Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Uncategorized Player's Club: Fable II See the Future DLC review
Posted by Garrett Martin on Wed, May 13, 2009 at 2:32 PM
Fable II: See the Future DLC
Rated M for Mature
Released May 12
Xbox 360
Published by Microsoft
What It Is: If the success of downloadable content is any indication, digital distribution could supplant physical media sooner rather than later. Look at GTA: The Lost and Damned, the GTA IV expansion that sold a million or so copies exclusively through X-Box Live Arcade. Or consider the PlayStation Network, where you can directly download full PSP and PS3 games. Downloadable content’s quickly become a vital sector in the gaming industry.
See the Future is the second batch of DLC for Fable II, Microsoft’s hit adventure-RPG from last fall. See the Future might be slighter than January’s Knothole Island expansion, but so’s the price. Plus, any excuse to spend more time with Peter Molyneux’s morally open-ended picaresque is alright by me. Thankfully See the Future is a damn good excuse, offering up a few new side quests, an endless combat room called the Colosseum, and the briefest possible glimpse of the inevitable Fable III.
What’s Good: It’s still Fable II, so See the Future is about as fun, charming, and irreverent as gaming gets. That also means it’s exceedingly British, at times feeling like an extended episode of "Blackadder." The new quests don’t last long, but the puzzles they introduce are unlike any other in Fable II. You can also acquire new costumes that allow you to dress your character up like the game's various monsters, allowing for novel forms of mischief with the citizens of Albion. Finally, you can change your dog to your breed of choice, as long as your choice is a husky, bloodhound, or Dalmatian.
What’s Not So Good: Um, again, it’s still Fable II, so the camera’s a bit too slow and the combat’s not particularly challenging. The new items and costumes are mostly aesthetic, barely affecting gameplay. The titular future-spotting is a quick, one-time-only affair. If you miss the prophetic cutscene, you’re out of luck. Don't worry about it too much, though. It’s so slight on content it barely even qualifies as a teaser. The Colosseum mode is fine for pointless grinding, but it doesn’t offer enough reward or enjoyment to warrant repeated visits.
What To Do: At only 560 Microsoft points (or about $7), See the Future doesn’t have to blow you away to be worth downloading. If you’ve played through all of Fable II’s side quests and are starving for more, this is a must buy. Even if you haven’t maxed the original game out, See the Future is a worthy addition.
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