Peter Molyneux's magnum opus has been lauded as a masterpiece of design, garnering game of the year awards across the globe. When asked about why Fable 2 is so very compelling, Molyneux mostly points to the freedom given the player, and indeed there is plenty of choice in the game. Players are allowed to shape a world through the decisions they make, the people they choose to save or destroy. It is your world, the game says, craft it as you will. I maintain that the true brilliance of the game is that these choices are, in point of fact, illusory in nature, and in the end there are no choices that haven't been already made for you. In the end, the only choice you have as a player is whether to pick up the controller or not.
*** SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP! ***
From the very first moment you load the game, you are greeted by a rich, warm voice. "And so the story begins," says she, and as you progress through the game you learn that this is the voice of not only your narrator but also your guide, a mysterious woman named Teresa. Clues dropped throughout the game point to Teresa's tremendous age, and it appears that her wisdom is garnered through hundreds of years of life -- she was apparently there when the first world self-destructed, and may have very well had a hand in it. It is Teresa that provides Sparrow and Rose the knowledge about the music box and it's magical wish granting capabilities. It is she that provides guidance to all the characters, even enabling the passive Hammer to enact revenge for her father's death. Always Teresa is there, guiding the player through the game, and we never question her motives.
We are trained, you see, to trust our narrators, but is Teresa really all that trustworthy? Never does she tell you the right thing to do, only what is possible for you to do. Telling Rose about the music box leads to her death, and in the end your heroism gets Teresa what she most wants: the Tattered Spire. It is true, Lord Lucien is dominating the world in pursuit of his own power, but really, is Teresa doing any differently?
In the world of Fable 2, players are able to customize their character down to hair color and tatoos. You can take a husband or wife, or many if you choose to, and have a gaggle of little adorable children waiting for you at home after a difficult day's adventures. Ultimately though, most of these choices are erased: after collecting a perfect set of clothing, dying your hair and styling it you are sent into military service where these things are stripped from you and you are left with a shaved head and the uniform of a lowly guard. And that family you loved and labored for? Murdered in cold blood. The game gives you these choices, only to slap you in the face with the knowledge that ultimately, you have no control over your life. That, my friend, is the true brilliance of this game.
During your short time playing through the storyline of Fable 2, you are constantly manipulated by the narrator, other characters, and the game itself. Think of the dreamlike end sequence where you get to relive your childhood, play once again with Rose, but in the end you are forced to leave her behind and return to the real world -- this, by the way was the only evil act my character ever committed, and I wasn't even given a choice not to. Everything is orchestrated by Teresa, built so that she can claim dominion over the Spire and use it for whatever purposes she deems fit. She may be good, she may be evil. Either way, she is in control.
While the belief in our personal power is common to all mankind, says Fable 2, ultimately so is the ephemeral nature of that power. You can only control small things, and your choices really don't matter. In a game all about choice and freedom, it's shocking to realize that there is little of either in a storyline where you are a pawn to an old woman's will.
