There are few people in the gaming industry who are as intimately familiar with the consequences of broken promises as Peter Molyneux. In 2004, when his wildly anticipated game Fable was released on the original Xbox, it wasn’t quite the revolutionary title that he had led people to believe it would be. Much-hyped features were nowhere to be found, and the Internet all but erupted in a roar of disapproval from thousands of scorned gamers. It was a pity, as the real victim in this drama was the game itself, an excellent action-RPG that was prematurely and unfairly written off as a disappointment.

When Fable II was announced in 2006, many had already dismissed Molyneux as being past his prime, and assumed that the sequel would be marred by yet more unkept promises. Gamers are after all a fickle and unforgiving bunch and apart from a few cautiously optimistic media previews, Fable II’s development carried on fairly quietly, while higher-profile RPGs like Mass Effect and Fallout 3 got all the attention. But now Fable II is finally here, and it begs the question: has Peter Molyneux been redeemed? The answer is a resounding ‘Yes.’

Continue reading El33tonline’s review of Fable II.