Co-Optimus

[bapenguin]

It's been a long time coming, and Fable 2's promised revolutionary co-op is finally here.  But is it really revolutionary?  Read on to find out. 

[justabaldguy]

Yikes, 2 out of 5?? I'm guessing that's purely the co-op rating, right? If so, I guess I can agree... I mean its really a big disappointment, considering all you can do in games these days. The orbs are a fantastic idea though, very useful for the specific reason you mentioned (location finding). I love sharing and exchanging weapons, but when you can't really run rampant through the entire game in co-op, well... 2 out of 5 it is.

[rafoca]

It seems that is worse than I thought. I wasn´t aware of the PAUSE SCREEN issue

I loved the obrs thing, but I´d rather not having them and having a full co-op, than having it and having a so flawed co-op.

[bapenguin]

Yes - all of our reviews are ONLY the co-op.

[pheriannath]

The single player game is wonderful. The co-op is abysmal. A shame, really.

[wikkidkarma]

I'm pretty sure that the characters ability are transferred if you have a save game on the same system, or via live, rather than the abilities being generated as par. Though I could be mistaken.

[Torg001]

The co-o camera in a mess. But for dungeon diving or when the Balverines scare my sister and I can just jump in, it's the best.

[brokengod]

Echoing Torg001's sentiment, I think that the co-op is reasonably well done for 'drop in, drop out' co-op.

The problem is that there is way too much emphasis on the 'drop in, drop out' aspect, and close to no emphasis on actually playing the game from start to finish together.

As playing games co-op with my wife is the majority of my focus, the co-op in Fable 2 is woefully inadequate - a shame, when the game itself is so good.

[roland]

Ug, the internet ate my first, and much longer, comment.

Anyway, thanks for the description and review. It seems like this is still definitely worth our time, but not anything to get the family too excited about.

[bapenguin]

Like I said, this still fun to be had. It's just falls horribly short of its potential, especially when compared to such an awesome single player experience.

[Fivespot]

I'm thoroughly enjoying the single player campaign and will probably play it twice (once good and once evil). Too bad about the coop!

[Troggles]

If it wasn't for the stupid camera angles in the multiplayer co-op, I think it would be great.

[hedgehogaj]

@wikkidkarma
With local co-op, if P2 isn't signed in or doesn't have a character save, the henchmen will have all of P1's abilities.

[wikkidkarma]

@wikkidkarma
With local co-op, if P2 isn't signed in or doesn't have a character save, the henchmen will have all of P1's abilities.

But if P2 is signed in, they have all their own, right? We've only played around with co-op briefly, but it seemed like when I logged in, I had my spells I normally have.

J3nn and I are loving Fable. It is unfortunate that we're not playing co-op together, but what it does allow is for moments of "Oh! Hey, how did you do this quest?" and such. Last night I got married in game, and immediately lamented not having her login so she could witness my marriage.

[justabaldguy]

I'm thoroughly enjoying the single player campaign and will probably play it twice (once good and once evil). Too bad about the coop!

That's my plan. Beat is as a good character Monday night, and am running through as a bad one now.

Still disappointed at the lack of depth in what you can get. Not much clothing variety for one. I don't really feel like I have that much of a custom character. Most of the clothes make you look better, haven't really found some evil clothes (besides my Spire gear I lost trying to switch it between characters).

The weapons are all pretty standard, just differ in their make up... guess I thought you'd have some Final Fantasy or Zelda style named weapons instead of deciding between a steel mace or an iron axe. Seems like old school games like Dragon Warrior offered you more choices!