Fable 2

We hate Peter Molyneux. Not because he’s a bad guy, mind you. In fact, he’s easily among the most affable developers we’ve ever met. Our problem with the Lionhead boss and Fable 2 designer is that he’s the consummate master of the big tease.

To wit: Over the past year, we’ve met with Molyneux for Fable 2 updates on multiple occasions. Each time he dangles an incredibly alluring new feature about his career-defining opus — first the notion of a canine companion and the ability to fall in love, and then a “crescendo combat” system that challenges you to attack in tandem with the sweeping score playing behind you — but he doesn’t give any context as far as how it fits into the bigger Albion picture. Predictably, our latest session with him wasn’t much different. Molyneux revealed the third of his prophesied “Three Big Things” — a drop-in-anytime co-op mode — and again left us thirsty for a taste of the broader Fable scope.

But we’ll be damned if we aren’t more excited for Fable 2 than ever before — in fact, we’re ready to call it a Zelda-killer. The game is looking quite complete already, despite its months-away release date. The colors, foliage, and architecture in the Xbox 360 rendition of Albion are all full, vibrant, and alive — and, as he took his female avatar and vaulted her over a roadside fence that would’ve been an impassable barrier in the first game, Molyneux was quick to point out that the entire world is open for business now.

And yes, that aforementioned co-op mode should be mighty interesting. Calling what he showed us “couch co-op” (he wouldn’t talk about an online option, but it’s almost certainly there), Molyneux said he wants to “take the notion of co-op a lot farther.” To demonstrate, he had a game producer simply press Start and warp into the game, slyly calling attention to the lack of loading. Your buddy will play as a “henchman” — not his own character from his game, but a facsimile generated from his profile’s main avatar or, if no such data exists, the avatar of the host. Furthermore, when you’re ready to part ways, your friend will take his experience, renown, and gold back to his character via his profile.

Traipsing through the game world, you’ll slay Hobbes together, each focusing on properly timing your attacks. (“You’re both essentially conductor’s batons,” said Molyneux of crescendo combat within the context of co-op.) You can also team up to double your experience: slash a foe with your sword at the same time your partner pelts him with a bullet for a lucrative combo. And shockingly, we even witnessed Molyneux’s henchman shoot and kill Peter’s in-game husband at their home, then gesture with a cackle as the couple’s virtual five-year-old son was left fatherless. Don’t worry, though: Molyneux said his female character had plenty of other husbands in other towns. Don’t hate the player…

And what of your buddy and potential dog ownership? Well, the henchman won’t be getting his own pooch. “The animators weren’t keen on doing the bottom-smelling animation that would’ve been necessary [for when the two dogs meet],” Molyneux joked. Well met, Peter. But we’ll still pretend to hate you…until you let us play Fable 2, that is.