Fable II Pub Games

"Fun for Fable fans with gambling skills, not so much for the rest of us"

Like many people out there, I am excited for Fable II, an action RPG from Lionhead Studios coming October 2008. When you pre-order the game, you get a free copy of Fable II Pub Games, a compilation of 3 pub games that will be found in Fable II. The incentive for people to play the game is that all the gold and items you win in Pub Games can be transferred to your Hero in Fable II. If you feel like picking up Fable II without a preorder or just for the prue heck of it, it costs 800 Microsoft points or $10 USD

Fable II Pub Games has 3 different games which are inspired by various real life games of chance. In Fortune's Tower, you are dealt cards in a triangular formation. You can choose to accept what is dealt to you or you can ask for another hand that could potentially rake in more gold. If two cards with the same value touch each other vertically, the game is over and you get nothing. Hero cards and the Gate card you recieve at the beginning of the game can save you in this situation. This is in my opinion the most fun game. Keystones is similar to roulette. You bid on numbers or certain catagories like numbers 4-9, pairs, and numbers surrounded by diamonds for example. You then roll 3 dice and earn gold for every guess you got right. Finally, there's Spinnerbox which is pretty much just slots. You push the A button and hope that either 2 or all 3 symbols match. For you to do well in these games however, you have to know some form of gambling strategy. I was never good at most games of chance, so I easily struggled with all 3 games. I could earn several hundred gold, but in the end, I accumulated 3000 gold in debt. You can also play in tournments for each of the games where the top 5 players earn gold depending where you place. For some reason, the computer players seem to have amazing luck and it's challenging to compete. You could be third and due to a few bad calls, dropped down to 10th place.

The graphics of the game are pretty nice. They're clean and have the feel of one of Albion's pubs. Many of the music tracks come from the original Fable, which really sets the mood and gets you pumped for Fable II's release.

Overall, if you're eagerly waiting for Fable II and have decent luck, Fable II Pub Games is right down your alley. There are many items you can earn and tons of potential gold awaiting you that can really put you ahead of the game. For those who are sub-par at games of chance (like myself) or have no intention of picking up Fable II, you should pass this game. I'm just glad I got this for free, otherwise I would have wasted a good 10 bucks.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/18/08