Lionhead fumbles the ball again and drops online Co-Op from Fable 2 for release.
While we’re sure the fanboys of Fable and Lionhead will just shrug it off and say things like “it’s just server tweaks” or “online co-op is still coming”, we find it completely inexcusable to drop such a major feature for the game’s launch in such a crowded fall release lineup.
Look at the holiday release schedule of all with top shelf AAA games releasing within weeks of each other. How can people excuse Lionhead for releasing a game missing a key component saying they’ll patch it later? Why should we buy Fable 2 that’s missing a key feature when we can buy Fallout 3 by RPG competitor Bethesda a week later or Gears of War 2 two weeks later which aren’t missing chunks of their games (or at least not that we know of ).
Many gamers will have to make budgetary decisions on games they want to play this fall but simply can’t afford with this ridiculous holiday line-up, so why should these gamers buy Fable 2 now? They probably have a few other games that are finished that they had to cross off their list due to time or money constraints that now they could buy and pick up Fable 2 later when it’s a complete product. We all know what happened with Fable 1 and then later Fable 1 The Complete Game came out. How is Fable 2 shaping up to be any different, maybe we’d all be better off picking Fable 2 : The Complete Game up in 2009?
I completely understand why fanboys of Fable or Lionhead will cut them some slack, love is blind and I get it. For the average gamer though trying to budget time and money this holiday season, I don’t know why you would pick up Fable 2 at launch unless you planned on only playing local co-op which is still in. Who knows realistically how long it’ll take them to work out the problems and get the patch through certification. We’ve all been victims of the month long certification process to get patches or DLC out for our favorite games, sometimes it takes so long you’re done and moved on before the content even comes out.
Since Lionhead is really a new comer to the RPG genre, we really do commend them on their revolutionary visions. But we have to think if maybe they’re dreaming bigger than what they can possibly deliver due to lack of experience.
So Fable 2, buy it at launch or wait? What do you think?
