination of Fable II's plot, rampant spoilers apply:

As I said in my earlier post: Fable 2 has fun gameplay, but the story is clearly offensively inept. It’s important to remember that there is a lot of other gameplay that happens in between these painful trails of plot delivery. You’re not supposed to power through the story all at once, and doing so would probably be very bad for you.

A two-piece "scourging" of Fable II's plot is up at Twenty Sided.  Here's a bit from Part 1, with the designers described as "bad railroaders" (huge spoilers apply:

A bad railroader will use their power over the player character to force the PC to do things they would never choose to do on their own. Their (mostly illusory) autonomy is negated so that their character can be conscripted in service of the plot. The player will be forced to ally themselves with people they want to kill, surrender when they would rather fight, show mercy when they would rather have vengeance, blunder into obvious traps, and listen to villainous diatribes rather than simply taking action. This is Fable 2. The game touts “choices with consequences”, but the choices you are allowed to make in-game are never germane to the plot. They’re usually artificially binary good / evil decisions that have no impact on the main story. You won’t be allowed to make any choices that deviate from your predetermined role as a clueless mute doormat.

...and a link to Part 2.

Lionhead is pointing out a super-duper hi-res map of Fable II's Albion (40Mb).

After praising Fable II as a SimRPG a few days back, Shamus Young lets rip on the main story:

I mentioned in my original post on Fable 2 that the plot is insultingly simplistic, ham-fisted, and perfunctory. It’s my only gripe with what is otherwise a stellar game. I do not count the hours I spent with Fable 2 as time squandered, but I do resent the main story and its self-indulgent idiocies. The main plot of a game is a pretty big thing to screw up, and the failure here is all-encompassing. The plot fails thematically, it fails logically, it fails dramatically, and - most importantly - it fails to be entertaining. It’s a dreadful chore to endure the key moments in the story of Fable 2, and I was always relieved when I was released from the iron grip of the narrative and allowed to go back to having fun.

Shamus Young turns his attention to Fable II as his next "review":

Fable 2 is a Sim RPG. I don’t mean it feels like an RPG with Sim elements in it. I mean it feels like a simulation of an RPG, with all the rich details abstracted away into clockwork game mechanics. Character development, morality, love, style, fame, personal attraction: These are all just numbers expressed in sliders. Love and hate are expressed with all the depth and passion of adjusting the gamma on your display. The story rolls forward like a chattering sprocket, ticking off plot points cribbed from “Generic Fantasy for Dummies”. The central characters are plodding one-note ciphers, and the rest are generic interchangeable classics like “town guard”, “peasant”, and “aristocrat”.

This is one of those times where you really need to examine the fine print but on the surface, a Lionhead rep on the official forums says...

We're not working on a PC version of Fable II...  If this changes we'll make sure you know about it on our website(s). 

The Lionhead blog is pointing out a handful of impressions/reviews for Fable II's Knothole Island DLC:

• Destructoid
• Videogamer.com
• GameSpot
• TECHcetera

A sample from GameSpot:

The new content can be as brief as an hour or two if you run through the dungeons, but if you take your time and scour every inch of the land, it can take much longer than that. The most important thing is that, though there isn't a ton of new places to explore and quests to partake in, what is here is quite good. The dungeons are longer than most in the game, presenting plenty of clever traps and deadly ambushes, and there are tons of new items to collect. And you can finally don a proper piece of armor suitable for a hero instead of the random assortment of rags you're given in the main quest. Knothole Island is a darn good excuse to return to Fable II.

GameBanshee sends word they have a walkthrough for Knothole Island's three quests, as well as details of the new items and Achievements.

Shacknews has a couple of shots from Fable II's Knothole Island DLC, which has now been released.

The Lionhead blog has news the anticipated Fable II patch - ahem, Title Update - has been released with Knothole Island about to go live.  Head over for the patch notes, including some extra comments on the issues.

Shacknews has a video diary that takes viewers through the upcoming Fable II DLC titled Knothole Island, which is due for release on January 13th.

Fragland has posted a positive review for Lionhead Studios' so far XBox-only title, Fable II, giving it a score of 92/100:

The world is ready for your rule, and it is a beautiful, interesting world. The setting looks fantastic, both on technical and artistic level, and you really feel like being in a fairy tale in which your play the main part. This feeling is among other things reinforced by the original and enchanting (or when needed frightening soundtrack and the excellent voice acting that finally is not limited to some grumbling Americans or Japanese teenage girls reaching puberty. The many quests also help to bring the world to life and are one by one original, partly original, or at least provided with funny, surprising characters with their own background or story. No simple back and forth quests here, because in return for less quantity, quality is given. The only negative point that we could think of, is that the main story perhaps could have been somewhat more epic, but in the end that is hair splitting.

Conclusion:

Fable 2 has become a wonderful, exciting fairy tale, one in which the promises of freedom of choice, real role-playing and an exciting world have finally been fulfilled. Regrettably, some technical shortcomings like the many loading times, the sometimes inadequate interface and the not always well devised fighting system make the whole a bit less pleasant. However, at no time those negative points will be able to stop you from fully enjoying this warm, pleasant game in which you can let yourself go and in which you can enjoy the humour, the fantasy, the surprising end and the many unforgettable moments.

Worthplaying has news the Knothole Island DLC for Fable II has been pushed back to late January because of "technical issues".

Other rpgs in the list include; Fallout 3 at number 2, Warhammer Online at 31, the entire list in easy text format at MCV.

UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph this weekend published its extensive 50 Best Games of 2008 list, and Microsoft and Lionhead’s Fable II was the paper’s pick of the bunch for standout titles over the last 12 months.

The hardcore centric list leads with two of the year’s biggest RPGs – with Bethesda’s Fallout 3 trailing Fable II by just one place.

Eurogamer has news that the Knothole Island DLC for Fable II will hit on December 22nd:

Lionhead has told Eurogamer that the Knothole Island DLC for Fable II will definitely arrive on 22nd December, and not 12th December as was first thought.

PopMatters has a review of Fable II written by Michael Abbott, who writes The Brainy Gamer, which we've occasionally linked.  The score is 10/10 and here's the intro:

Fable II is the final draft of a thesis Peter Molyneux has been writing for most of his career. Famous (or infamous, depending on how you look at it) for his grandiose promises and pre-release hype-stoking pronouncements, Molyneux can hardly be accused of taking the easy road as a game designer. After all, this is a man who built his reputation creating “God games” that simulate the management of peoples and worlds from the perspective of an omniscient, all-powerful deity. Given such an orientation, it’s easy to forgive Molyneux for occasionally overreaching. Thinking small is hardly conducive to success in the design domain Molyneux inhabits.

Fable II isn’t a God game, but it is no less ambitious on its own terms than any of Molyneux’s previous efforts. It is an epic game in scope, chock-full of adventure, sexual escapades, and political intrigue. If you are drawn into all it has to offer—including its rich social interactions, job system, and quirky but germane side-quests—Fable II will have you exploring, evolving your hero, and generally messing around in Albion for dozens of hours. It is, perhaps, the most seductive game world ever created.

The Lionhead blog has released details of the promised Fable II patch:

Patch time is coming, to town! Ok I admit, that was pretty bad... We haven't forgotten about the patch that was promised a while ago, the team sends word that the update is coming along nicely. These are some of the fixed issues that come up the most on our forums or email but by no means is it a complete one. The update is currently being tested and finalized, so for those (few) of you having trouble, we're listening to you.

- The Ritual/Monk’s Quest – Fixed the issue with the Abbott becoming unresponsive if you leave Oakfield before he finishes talking. This will fix the problem if you’ve already hit it, too.

- Rescuing Charlie/Rescue My Baby – after rescuing Charlie, you can now able to interact with objects

- Guild Cave chest – resolves any issues with previously inability to retrieve items unlocked from Limited Collector’s Edition, website or Chicken Kickin’ game. If you’ve already hit this bug you should now get your items.

- The Spire (Pt2) – no more issues with ship captain being unresponsive

- The Hero of Skill (Pirate King) – you’ll no longer get stuck during Hero of Skill quest (Bloodstone)

- T.O.B.Y./Trouble In Bloodstone – you’ll no longer get stuck during T.O.B.Y. quests (Bloodstone)

- Your child - will no longer be chosen as an assassination target

- Furniture Shop in Albion (Bowerstone) will now always have something for sale

- Additional unspecified fixes

...and Shacknews has screens from the upcoming Knothole Island DLC.

File this firmly under "rumours" but German site Gamona claims a "well informed" source says Fable II is under development for the PC with an expected release date of February 2009.

It wouldn't surprise us here butdon't give any serious weight to an unnamed "source".

Game Over have a short review of Fable 2 rewarding it with a score of 90%.

Most of Fable 2’s moral choices are pretty black and white—help the farmer fight the bandits or help the bandits trash the farm—but what makes them interesting is how the world reacts to what you do. Will villagers adore you for your benevolence, or flee from your very approach? Will shopkeepers offer you a discount for being their savior or will they offer you a discount so you won’t kill them and burn down their store? It’s all very amusing to watch, and what makes it work is the incredible wit and style with which the world is infused. The result is irresistibly charming and very hard not to like, regardless of whether you choose to play nice with others or bathe in the blood of the innocent.

So, the big announcement isn't that big (are they ever?) with Microsoft and Lionhead announcing the Knothole Island DLC pack:

Lionhead Studios and Microsoft Game Studios Announce First “Fable II” Premium Downloadable Content

“Fable II” adventures continue with downloadable content and free pack to release mid-December 2008

The epic journey begun in “Fable II,” the fastest selling RPG on Xbox 360, is not over. Starting mid-December 2008, fans will be summoned back into Albion’s service with the release of the Knothole Island downloadable content pack. The remote island of Knothole is dying: its golden sands and lush vegetation are covered with snow, its people freezing, its treasures buried. Only a hero can face the trials of the three shrines to bring back the sunshine.

Following its release on Xbox 360 on Oct. 21, more than 1.5 million units of “Fable II” flew off store shelves worldwide in the first two weeks, making it the most popular game, across all platforms, in the U.S. in October. With the release of the first “Fable II” downloadable content, available exclusively on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 800 Microsoft Points, gamers will be invited to set sail for Knothole Island, where new quests, wondrous items and bizarre characters await.

Also in mid-December, fans everywhere will be able to enhance their “Fable II” experience with the release of a free “Fable II” downloadable pack exclusively on Xbox LIVE Marketplace. To engage in co-op gameplay with a player who has already downloaded the Knothole Island content, gamers will need to download the free pack. Both co-op players must download the Knothole Island (Premium) pack in order to play new quests and enjoy the complete Knothole Island co-op experience.

Free and premium downloaders will receive a show of gifts, including Knight’s Boots, Assassins Gloves, a special Weight Loss Potion, collectible silver book and more. Players will also be able to check their standing in over 50 new Leaderboards on Lionhead.com.

As an additional treat for “Fable II” fans, Lionhead Studios and Microsoft Game Studios have created an all-new Albion dashboard theme in celebration of the launch of the New Xbox Experience. Fans who want to show off their “Fable II” pride can head over to Xbox LIVE Marketplace to download the Albion theme, available now for 250 Microsoft points.

“Fable II” is exclusively available on Xbox 360 and is rated “M” for Mature by the ESRB. Please visit: www.xbox.com/fable2 or www.lionhead.com/fable2 for more information

According to the Lionhead blog, their "big" Fable II announcement for this week has been delayed to the 24th on order of Microsoft:

I know what you're thinking, but no, I'm afraid this is not the BIG news that got me (and most of you) so excited last week. The big bods over in Redmond decided that, this week wasn't the time to tell you what that announcement is we have ready here in Guildford. However, there is some news. To celebrate the launch of the New Xbox Experience, we've created an all-new Fable II theme for your dashboard. Go show your Fable pride!

For those of you who are waiting for the "big one" - stay tuned, Microsoft assures me that we can announce it on Monday 24th. If not, I will fly over there and slam my fist on a desk. Like, really hard!

Garret sends word of a Fable II review at Gamers' Creed. The score is 4/5 and here's a snip:

The storytelling borders on exceptional. The central plotline and main characters draw you in early and keep you interested throughout the game. There are a few touching moments, and humor sprinkled throughout. I laughed; I cried; I explored Reaver’s Rear Passage. While the side quests are somewhat underdeveloped for an FRPG, they serve their purpose well enough. One thing that the game does uniquely well is managing the tempo between the central story-line and side activities – giving you several clear breaks in the main thread during which you can pursue other interests without feeling like you’re “breaking character”.  This has long been a pet peeve of mine from countless other RPGs, so I’m pleased by that.

 

On the other hand, one thing that grated my nerves throughout the storytelling was the in-your-face moralizing; this is a disturbing trend in RPGs generally that Fable II simply embraces with passion. There was a time when RPGs taught moral lessons that were limited to universally accepted values – don’t murder innocents, protect the defenseless, help those in need, etc. Fable II takes this moralizing to a whole new level of ridiculousness: eating vegetables increases your “purity” (because no animals were harmed in the making of this food), charging a higher than “normal” rent increases your “corruption”, and there’s a quest where you need to find a gay farm boy a date in the big city.  Now I get the fable/moral connection; I really do. However, these aren’t the time honored lessons of Aesop or the Brothers Grimm; these are the trendy whims of metrosexual game designers. I’d as soon seek enlightenment from the back panel of my breakfast cereal. Spare me.

GameBanshee writes they have finished their Fable II walkthrough to complement their equipment (and other stuff) database.

Yes, one of those announcements for an announcement.  The Lionhead blog says some big news is coming next week for Fable II fans:

Normally, we don't like to tease too much. You know, all this hype being generated by teasing the announcement that there will be an announcement in X-number of days. Who cares? But in this day and age where a gazillion titles are asking for your attention, I felt it might be the right thing to do on the blog. We've got some news for all Fable II fans next week, dare I even say it's quite a big announcement? Yes of course I dare say it's a big announcement regarding Fable II, next week!

In other news, if you are still hungry for the backstory on Fable and Fable II, check out our Tales of Albion feature. The map of Travels in Today's Albion has been pretty much completely revealed now...

PC version?  Sequel?  Patch so it works?

From the Lionhead blog:

GameBanshee sends word they have added a bunch of content to their Fable II site:

If you picked up Fable II over the past week and find yourself wondering where all of the silver keys are or what sort of legendary weapons you can find, then you'll be happy to hear that we've got it all covered. Our Fable II subsite has received a massive dose of new content, including:

• In-game screenshots and full descriptions for all 9 Demon Doors
• In-game screenshots pointing out the location of all 51 Silver Keys
• In-game screenshots pointing out the location of all 50 Gargoyles
• In-game screenshots pointing out the location and contents of all 18 Silver Chests
• Details and statistics for all character strength, skill, and will abilities
• Details on how to obtain every character expression in the game
• An equipment database spanning many items - including all Legendary Weapons
• A work-in-progress Fable II walkthrough

Q&A with Peter Molyneux now that Fable 2 is done on Develop.

So from that list was Fable 2’s development more focused, then?

Well, I say we had a good list of things to make a sequel - but that’s not what Lionhead was established to create. We were ambitious, and I couldn’t help myself. One afternoon I walked out into the studio, and on a whiteboard wrote a sentence I wanted to sum up and drive the game development. The line was ‘I want to make a game that the player will never forget.’

So my thinking is that if you only have space in your mind for five great cultural things – one of them being Lord of the Rings, another being Pulp Fiction – then Fable 2 has to stand alongside them or even replace one of them, thanks to the gameplay and the story.

This is totally my style, I like thinking big and trying to inspire people – because if you can generate that kind of excitement and get people thinking, if they only get half way to the goal you’ve been successful. Otherwise you get nothing at all.

Strong praise for Fable II in Edge Online's review, which carries a score of 9/10:

Choice has rarely had such a guilty laugh at the end of it. And with good reason, as Fable II needs the levity to offset some real bleakness. Quests that end unhappily or don’t go to plan. People whose fate is left in your hands – or, occasionally, who have you at their whim. Most of all, it manages, somehow and almost bloody-mindedly, to make your decisions matter. Not in the sense that the gameworld will change (though it often does), or in a ’be-good-for-this-prize’ way (though that, too, happens). You can tell they matter because you’ll be looking at the screen for more than 30 seconds, actually contemplating the possibilities and probabilities of selecting different options. One decision had us pondering for a good five minutes. It goes beyond what is usual, or even unusual, and while it won’t make you blub or reconsider your very being, it’ll make you think about your actions in a stark light.

...and over at the Lionhead site, Tales of Albion has been updated with Part 3 and their blog has an interview except that the explains co-op multiplayer.

I have the feeling we posted something similar to this a while back...so, here we go again.  MTV has Design Director Dene Carter's 10 must-do things in Fable II.  Could be spoiler-y, I guess:

1. Bowerstone’s Bridge

Described by Albion’s best-known and least competent bard as “nice and bridgey,” this functional edifice spans the entire width of the river Bower*, and is much beloved by both ardent romantics and the “desperate-but-desirous-of-a-quickie.” Hand-in-hand walks in the moonlight are given a special magic courtesy of Bowerstone Bridge’s meat, fish and alcoholic beverage stalls.

2. Oakfield’s Temple of Light

In the hills overlooking the pastoral splendor of Oakfield lies the Temple of Light. Despite its curiously dingy interior, pilgrims and advocates of the way of Light make their way here once every half-century, to pay their respects and witness the replanting of the tree of life. You are encouraged to make a donation to the temple during the visit, preferably as a recompense for the sense of peace and inner stillness your visit will achieve, but more probably from the knowledge that generous donations occasionally result in the spontaneous appearance of a valuable nature.

A little bit of a lower score for Fable II at Worthplaying but still plenty of praise in their review.  The score is 8.5/10 and here's a snip:

One of the most surprising things about Fable II is that it is one of the few games where making a choice to be good actually has an influence on your character that isn't wholly positive. In most modern games, the choice between good and evil is without any real bite. You can be a saint of saints in Mass Effect, and the only real difference is that you might get slightly less cash out of the deal, and you'll usually get rare items to make up for it. This is not quite the case in Fable II. Being selfless and good in Fable II requires actual sacrifice, both by the character and the player. While there are a good number of "good or evil" choices, a few revolve around the concept of sacrifice. If you want to stick to heroic morality and be a good guy, you're going to have to permanently lose some things. It's surprising and interesting to actually be asked to make a real sacrifice instead of the Bioshock method of delayed gratification. If all you care about is the Good meter, however, it's pretty easy to dump a boatload of cash to the Temple of Light and get it maxed out again, so the choice is a bit dulled.

While we're on Fable II, the Lionhead blog has details on how to unlock the free bonus content for anyone playing.

Another positive review for Fable 2 from Gamespot.

Albion does look really impressive. The world has a cartoony feel, which gives personality to the characters and environments. The changing weather effects are quite stunning. The noon sun makes way for an unrelenting downpour, soaking you and your poor dog as you search for a snickering gargoyle. Though there are a number of technical problems, such as people walking through each other or the excruciating load times between areas, Albion is such a charming place that you'll want to see every hidden thing. The music also sets the mood of the varied environments quite nicely. The serene strings of the grassy plains clash wonderfully with the eerie howl from the foggy swamps. The voice acting is also well done. Listening to the goofy observations of the citizens, who will happily mock your clothing to your face or shout marriage proposals from across the courtyard, keeps Fable II funny and inviting the whole way through.

Changing this to a review roundup as there maybe a flood of them as Gamespy's review (another positive one) is up. They seem to like the combat system:

Fable II's most interesting game mechanics are the combat system. The combat system conceals a great amount of depth behind its accessible exterior. Melee combat, ranged attacks and magic are all controlled independently by a single button, but it doesn't lack in depth. You're judged on how skillfully you've defeated any particular encounter, rewarding you with bonus experience, so every battle becomes a test to improve yourself. This ratings system serves to make every combat important and worth your attention, since you'll always strive for that extra experience and the kudos for a job well done.

Another positive and high scoring review (9.2/10) at CVG.

Fable II fixes the wrongs of the original Fable - mainly in the structure and storyline areas where at times it proved to be a bit of a mess - and fleshes out the bits that worked, like the absurd but charming social commands and simple but satisfying experience system.

After a sluggish opening the game grows into an incredibly fleshed out, absorbing adventure world where wasting your time blowing kisses at bar maids, teaching your dog to play dead and building your career as a woodcutter doesn't feel like wasted time at all.

It's still not the revolutionary piece of software Mr. M lauded it to be, but Fable II finally sees Lionhead's original concept realised, and all round it's clearly the developer's best game to date. Well done Peter, you finally did it.

One last positive review spotted at GiantBomb.

It's these choices that are really at the heart of Fable II. At the game's most fundamental level you'll be constantly choosing between good and evil, but rarely will it feel as sterile as that. The choices are usually couched in some sort of ambiguity, with the consequences remaining a mystery for years. That's right, years! The game will span more than a few by the time you're finished, but even though there are day and night cycles, the big jumping points are clearly marked, so don't worry about taking your time. Also, be prepared to commit for the long haul if you want to be a saint. While running into a town and starting a massacre will turn you evil in mere minutes, it may take you the majority of the game to tread the road to righteousness. It seems like being good requires a pretty strict commitment, both in playing style and in actual sacrifices.

The Lionhead blog has news the Live Patch is complete, offering the promised Fable II online co-op:

Terrific news! Lionhead and Microsoft Game Studios confirmed today that the online co-op “Fable II” multiplayer feature update is confirmed for a first day free download on Xbox LIVE, worldwide (21st October). We are pleased to provide “Fable II” fans around the world with the chance to hop in and out of their friend’s “Fable II” worlds, to meet their heroes, dogs, spouses and experience Albion, together online. “Fable II” will be available at retailers throughout North America on October 21 and across Europe on October 24.

You would never have noticed, we could just have told you we'd be "switching on the servers" and gotten away with it. I think...

In other Fable II news, you can check out the Leaderboards and download the Lmited Fate Cards.

Finally, over at MTV, a list of early-game happenings:

On Saturday I played about four hours of “Fable II” during which I:

*Kicked chickens

*Married Vicky the jeweler.

*Had a kid with Vicky the jeweler, a boy named Frank who has not aged but has grown to dislike me. Farting in front of him and giving him a girl’s doll barely cheered him up. Go figure.

*Bought Vicky’s former shop and raised prices 20%, which is apparently a “corrupt” thing to do.

*Robbed people in their homes.

*Done community service and realized that I can commit multiple crimes and only have one community service quest issued that absolves me of all of them — the longer I wait to fulfill that one quest, the more crimes I can get away with in the interim. Bug? [...]

Eurogamer's review is up, top marks for Lionhead's latest.

The swashbuckling animation and on-the-fly environmental details, along with your gradually expanding arsenal of moves, elevate Fable II's combat so much that it's the game's strongest point. Impacts are meaty, and enemies are varied in both strategy and appearance: massive trolls burst from the earth and bandits drop down from the trees, while hollow, skeletal men lumber towards you en masse before shattering under gunfire in a dry explosion of bones. The arrangements of enemies call for different strategies, and getting the most out of a fight still requires more traditional videogame attributes like skill and dexterity (in other words, I struggled).

Combat's not the only strong point, however: Lionhead's story is pleasantly mysterious, and its characters, quests and settings are all infused with an unmistakably British humour - more Adam and Joe than Monty Python, pleasingly. The sheer scope of the game is an achievement in itself, gliding from a knockabout Dickensian childhood through a grim middle age, and on to a conclusion which all hangs on some particularly tricky choices. Along the way, the narrative manages to cram in pirates, ghosts, and a familiar Fable variation on werewolves, a sure sign that the developers have your best interests at heart.

While we're talking about Fable II, Shacknews has a new trailer titled Unaware of the Darkness.

GameBanshee sent us a note to say they have some excerpts from the Official Xbox Magazine's exclusive review of Fable II.  Appparently the score is 9.5/10 and they name this the finest game in Molyneux's career.  On being fenced in:

Forget the first Fable's fenced-in roads and tiny towns. The opening section in Bowerstone hints at a larger, grander scope for the sequel's version of Albion, and the moment you're set loose as an adult at Bower Lake, you're presented with a magnificent view of a valley that looks like it could contain all of the original game. It is, in fact, an overwhelming sensory event not unlike your first steps above ground in Oblivion or Fallout 3. The sense of scale and wonder never ceases. Towns bustle with vocal citizens who have daily routines; dynamic weather and day/night cycles give the world a pulse. And those pesky fences that leashed you to a path in the first Fable? Now you can easily hope [sic] over them.

The third part of the Fable II lore series Tales of Albion is now up - you'll need to install Microsoft's Silverlight to view it.

A new Fable II site has been launched as the release approaches and the Lionhead site is pointing out the Destiny TV trailer:

A few days ago the Fable II Destiny TV trailer was released (as an exclusive) and now we’ve got a link as well! If you haven’t seen it yet you should feel ashamed. Once that feeling is gone, click this link and watch it!

The reactions and comments on our forums are incredibly positive and we’re very glad everyone liked it and is very impressed by the presentation. The Destiny trailer will be shown across the USA and many European countries in selected movie theatres, TV channels and websites. So keep an eye out on your favourite channel for the Fable II Destiny trailer!

To watch the Destiny trailer click this link; it’ll open directly in a video player and start streaming.

VoodooExtreme has seven Fable II gameplay clips that include Molyneux describing aspects of the gameplay.  The videos cover abilities and spells, morality, character expressions and co-op outfits, consequences, weapons and more, so they look like compelling viewing if you'd like a decent look into Fable II.

Lionhead's blog says they are on track to have online co-op patched in to Fable II for day one:

Remember a couple of days ago (or was it a week) where on a blog it was mentioned that Fable II would be shipping 'without' Online Co-op? And remember we said we were busting our balls to get it ready in time for a 'Day One' release? Well - news folks! It looks like we've done it...for all of you who are connected to Xbox Live, when starting up your copy of Fable II (on 21st October in USA, 24th October in Europe and 18th December in Japan). So all of you getting upset and all, you wouldn't even have noticed... Sort of. Well done to the team.

Lionhead has news of a "make up" offer for Fable II music after a number of supply gaffes lead to the Limited Collector's Edition having content slashed.  The details:

Just to give you all a quick reminder of one of our LCE make-up-offers. Today, and only for a limited time, you can get a few tracks from Fable 1 and 2 for FREE (link below). 

To further show our commitment to the faithful fans, we have created a special Fable album for free download for a limited time!  This includes a wonderful selection of Fable 1 music and 3 brand new tracks from the upcoming Fable II soundtrack.
 
Go to http://www.sumthingdigital.com, and enter “FableCollection” promotion code.  This will be available beginning October 6, 2008 @ 9am PST!

I've managed to download them without the promotion code, just click on the image on the right hand side and you'll get the .zip with six tracks. The music is absolutely wonderful!

Voodoo Extreme has a developer diary up called "Making of:Part 2" for Lionhead Studio's upcoming  XBox 360 title, Fable 2. You can catch it here.

Lionhead's 7th video diary is up, covering the music and audio in Fable II:

Lionhead Studios Releases Episode 7 of Video Diary Series: The Music and Audio of “Fable II”

Three weeks stand between gamers and their quest to become a hero. “Fable II” will be available exclusively on the Xbox 360 in North America on Oct. 21. In celebration of this occasion, today Lionhead Studios and Microsoft Game Studios released episode 7 of the popular “Fable II” video diary series to Xbox LIVE Marketplace. In this new episode, the team takes viewers on a behind-the-scenes visual and audio tour from Bratislava to London, where music, sound effects and voiceover dialogues breathe life into the colorful art and animations of “Fable II.”

See interviews with various members of the audio development team, including head of music Russell Shaw, who discusses the process of music development in “Fable II,” and hear the audio design team’s humorous quips as they imitate sword and battle cry sound effects, just two of the 9,000 unique sound effects in “Fable II.” Curious to hear the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra play a score from the opening scene of “Fable II” or understand how the team painted layered ambient sound effects onto the “Fable II” map? All this and much more can be seen and heard in this episode, so head on over to Xbox LIVE Marketplace to download the video diary!

Citing "supply chain issues", the Limited Collector's Edition of Fable II will have several items removed but the pricing lowered to compensate.  From Lionhead's blog:

Lionhead is pointing out two Fable II items today. The first is The Art of Fable II with artists Ian Lovett and Mike McCarthy at Eurogamer:

Eurogamer: You moved straight from Fable on the Xbox to Fable 2 on the 360. What was it like taking a visual style developed for one generation of hardware and trying to make it work on the next?

Ian Lovett: We looked back at what was good about Fable - that's the first thing you do. I always felt that Fable was about these incredible, lush, green environments, and about really quirky characters. Not necessarily the most beautifully realised characters - but there was lots of personality there. It had a certain atmosphere to it that we wanted to recreate.

Once we had our pillars, our visual pillars, then we sat down and talked about how we wanted to re-imagine it. We did a horribly wanky thing, actually, which is that we came up with a visual mission statement. Although it's awful, nasty, business yuck, what it helped us do was to concentrate our thinking into how we'd really describe it. Secondly, it helped us to sell it up the chain. You know, Microsoft weren't just going to rock up with a fat chequebook of X million, or whatever, and say "hey guys, go ahead, we're going to take a punt on you despite the fact that you were years late with Fable - do another one for us!"

What we decided was that we wanted Fable 2 to be like Fable, but done by Ridley Scott. That was our mission statement. The idea behind that is that Microsoft understand Ridley Scott, they understand that this means that we wanted to mature the franchise a little bit. Not losing its charm, but basically trying to grow it up ever so slightly. I think that fits in very well with the jump from Xbox to 360. It's not that it's a change in audience - it's just a new layer of sophistication.

...and the second is a video interview with eight questions at GayGamer.

IGN has a video interview with Peter Molyneux and other developers titled Welcome to Albion (8:12).

Meanwhile, Lionhead's site has some comments on the co-op:

From GameSpot comes news that the promised online co-op in Fable II will not ship in the box but will be patched in later - possibly within the week:

When Fable II arrives in stores, it will lack the online co-op multiplayer mode Molyneux touted at a 2008 Game Developers Conference presentation.. On the bright side, Microsoft is promising that the feature will be added in a downloadable update, possibly within the game's first week on North American shelves. For those who can't wait for a patch to adventure with friends, the game will include local co-op play out of the box.

The title Three Hours of Being Evil says everything you need to know about MTV's look at Fable II.  Spoilers apply, including this quote:

The way “Fable II” reacted to my evil-doing ways was mostly superficial, simply because it was too early in the story for deep ramifications. I didn’t have a wife, I’d just come to grips with the magic system, and I’d yet to visit a town, treat it with kindness or cruelty and find out how I’m treated when I return.

But there was one major difference in the first hour. Your first moments in “Fable II” are playing as a child version of the main character. At this stage, the morality choices are black and white, good and evil — there is no grey area. Either you’re doing something selfishly for the benefit of yourself, or you’re helping out your fellow man. Yet it’s these decisions that mark your first permanent impact on the world of “Fable II.”

When you return to your hometown as an adult, it will have changed. If you were good, it’s become a happy-go-lucky town of well-behaved citizens. If you weren’t — like me — it’s dirty, mostly deserted and run by criminals who rule by fear. There doesn’t appear to be a way to change the state of your hometown, and it’s a consequence of your actions that couldn’t have been predicted when you made them. That’s interesting.

Peter Molyneux travelled to GC Asia , where IGN AU caught up with him to discuss Fable II:

IGN AU: The game takes place in Albion, 500 years after the events of the first game. What did that enable you to do and what does it mean for the world and the setting?

Peter Molyneux: ...it was me and Dean Carter and Simon Carter and we'd done Dungeon Keep back in the late 90s together and we'd talked about role playing games while we'd done Dungeon Keeper. We'd always talked about this very big story; wouldn't it be fantastic to base a role playing game on European folklore and how that's progressed. And if you look at European folklore, in fact, there were great heroes like Robin Hood, St George and King Arthur, and suddenly they stopped. Suddenly there were no more heroes, and the industrial revolution came, guns came and the age of chivalry kind of left us, and it was replaced by this age of greed and capitalism, and that's the story we told. We said right, we'd start Fable off in a time of heroes.

Fable 1 was all about this guild of heroes; they were like the police force, and okay, we didn't tell that story particularly well, but you got the feel that you were one of many heroes. In Fable II, the heroes have been forgotten, the world doesn't need heroes anymore; it's got money now… technology has come in with guns and magic's being replaced, and that's exactly what we're reflecting – that thread that we're putting through it, so that you have the feeling that there aren't heroes anymore.

According to VideoGamer.com, Fable II has gone Gold:

When asked if Fable 2 was finished Molyneux told us: "It is as of 7pm last night. We are now officially gold. It's released to manufacturing. Fable is absolutely finished and done and dusted.

"There's a lot of people here who are going to want to celebrate. And I'll be honest with you, the reason I have to go at six is because we're all off down the pub."

...and Kotaku has a list of the Achievements.

You may recall a conversation MTV Multiplayer had some time back with Todd Howard about how the prevalent good/evil dichotomy (arguably championed by BioWare) design in RPGs tended to reward extreme behaviour - pure good or evil - leaving so-called Han Solos lost in the middle.  Speaking with Peter Molyneux, they discuss Fable II's solution:

Molyneux explained one way he prevents players from so easily being swayed to being perfectly good when they play the game is through sacrifice.

“If you saw a family there and had to kill these bandits to save the family,” he hypothesized, “you’d kill the bandits to save the family. If I said to you, ‘okay, to save this family, you give up half your gold.’ Would you give up half your gold to save the family? Maybe you would, don’t know. The most interesting one is if I said ‘to save that family, you must be horribly, grotesquely scarred and there’s no way of ever removing the scar or the aging.’ What we found is that far, far fewer people were willing to sacrifice that.”

Does it solve the problem or encourage everyone to play some shade of neutral?

Some frank responses from Peter Molyneux in this Fable II interview at OXM UK:

So with the second game in the can now, you're satisfied with everything? There's nothing you'd add or change?
Um, there's low spots in the game and it's no one's fault that these low spots are there, it's just there's a lot to this game. You've got to remember that we're not building a corridor game here where you can say "right, in one hour fifteen minutes, someone's going see that light and we're going make that light like this."

I think the lip-sync is pretty bad, you know, the quality of the animation falls off, you know, quite a lot, I think the navigation can be a bit dodgy sometimes, I think the dog can... get a bit fractured sometimes. But those are sideline issues, you're not going care about those, they're technical issues, and I wish we'd had time to polish every single tiny second of the game.

But you don't want me to do that, you want an experience, and what I'm most happy with is the experience that people are getting when they play through this game. And the only people that have played through this game is the team that's worked on it, and they're the ones that normally turn round to me and say, "What the **** were you playing at!?" And they're the ones now in Fable 2 and everybody at Lionhead said Fable is different to any other game they've played before, it's a unique experience and it's better. The game is actually better than they thought it would be.

You can also nab five screens from Worthplaying.

Edge Online staff visited Lionhead's Guildford offices in the UK to look Inside Fable II.  The first page or so is a mea culpa from Dene Carter explaining how they failed with the binary good/evil morality of the first Fable - but although the new version seems more interesting it still looks like a binary thing to me:

So how do you bridge this divorce between a game’s mechanical interactions and its narrative paths? Carter and Molyneux talk about specific incidents, which we’ll avoid for the sake of the experience. But in conceptual terms what you will face in some of Fable II’s most crucial moments is a stark truth: goodness isn’t rewarded. It might be the right thing to do, but it’s often not the sensible thing to do, and your avatar’s entire character, both internally and externally, will be affected in a way that many players will find, at best, disquieting and, at worst, an outrage. And if your choices affect your character’s physical well-being, strength and abilities – and not in the tired old ‘dark path = dark powers’ way – will you be content with just the warm glow of having done something right? “The things that begin to happen to you and your final choice,” begins Louise Copley, Fable II’s executive producer, “they’re hard, hard things – but that’s the path of a hero. Do you want to be one or not?” You can lose almost everything. You can lose your hard-won experience. You can grow old and you can be permanently scarred. You’ll be bullied by other characters, and they won’t hesitate to mock the type of player you are. It’s taken a while to find expression in games, but now being good isn’t about wanting to be good and clicking the right option: it’s about self-sacrifice. “Now it’s hard,” says Carter. “So, you’re good. What if that stops you doing this? Still good? What if we take this, and this, and this from you? Still good?”

Six new screens over at the Fable II site highlight the character customisation options.

Peter Molyneux restrained himself here and only awarded Fable 2 with a cautious 9/10 in this interview snip:

Speaking in an interview with CVG's paper cousin, Xbox World 360, Molyneux says he hasn't made "the same mistakes I made in the past," with the second Fable.

"Black & White, The Movies, Dungeon Keeper, pretty much every game I've ever done has had interesting features thrown in to the pot without worrying what the flavour was like," he said.

"I'd rate it a 9 out of 10," Molyneux added, when asked if he'd fulfilled his original vision with Fable II.

"It's the best, most complete game I've ever worked on. The look is perfect, the interface is fantastic. It's a role-playing game, but where are all the f***ing icons? Aren't you supposed to be cluttering the screen up with mini-maps and the like? Not us.

Seven (hopefully new) screens of Fable II at Worthplaying.

Lionhead and Microsoft have announced the release date for Fable II:

“Fable II” and Pub Games get release date and Limited Collector’s Edition contents are revealed

Today, Microsoft Game Studios and Lionhead Studios announced that the highly anticipated action role-playing game “Fable® II” will ship to U.S. retailers on Oct. 21, 2008 and European retailers on Oct. 24, with subsequent release dates throughout the rest of the world in the coming months.   Combining thrilling action, heart-wrenching emotional experiences and a genre-bending Xbox LIVE multiplayer mode, “Fable II” is the must-have blockbuster for 2008.

...and details of the Limited Collector's Edition:

Fans eager for a head start will have the opportunity to test their luck in the Xbox LIVE Arcade title developed exclusively for “Fable II,” available on Aug. 13; those who pre-order a copy of “Fable II” at participating retailers will be given free access to download the “Fable II” Pub Games, or they can be downloaded without pre-order via Xbox LIVE for 800 Microsoft points. The high-stakes casino-style pub games, titled “Fortune’s Tower,” “Keystone” and “Spinnerbox” will offer players the opportunity to start earning a bounty of gold and treasures to fund their adventures in “Fable II,” ahead of the title’s release on Oct. 21.

In addition to the standard retail version, “Fable II” will be offered in a Limited Collector’s Edition through participating retailers and will feature:

• Bonus DVD – Includes new ‘Making-of Feature’ with Peter Molyneux and the team at Lionhead Studios and concept art viewer
• Bonus In-Game Content (Requires LIVE account) – Includes “The Hall of the Dead” Dungeon, “The Wreckager” Legendary Cutlass Weapon and Otherworldly Bonus
• Collectible Hobbe figure with accessories – From the Qee Collection comes this one-of-a-kind Hobbe figure. Nasty, brutish, and short, he roams the countryside, preying on travelers and spiriting away the children of the unwary.
• 48-hour Xbox LIVE Gold Trial Card – With Xbox LIVE Gold, players can show off their individual hero by inviting friends into their unique version of Albion or they can visit their friends’ Albion, and earn additional gold, experience and renown to take back into their own.
• Five printed Fate Cards – These five beautiful cards foretell the Hero’s great destiny to journey across all of Albion, encountering deadly enemies and enigmatic allies. The path leads to a choice that will change the world forever.

The standard edition “Fable II” will have an estimated retail price of $59.99 and the Limited Collector’s Edition will retail for an estimated price of $79.99. “Fable II” is rated “M” for Mature.

Molyneux talks to Videogamer about Fable 2, failing completely to keep things low-key:

VideoGamer.com: We love fresh ideas and things in games that are different, but I guess we don't think about how nightmarish these things can be from a game development point of view.

PM: You know, it's hard. There's a couple of things to the game. You know the ambient orb idea? This is where it really works well. What I found is that I walked in on the testers one day - there is like an army of testers, some in America, some in Japan, some in UK - I walked in to those in the UK and I heard them say "Ready, steady, go!" and they were having ambient orb races. Everyone was lined up on the starting line and they said right "we're going to get through this quest and see who goes fastest". I never thought of that. I never even began to think of that stuff. All the combat, because the combat is so flexible, the scoring system on the combat is dependent upon on the moves that you do in a chain, that means that I have no idea what people are going to do in the combat. It is quite frightening, it really is.

Lionhead is pointing out a Fable 2 preview at Xbox360FanBoy.  A bit on gestures and NPC interaction:

Anyway, social interactions. Social interactions are still handled through expressions as they were in Fable. You can walk up to citizens and perform a large number of social expressions from different categories. You can joke, compliment, threaten, whatever you like. Everything you do affects how a person feels about you. I was actually surprised when a group of people liked me more after watching me play with my dog. In another instance, I threatened and berated a poor citizen, even going so far as to slap him and feign drawing my sword. All of this was to scare him enough so that I could extort him for some money. Oddly enough, he didn't hand any over until I sent a few compliments his way.

...and Joystiq has three Molyneux' walkthrough videos, just in case you need for Fable 2.

VoodooExtreme has seven gameplay videos from Lionhead's Fable 2.

This may well have been covered in various previews but since Lionhead is pointing it out, it might be worth highlighting.  From the Lionhead blog:

So the big Microsoft Xbox360 event took place this morning LA time and what an event it's been. Of course I'm not going to be talking about everything that was shown and announced, there's much better places for that but just a quick update on what was announced about Fable 2 in case you missed it: Online Co-op for Fable 2 has been announced!

So now you know it for sure, no more speculation and (not so) subtle hints, it's a fact that in October 2008 you will be able to show off your unique hero in your own unique Albion world to your friends over Xbox Live! with a simple click on the button (no lobby's or anything).

Plus if you're interested in what Peter gets up to, BBC Technology brings you: THE MOLYNEUX DIARY

ShackNews does a preview of Lionhead's Fable 2 and seems to like it: 

Of course, the game's moral choices extend beyond random acts of domestic violence and kleptomania. As Fable 2 kicks off and players are mere children, they will be faced with a number of changes said to greatly affect the future of the its cities.

One early quest gives players the option of turning over arrest warrants to the authorities or to the criminal underground. Others allow them to expose a secret love, help a drunk get into a drinking program, or choose to protect a dude's livestock or just destroy it.

In addition to the surrounding environment, a player's tendency towards good or evil affects their appearance and the way that villagers deal with them.

That means there's a lot of incentive to replay the game and take a different approach--which is good, since a representative from developer Lionhead told me that you can "blaze through" the single-player game in about 12 hours.

While exploring the game's open-world--filled with hoppable fences and broad fields--a glittering "bread crumb" trail appears to guide player along to their next objective. Lionhead has not yet decided if the trail can be disabled, but it's currently considering the option. 

GamersHell has added a chunk of E3 media to their collection for Lionhead's upcoming rpg, Fable 2 including a 2 minute trailer  and a new group of renders, concept art and screenshots.

This statement from Peter Molyneux that opens Eurogamer's Fable 2 preview seems pertinent to some of their problems to me:

"I'm not a planner," Peter Molyneux is telling us. "I don't plan my life more than a few seconds into the future." We're sitting in a demo room in Lionhead's Guildford offices. There are timelines on the walls, and spreadsheets littered about the table. Controller in hand, Molyneux isn't admitting why most of his games show up late, he's explaining why his team decided to reinvent the wheel when it comes to co-op gaming. "Planning to play co-op for a few hours is not part of my experience," he sighs. "To me, co-op should be dynamic. If there is an opportunity, I should be able to take it, but it shouldn't interrupt my normal game."

Blue's is quoting the Microsoft E3 press conference as offering a number of tidbits, including Molyneux declaring Fable 2 is finished:

This was followed by Peter Molyneux taking the stage, starting off by declaring Fable 2 "is finished!" He then showed off the game's intro, quickly falls back on old habits talking about "you've never experienced anything like" the game's pet feature, and shows off a new simplified way to initiate cooperative multiplayer play in the game. In a bit of a surprise considering the presentation began with the declaration that Fable 2 "is finished," Peter concludes saying the game will be released in October.

VoodooExtreme has seven Fable 2 screens on offer.

Lionhead has a new addition to their website called Tales of Albion and offering lore and background stories for Fable and Fable 2.  You'll need to install Microsoft's Silverlight dohickey to view it.

GameSpot's Rumour Control thinks Fable 2 is coming in October, with pretty reasonable evidence that Molyneux himslf is dropping obvious hints.  Read the whole thing if you are interested but the key part is from yesterday's latest video blog:

As part of the sequence, the camera first focuses on Molyneux speaking on the phone at his desk while scribbling in a notebook. The clip then cuts to a close-up of Molyneux's notebook (pictured), and among the near-illegible scrawl, the designer draws a box around the word "October."

Lionhead has kicked up Video Diary #6 on the development of Fable 2.  Here's their own description:

Furiously scribbling away and glued to their monitors all day, Lionhead’s artists are light at heart but hard at work on the Xbox 360 exclusive “Fable 2,” the highly-anticipated sequel to the best-selling Xbox exclusive “Fable.” In Episode 6, the team shares their thoughts on the importance of concept art and technical animations in the creation of “Fable 2” and challenges that they must overcome. In a game that allows players to truly live the life they choose, where every choice continually defines who the character becomes, the art of morphing the hero also cannot be missed. Hear the artistic crew explain the morphing of the hero and customization features that will be expanding leaps and bounds beyond the scope and depth of the original Xbox classic. The lads on the team also take a break from their desks to answer the question: “What would you do if you were a woman for a day?” To see what kind of zany responses they concocted, head over to Xbox LIVE Marketplace to download the video diary.

Follow the link above, rather than the whole Live marketplace thing.

ShackNews has posted 3 screenshots for Lionhead Studios' upcoming XBox360 title, Fable 2. You can see them here. 

It's a potentially cynical title but this article from XboxKings.com is basically a preview that focuses on Molyneux's ambitions with Fable 2:

"I hope those who enjoy the game rate it in their top three games of all time." That's pretty ambitious. "In fact, being ambitious, if I asked anybody they would say that Fable 2 featured as their number one game," says Molyneux.

To reach his ambitions Molyneux has spent a long time tackling two key issues: how to make people care about the game and how to make it rich and deep enough to satisfy hardcore gamers and simple enough to attract new players. "What it comes down to is making this one of the greatest stories computer games have ever told. I want people to sit down and play the game with a friend. Now sometimes your friend could be a gamer. But probably more likely your friend is going to be someone who has never played the game before," says Molyneux.

Lionhead wants you to strike a pose:

Would you like to become a part of the world of Albion in perpetuity and reside in one of the most luxurious homes in the Xbox360 exclusive Fable 2?

Well this is your chance to do just that! We are looking for artist's models to pose for the paintings which will adorn the wall of Albion's finest residences.

All you have to do is send in a picture of yourself in suitable artistic pose. Think old master, royal portraits or even the Mona Lisa! Dress up as an old or modern hero, go out to the countryside and find yourself a deer to shoot (not recommended) or just strike a suiting pose in front of an open fire. The thing that would make it even better is if you were to act out an expression from the original Fable.

Photographs will have to make it into our mailbox by Wednesday 4th June, you will also have to sign a piece of paper so that we're allowed to include you in the game (and if you are under age a parent or guardian will have to sign on your behalf) plus everything needs to happen pretty quickly! Finally make sure you've read the small print here.

15 screens from Fable 2 are online at CVG.  Not all of them are new but there are a couple of new ones.

TVG has a preview from the recent press events:

Describing the early story arc of Fable 2 as a "voyage of discovery" in a similar fashion to super-hero origin stories, the first scenes of the game begin with a stunningly realised cut-scene as we follow a small bird flying through the snow-covered landscape of Bowerlake, on its way to perch on a stone wall in Bowerstone slums...where we watch it do what birds on ledges frequently do, and promptly follow the bird poo drop down and land on the head of the hero. A tongue-in-cheek entrance to the game, it's one of few cut-scenes being added to Fable 2, thanks to Molyneux's philosophy of minimising the amount of time that control is removed from the player. In fact, just four and a half minutes of cut-scenes are being prepared for Fable 2 - it's certainly a far cry from certain established Japan RPGs...

Lionhead's Fable 2 Development Blog has unveiled the official box art for Fable 2. They also have a roundup of recent previews (many that we've already posted but have a look if you want to see everything) and also noting that some footage recently released by Kotaku and doing the rounds wasn't meant to be a public trailer.

Update: Speaking of Kotaku, they've got a preview called A Glimpse at the Beginning:

"The cool thing about Fable 2 is that it's a role-playing game set in a simulated world," Molyneux said.

The entire world is free roaming too and everywhere in the world can be owned by the player.

Molyneux showed how this world lives even when the main character isn't around. He slipped through the hills and trees of one region until he discovered a gypsy camp. In it the women were dancing, the kids playing, heedless of not having an audience to react to.

...and Eurogamer says no demo, because it's practically impossible according to Molyneux. 

GameSpot is reporting Microsoft's latest release lineup has Fable 2 slated for a holiday release, while Joystiq goes further with a range of tidbits from Danish site Xboxlife.dk via a the NeoGAF forums.  According to them, the game is content complete, three further sequels are planned, the world is somewhere between 10 and 30 times larger (depending on the source) and a bunch of other stuff.

Strategy Informer has added 2 new screenshots to their gallery for Lionhead Studios' sequel, Fable 2.  You can go through the entire line-up here.

Voodoo Extreme adds two new screenshots to their Fable 2 gallery. You can view the collection of screens from Lionhead Studios' Fable follow-up here.

Lionhead's Fable 2 has been previewed at Next Gen in an article taken from Edge magazine.  Apparently the one-button combat is actually three buttons:

If Peter Molyneux’s popularity has been hurt by his tendency to over-promise, then it was not evident at GDC, where an obligingly rapt audience had queued round the block in order to hear the latest on Lionhead’s sequel to the Xbox’s action RPG. Nor did Molyneux’s propensity for making large claims appear diminished, labeling his talk, ‘Fable 2 – The Big Three Features Revealed.’ It turns out that Fable 2 will have drama, combat and co-op. Who would have guessed? 

Of course, Molyneux’s grandstanding aside, it is not the presence of those features but the manner of their implementation that is remarkable. Molyneux has spoken before about putting an entire combat system on one button, and here he reiterated his desire for anyone, even someone who has never touched a joystick before, to be able to pick up and play Fable 2 immediately. It turns out that there are now three buttons – one for melee attack, one for ranged weaponry and one for magic. A game-naïve person might be able to trounce a pack of enemies using only one, but the number of experience points you get from each victory increases as you mix combat styles and use the environment to best effect. And given that combat is entirely context sensitive in Fable 2 the environment becomes an essential part of your arsenal; stand near a wall, hit the melee button and you might flip off it to slam a knee into an enemy’s face. Attack whilst near an object lying on the floor and your character will kick it into someone’s stomach.

How do you balance that?  If newbies can kill everything with blind one-button mashing but other players get more experience points, how does that balance out?

A preview of Fable 2 is up at Hooked Gamers.  I hadn't realised the dog (apparently) replaces a journal:

Fable 2 certainly has enough innovations to support this lofty claim thus far. The first one is the dog. Whereas most Role Playing Games rely on radars and journals to point you in the right direction, Fable 2 decides to ditch this. Instead they simply give you a dog. According to Molyneux, the dog will have the best AI ever seen in a videogame. Demonstrations thus far have shown it to be intelligent, if not award winningly so. AI aside, the dog will bark to alert you of enemies, sniff out hidden treasure and side quests, and trot merrily along towards your goal in an area. 

Lionhead Studios has released Video Diary # 5 for its XBox360 title, Fable 2. This one's entitled 'Magic and Multiplayer,' and you can stream or download it here.

GamersHell has added to their gallery five new examples of concept art from Lionhead Studio's Fable 2. You can view them here.

Atomic Gamer has posted a preview based on the recent look at the GFC 2008 presentation by Peter Molyneux of Lionhead Studios for their RPG for the Xbox360, Fable 2, which included mini-games, marriage and co-op play:

...Mr. Molyneux showed off his in-game adventurer, a female character, who'd apparently been pretty busy, as she had a husband and child. Adding marriage and pregnancy to the mix further fosters Molyneux's goal of offering an experience that not only offers the player choices, but also ensures his/her decisions shape their individual path through the game. Having a family, for example, likely means your character will have more financial responsibility, but it may also allow him to reap the rewards having loved ones can bring, like, say, borrowing money from them. We'll have to wait and see if Fable 2 can pull off all this real-world sim stuff without getting too bogged down in tedious tasks...

Peter Molyneux's opening statements about Fable 2 features from GDC aren't likely to excite our readers but perhaps the inclusion of coop will be more incentive.  Here's an early snip from Next Gen's report:

Molyneux wants Fable 2 to sell even more than the 3.5 million copies of the original. To do that, Molyneux has to make the game accessible to everyone, and make them care. "We need to make people of all skills feel cool playing the game," he explains. He's relying on the trifecta of drama, combat, and co-op play (and the fourth thing held up his sleeve that will involve "Fable touching more of the outside world").

Drama is a central element because it makes players remember your game, says Molyneux. He needed to create things that players cared about. The first was a pet dog that will follow the player throughout the game world of Albion. The second was a family -- players can get married, have children they can provide for or abandon, and the family's presence (or lack thereof) affects a child's development. The third is dynamic regions. Everything you touch will change. The actions you take will have direct consequences on what you touch and what you've changed. Molyneux hints that at some point in the game you'll make a small change that will have huge consequences in the world's capital later on.

 Lionhead Studios continues the presentation of their video diaries on the development of their upcoming game for the XBox, Fable 2, with Episode #4,  World Design.

Hooked Gamers serves up an oddly written preview of Peter Molyneux's upcoming action/RPG/dog simulator, Fable 2:

The third angle of this love theme is: A Dog. This dog will follow you around wherever you go. He will fight with you and it will help you in any way possible. The dog also changes as you do; if you're evil the dog will get very muscular and show his teeth to people and perhaps bite them. If you're a good person the dog will love to mingle with the people you meet. He will become very shaggy and have his tongue sticking out of his mouth. The Dog also serves another purpose and that is to scout for you. He will explore the areas ahead of you, pointing out anything of interest whether it be enemies, treasure or a new item. He will not engage into a fight or retrieve the item unless you trigger him to. Even if he gets hurt in combat and cannot keep up, he will track you down eventually, bruised and battered, and keep on doing his tasks.

Eurogamer  posts the results of their text interview Friday with Lionhead Studios' Peter Molyneux, heading up the story with Fable 2 release news:

Fable 2 will be released in "late 2008", Peter Molyneux told Eurogamer readers today in a wide-ranging LiveText interview.

When pressed to be more specific, he added: "Late 2008. Maybe when the leaves have a slight brownish tinge - but are still on the trees, if you see what I mean." Fable 2 is Lionhead's Xbox 360-exclusive follow-up to the critically acclaimed Xbox ARPG Fable.

Molyneux also dropped hints about what else the British developer - now Microsoft-owned - is working on. "We are working on a title now which is kind of a hybrid of Dimitri," he told Eurogamer readers.

"I am really, really pushing the powers-that-be to allow me to tell/show the world this new project. I know I am prone to say things like 'great', 'revolutionary' and 'ambitious', but this new project is absolutely great, revolutionary and ambitious!"

 Full text of the interview is available here.

Lionhead has kicked up their third Fable 2 video diary from the creatively named Central Technology Group.

OK, I paraphrased.  The quote is actually "shit", according to this interview on Fable 2 at a site called Kikizo:

Molyneux had privately hinted to Kikizo recently that he thought all fighting games were flawed because hardly anyone knows how to play them, and told us he'd come up with something better. We wanted to know more. "Stupidly, the ambition on this thing is I want you to measure this against any fighting game," he told Kikizo in an exclusive chat. "It's amazing for a role playing game, because most role playing games are shit! Oblivion was a great game, but the combat was rubbish; we all talked about it being rubbish. So imagine you had a great role-playing game and really, really good combat system."

The second official Fable 2 video diary from Lionead examines the "look and feel" of combat.

Five new shots from Molyneux's Fable 2 can be found at GameInfoWire.com.

Everything seems to be in pairs at the moment.  ActionTrip and TeamXbox are the latest sites we've seen with look at Molyneux's Fable 2.  Here's ActionTrip:

The guiding idea for this was that Peter is actively trying to merge two different camps of the Fable audience if you will – the hardcore and the casual gamers. So, for the casual gamers, obviously, the idea is that it's pretty easy to simply button-mash the X and get through a fight. However, if you are more of a hardcore player, you will soon see that there is more to the X button idea than meets the eye. The skill-based factor (which is something important for bragging rights) was introduced through the power moves in combination with getting the right rhythm and most importantly getting the timing right as you attack our counter-attack against a bad guy. Amazingly, the idea seems to be working, and what's more, it's extremely accessible. The hardcore guys who get very good at this sort of combat will receive more experience points and obviously some other forms of bragging rights.

...and from TeamXbox:

Once we figured out who we were supposed to take down, Molyneux launched into his spiel on the combat. He explained that all of the combat would be mapped to the X button, at least when it comes to melee attacks. Mashing X would allow the player to hack and slash his way through enemies, while holding it down lets you block their attacks. Holding and releasing X gives the player a “flourish” of sorts, such as a spinning attack that can take out multiple enemies or one in which your player will jump up and strike downward. If an enemy is attacking, you can counter their move by hitting the X button at just the right time, and you’ll also be able to perform different attacks depending on the weapon that’s equipped or the environment around you.

Peter Molyneux is allowing hands-on time with Fable 2 and GameSpy likes the feel of the button-mashing:

Imagine satisfying combat with just one button. Every movement of your weapon, every parry, thrust, and counter is controlled with a single button. The natural rhythm and flow of a fight is completely up to the player in Fable 2 and two players can approach the game's battles in completely different ways. When we were handed the controller, we found that with no instruction at all, the transition to master swordsman was complete. Swiping away at enemies was simple enough by just mashing away at the button, hearkening back to the simple sword combat of a game like Prince of Persia. There was far more depth to take advantage of, however. Holding down the button took a defensive stance, and parried incoming blows from all directions. That classic Hollywood swordfighting move, the behind the back parry was a piece of cake to pull off. More complex counter moves, ripostes and finishers are more difficult to pull off, requiring specific timing, but once again, it's all accomplished with a single button.

GameSpot dashes my excitement with news that Fable 2 will actually use three buttons:

In the finished game, combat will be controlled using three buttons: one for melee weapons, one for ranged weapons, and one for magic. For the purposes of the E3 demo there were no guns or magic attacks, though, so all combat was controlled with just one button. How does that work? It's a quite elegant system, actually, and not nearly as button-masher-friendly as you might think. Tapping the button does a melee attack, holding down the button blocks, and releasing the button after a block performs a special attack. How hard you push buttons and how long you hold them for will have an effect on the attacks that you perform, as will your weapon choice, and your proximity to other enemies or environmental objects.

Yes, more media.  As far as I recall, these are the first real screens from Fable 2.

A site called AiGameDev has an article on the AI (surprise!) in Molyneux's Fable 2:

The dog’s AI is built around the principles of the creature in Black & White, which apparently holds Guinness World Record for the most intelligent being in a game. This technology, however, seems much more appropriate for this dog than for those large creatures.

Lionhead fansite Loinhead (yes, that's correct) has a second Fable 2 interview based on their recent community day access. This time Creative Director Dene Carter speaks, with both a video interview and a transcipt available:

Hi. So, Mr Molyneux said that it’s going to be a lot darker and more mature - do you agree with that?

I think that one of the nice things we did in Fable 1 was there was always kinda a bit of a flip-flop in the story between things that are actually very very dark - things that happened to your family in Fable 1 were quite horrific - and there was a lot of quite silly content as well. I think this time because the graphical fidelity is going to be quite a lot higher, and our characters much more emotional, they’re going to be much more believable, we just don’t, if you look at the graphics themselves, can’t quite get away with things being quite so silly and campy all the time. So I think it’s not so much that we’re actively going for something which is deliberately a lot darker, necessarily events will be no more or less tragic than they were in Fable 1, but our delivery of it is certainly going to seem a lot darker because that sense of, well, that extra level of detail which will make things seem not more realistic, specifically, a lot more - compelling.

Love and Emotion in Fable 2 is the title of the first in a series of planned video diaries from Lionhead.  For Fable 2, love is all about the dog:

Being a hero or heroine, fighting, questing and adventuring are central to “Fable.” With the upcoming release of “Fable 2,” gamers will be one step closer to fulfilling their dreams of being good or evil; getting married or remaining single; and finding out what it means to experience unconditional love in the world of “Fable.”

For Episode One – March 2007 we are focusing on Love and Emotion in FABLE 2, more specifically what role the dog will be playing in all of this and amongst several people, we talk to Peter Molyneux about his speech at the Game Developer Conference 2007.

I'm guessing the "March" there is meant to be May, because this is a new post.

Fansite Loinhead has an interview with Peter Molyneux about Fable 2.  I don't know the details of this specific feature but it sounds like the original was too hard, so they've simplified the controls:

So - Fable 2. Yes. One-button proximity-based combat. Can you tell us about it?

God, there’s so much I can tell you about it. I’d love, I’m gonna talk publicly about this for longer almost than I talked about any other game feature. It was - the only thing I can say about it - it was an experiment, that we tried, it was an experiment that we didn’t need to try, because the combat in Fable 1 wasn’t bad, at all, no-one said it was bad, quite a lot of people said it was good, and it’s an experiment that has really, really worked. Really worked. Not nearly worked.

*click*. I won!

Worthplaying has a short-ish overview of Peter Molyneux's presentation on Fable 2 at GDC:

Second, you'll again have the option to woo and eventually marry both men and women over the course of the game, putting them up in houses throughout the world and pursuing a barely-secret polyandristic/polygamistic lifestyle. (You ever notice that the English language isn't really set up to handle polygamy?) When you're married to a member of the opposite gender, you can opt to have protected or unprotected sex with them, and if you opt for the latter, pregnancy may ensue. This not only means Fable 2 will be one of the first games where you could potentially play as a pregnant hero (the only other game I can think of that does this is Turok 3), but it may be the first game where your hero gets pregnant over the course of the game.

ActionTrip has a preview of Fable 2, presumably based on GDC material:

In light of Molyneux's apparent resolve to embody Fable into a semi life-sim, the sequel is meant to advance in that very direction. Apart from being able to come home and be welcomed by one's family, the player may look forward to having a rather loyal companion by his side at all times. Of course, Peter M. articulated this particular facet a number of times, so I'm sure most of you know it by now. As part of the new experience, your new canine companion will faithfully stick close no matter what. The dog becomes a trustworthy sidekick very early on in the game; during your childhood, in fact. Similarly to your avatar, the dog represents the very reflection of your actions. Its appearance alters according to the important moral choices made throughout the course of your adventures. Being evil and ruthless will, most likely, leave you with a serious-looking pet Doberman, whereas following the path of righteousness might result in having a cuddly and fluffy mutt (the kind that suits your benevolent character).

Next Gen has some info on Fable 2 based on a presentation by Molyneux at GDC.  It looks like Black & White's creature is going to impact on Fable 2's design:

For Fable 2, Molyneux promised three innovations, but vowed only to reveal one. It was the same innovation he'd showed two days ago at a Microsoft-sponsored press event, a dog companion that every player in the action-heavy role-playing game will have.

The dog, of course, is both a gameplay tool and companion. For Molyneux, it's also a means to an end. That end, of course, is love and real human emotion. "I don't mean rumpy-pumpy love," he said, although he noted that it will be possible for two people in Fable 2 to have sex and, possibly, produce children. Instead, Molyneux was referring to a simple emotional response.

Five pieces of Fable 2 concept art are on offer at GameSpy

According to XBOX 365, Havok has licensed their Havok Complete physics engine to drive Fable 2. Sadly, Fable 2 will still only be playable on the Xbox 360.

Peter Molyneux, Lionhead Studios’ chief executive officer sees Havok’s technology as instrumental in helping the Lionhead development team to innovate and to get to the creative part of the development process earlier in the development cycle. Says Molyneux “Using Havok’s technology means that we don’t have to worry about finding an efficient way to do all the complex physics calculations ourselves that are required to create a huge, vibrant, real time and persistent virtual world such as the one we’re creating for Fable 2. By using Havok, we bypass a lot of the heavy physics maths and concentrate our teams more on the creative and innovative elements of the game."

The official Fable 2 site holds a first teaser trailer, available in low & hires, both streaming and downloadable.

If half of what Peter Molyneux is saying about Fable 2 ends up bearing fruit, then we're in for something special indeed. Admittedly, he had very little to show apart from what could be contained in a Power Point presentation; he was mainly pushing ideas. But what lofty ideas they were. According to Molyneux, Lionhead's express reason for existence is to develop games that no one else can -- to push the RPG envelope father than any other dev house is willing or capable of pushing it. And by his estimation, they've failed to do that. Doing Fable 2 right, in his eyes, is the only way to live up to that potential.

The first time you encounter the camp, you might think that any decision you make on how to interact with it is insignificant, but according to Molyneux, the effects of even your seemingly trivial actions will be felt for decades. If you choose to trade with the camp, for example, you might find that it has developed into a small settlement when you're in the area again 10 years later. After another decade, that small settlement might grow into a village, and ultimately it could become a thriving town or city. If you decided to loot the camp and kill its inhabitants, on the other hand, the land it occupied would be reclaimed by nature, and 10 years later you'd never even know it was there. Molyneux calls this technology "dynamic regions," and it's one of several features in the game that he seems genuinely excited to talk about.

You may not be able to give us any details of Fable 2, but you must have goals dictating what you want to achieve with it, compared to the first Fable?

Yes, there is a list of things that we did wrong in Fable. In fact there are three lists that we made when we sat down with Fable 2: the things that we did that are atrociously wrong, the things that we did but had to throw away because either there wasn't enough time or they didn't fit, and the things we wanted to introduce that are new. The things that we did wrong include: the simulation kind of wasn't complete enough - it didn't have the impact that we wanted it to have; the mechanics were good, but could be better; stupid little things like the sneaking - you had to sneak by clicking and holding, which was exhausting.

There's a list of things like that - some of them are big things, and some are just really simple little things. So the approach that we took was to go down that list and say: "OK, we'll do this, this and this." Not only the things we promised, which people thought they were going to see in Fable... There is, for example, the classic acorn growing into an oak tree, that I mentioned in an interview some time and everyone latched on to. As merchandising, I'd love to give away grow-your-own Fable oak trees. So there is going to be a very tongue-in-cheek moment about acorns growing into trees. But there was a list of those things, some of which are things that maybe you wouldn't initially think of. For instance, I didn't really feel it was possible to, for example, play the whole game without using any magic, or to play a game as a swordsman, so you'd feel like a real swordsman. And obviously, there's a new story.

Seeing as there are well over 70 people already working on Fable 2 there is a lot to report on. I could tell you about the technology guys who are creating the tools for the team, or the artists who are creating concept art, models and textures to be used ingame. Or I could tell about the MoCap sessions that were organized for the animators (no man should ever see Dene Carter in lycra!) or how the scripters are cracking on with all the quests and story, or how the programmers are experimenting with the gameplay and how the code affects what is possible in Fable 2. However, if I did that, not only would our publisher shoot me in the face, the team would also be upset and I might say things I come to regret further down the line (when inevitable changes are made). So I'm going to pick one subject that's quite vague and allows me to say a few things without revealing anything too early. Oh and there are no spoilers included! No, really!

A trailer is all anyone has seen of Fable 2 outside of Lionhead's studios - a tease, a hint, a sample clip devoid of the in-game footage or solid info we hoped for. But at least the game can finally be taken off the 'highly probable' pile and slapped into 'coming soon'.

The details are still scarce but, set 300 years after the original, this sequel again promises a changed and growing world where moral choices once again decide your path. And guns. Yes, guns.