What does lay ahead for gamers This-Gen and beyond . . . ?
by dkpatriarch:
©2008 David Hilton:
It was a huge leap when gaming went from two dimensions to three dimensions, but now the next big jump may be here: the fourth dimension. That dimension is time.
Yes, we’ve seen Oblivion-style weather and day-time/night-time changes, even in racing games like Project Gotham Racing 4. Yes we’ve seen time manipulation with action slow-motion in games like Max Payne, and time-reverse with games like Prince of Persia and Timeshift. And yes, games like Civilization have given rise to towns or cities that change in stages over time. However, Fable 2 promises to bring an open-world free-roaming game where no GTA, Oblivion, or Assassin’s Creed has gone before using the fourth dimension.
The difference ?
The open world you are exploring and interacting with will not only provide the framework for your quests and gaming activity, but it will change as a consequence of those various choices and actions. The world in Fable 2 that you will roam will not only be the illusion of a living world full of NPCs (non playable characters) filling up space or going about repetitive assigned tasks, like other such games. Lionhead Studios claims it will be a world where what you do changes the game both visually and in the behaviour of the NPCs that will see you differently depending on your actions.
In the first Fable you got clapped or booed by NPCs and if you became good or evil your character’s appearance changed. In games like Oblivion, weather changed and day turned to night and some things changed if you completed story branches or quests, but Fable 2’s promise is that the whole world you play in will be different to the world your friend plays, because you will have influenced the environment and characters differently. The change is unscripted. Not only that, if you play co-op then that friend could come into your world and affect it and change it too.
You can apparently grab any NPC and kill them, take them on your quest, or seduce them, regardless of sex. If you fail to provide money to buy food for your family (or families depending on how many you have in various towns) they will starve. And money needs to be earned…the hero business does not pay like it used to. If you are tired of your nagging spouse you can get a friend to jump in co-op and kill her/him and your child will be hauled away to an orphanage where you can still visit. For more details of the co-op dynamic look here.
Fable II’s world continues:
Like this:
Like Loading...
Filed under: 1st Party Titles, Console gaming, Editorial, Microsoft Games, New Game Information, Xbox 360 News | Tagged: Assassin’s Creed, Fable 2, Fable II, Iain Wright, Lionhead Studios, Max Payne, Oblivion, open-world free-roaming, Peter Molyneux | 3 Comments »
by Aaron Bertinetti.
During E3 2009, the overwhelming majority of gamers and press were shocked by Valve’s announcement of Left 4 Dead 2 so soon after the multiplayer hit of last year. Thankfully I’d fortuitously booked some time with Valve prior to E3 2009, after a bet with a mate over a case of beer. 
