Coverage of Fable II has been strung out over years now, but GameSpy finally got some serious hands-on time with the combat system at PAX '08, as well as an in-depth look at the dynamics of its open-world, that made all of the build-up seem worthwhile. Even in the 10 or so week-old preview build that we played today, in which framerate hitches and animation miscues were still evident, the bones of some pretty sweet gameplay were also present, so cautious optimism seems justified. Throw in morally ambiguous sandbox gameplay that seems to reward both cruelty and kindness in equal measure (although with decidedly different "prizes") and it looks like the notoriously ostentatious claims of Lionhead Studios kingpin Peter Molyneux may not be so outlandish after all.
Spiffy:
Your dog participates in fights; lots of conversational options; surprisingly deep economic structure.
Iffy:
Still has framerate issues; working a "job" while playing a game seems odd.
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