Being able to share your world with someone else makes the game that much more compelling a role-playing game. Although the fundamental game is the same for each player, your game features different connections and ties than a friend’s or complete stranger. Venturing online to peak into someone else's version capitalizes on the promise of dynamic role-playing in a way that the first game near achieved. The game smartly allows you to keep whatever experience you earn while playing cooperative, so there's no wasted effort so to speak. As a result, playing online and shaping--or perhaps destroying--someone else's fantasy land is a slick design touch.

It’s not perfect. Fable II is altogether too brief, clocking in around 20 hours. Distinctions between good and evil acts are far too transparent, which may be a good or bad thing (pun intended). The ability to discern what actions are benevolent and those that incite evil empowers you to make choices with knowledge; however, that also eliminates any nuance to decision-making. Much of morality hinges on ambiguity and without it, the game feels too straightforward.

These shortcomings are a bit trivial, though. This is an engrossing, attractive, dramatic, and entertaining game and one that you simply shouldn't miss.

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