nukoda.com

The lucrative nature of Fable II Pub Games, its promise to transfer all total earned winnings to your Fable II bank account, is a great selling point. With all the hype and anticipation surrounding Fable II, it’d be curious as to why anyone wouldn’t hop on this in-game-cash-grab, but its allure was lost on me the instant I started.

Three different games with a casino inspiration are available in Pub Games, and while they’re kind of original, their clever fusion of existing games isn’t enough to be remotely entertaining or entirely memorable. With no skill required, you’ll rely on Lady Luck to win the three games for you — only one of which requires more action than pressing the A button to start the game and watch it unfold. Since you’ve got no control over how any of the games play out, it’s a lot of watching your money drain before the game starts to apparently pity you and hand you a big rush of golden winnings. Without a doubt, Fable II Pub Games will knock players unconscious with its dreary gameplay and lack of fun.

Still, credit goes to the game for still maintaining a Fable vibe. The background music and themes are distinctly familiar to Peter Molyneux’s original Albianic adventure. In itself, that gets us excited enough for Fable II to almost recommend Pub Games. Unless you refuse to play the official game without a fat stack of cash (which, despite multiple lengthy sessions, we couldn’t get) just hold out on paying for anything with Fable in the title until October. Much like the games within the game, it’ll steal your cash and probably just piss you off.

Rating: