Molyneux: no death in Fable 2, but scars
by Richard Mitchell 
{ Jul 12th 2007 at 8:35PM }
After sampling the delights of Fable 2 (more on that soon) we had a little chat with Peter Molyneux about death. Specifically, we talked about how death would be treated in Fable 2. Typically, death in video games means loading the previous checkpoint or restarting a given level. According to Molyneux, such will not be the case in Fable 2. Instead, when overpowered and bested by an enemy, players will be left with a permanent reminder of their defeat: a scar.
Granted, the scars are cosmetic, but they do affect how NPCs perceive the main character. The idea apparently came to Molyneux after watching Casino Royale, in which James Bond undergoes particularly brutal torture during one scene and finds himself in the arms of a woman during the next. According to Molyneux, "in Hollywood, heroes always win the day." That's all well and good, but what if you don't like the idea of being disfigured?
Players will have two choices it seems: don't lose, or pay a hefty fee to keep your attackers from scarring you. Molyneux revealed that testers are willing to lay down hefty sums of gold -- 1000, which is enough to buy a hut -- in order to avoid scarring. So there you have it, you won't die in Fable 2 -- even bosses can't kill you, they just leave deeper scars -- but you'll pay a price (one way or another) for failing in combat.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gavin @ Jul 12th 2007 8:38PM
After the hype from Fable and the huge crash and burn of Black & White, I will never buy another game he releases for full price. Thanks Pete, for convincing me that new games aren't worth the prices. I'll wait till it's below $20, and then I won't feel that overwhelming feeling of disappointment again.
Purple Haze @ Jul 12th 2007 9:13PM
Yeah I know, I got two friends who pre-ordered fable were talking about it for two days, then stopped because they'd both finished it.
zwarrior @ Jul 12th 2007 9:22PM
Fable was over hyped by him, fine, but his games deserve the full price, I loved the game none the less.
Exo @ Jul 12th 2007 8:40PM
not a big deal anyways, me nor anyone I know that played the first ever died while playing the game.
Jypson @ Jul 12th 2007 8:55PM
So if I want an evil hideous character...get my ass kicked all day?
Macroy @ Jul 12th 2007 9:00PM
"I don't wanna die without any scars."
Triforceowner @ Jul 12th 2007 9:07PM
Sounds cool. I would also like to see some kind of implication of how you treat fellow characters and have certain characters find you and take care of you if you get "killed" in a game. So, how this would work is that you would be defeated by an enemy and some NPC would come along and take you to safety. Now, depending on your good and evil traits and how you interact with NPC's you would be picked up by different characters and treated differently. Maybe some guy you were mean to earlier would pick you up and put you in a dungeon.
zwarrior @ Jul 12th 2007 9:25PM
So if my character has scars, are the NPCs going to treat him similar to a real society? Becuase in real life, chicks dig it and only granmas are afraid
REUYL @ Jul 12th 2007 9:26PM
I want scars... like a Sith lord. Oh yes.
Rob Accomando @ Jul 12th 2007 9:41PM
I don't care about scars, growing trees and bushes.... I just want Fable 2 to last more than 10 hours.
Frowelishnu @ Jul 12th 2007 9:47PM
I'm sure the scars will be viewed by NPC as seeing the player as a loser/weakling.
I just hope it's more than, "You've lost a lot of battles, eh?" or some random response and it actually affects gameplay.
Ryuukuro @ Jul 12th 2007 10:33PM
I'm all for radical changes in the status quo of gaming but this is weird. Intriguing however. But I worry that Molyneux might be digging another hole for himself.
jason @ Jul 12th 2007 11:07PM
video on ign.com of demo walkthrough
http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/741/741361/vids_1.html
BananaBoat @ Jul 12th 2007 11:13PM
Fable wasn't a bad game, it was just a very good game that didn't last very long =P
Hopefully for Fable 2, he can beef up the amount of time the game takes to complete (and maybe add some replayability). I'm a little bit miffed that you can't die in the game, but really it's all about killing your opponents (which I assume you won't have the option to scar and release)
Don't dissapoint us this time Molyneux!
Jake @ Jul 12th 2007 11:42PM
Fable was a sweet game, just too short. If Fable 2 is longer, yet still as fun, it will be well worth full price.
Sean @ Jul 13th 2007 12:51AM
The Movies was good too... just not super original
bm @ Jul 13th 2007 4:46PM
Right, that's it folks. We're here, this is the future. Games involving combat where you -cannot lose-. The dream of every modern 12 year old.
I'm sorry, but no matter what anyone says, gaming in the 80's and 90's was -better-.
Besides, anyone who doesn't want a scar is going to reload a savepoint anyway. Talk about useless!
Megaqwerty @ Jul 13th 2007 7:40PM
Lose? You still lose: the penalty is just a little different.
This discussion was rampant when Prey came out and it boils down to this: is hitting continue or quick load any different from not dying? Prey and, hopefully, Fable 2 are just tweaking some age-old concepts. The result is the same, but the means is quite different.