Death Reimagined in Fable 2

Peter Molyneux is not one to be expected to take the normal route when it comes to game design. He has a varied track record when it comes to games, most notably with his Xbox game, Fable. Touted as the greatest RPG ever, it was largely a disappointment. I liked it. It had its flaws but was totally enjoyable none the less. In an attempt to not repeat the mistakes he made before, Molyneux is going out of his way to make sure he delivers this time around for the sequel, Fable 2. He has been slowly revealing what he believes are the three 'big things' that the game will bring to the collective design table. The first detail released was a pet dog. It's been done before, but the AI is supposed to be on another level compared to canine companions in the past. His latest reveal, is how the game deals with death. Apparently, he has not been happy with the way it has been handled in the past.

There is no death. Instead, your character gets beaten until he collapses. Then he (or she) gets beaten some more. And more. Continuously beaten until you get up. How do you get up? By paying for it in either experience or gold. How fast you get up, and presumably continue fighting and killing your enemies, depends on how much money you pay. Pay a lot, get up fast. Pay a little, lie on the ground for, say, sixty seconds.

So what's the consequence of not getting up fast? You get scarred. SCARRED.

As interesting as this sounds, I think he should have taken it to the extreme in the completely opposite direction. Instead, make death permanent. This is a game about the player creating a world in which they have the ability to do nearly as they please. This life long journey should be so grand that the player's character will become the greatest hero or evilest villain, one that tales are told about for generations to come. No one hears about the ones that died along the way. If the hero dies, the game is over. The player must now start over from scratch, almost as if he has been reincarnated.

I would love to see death handled like this. It would be frustrating for sure, but think of the tension and the attachment to the character the player would have. It would be quite powerful. I think Dead Rising is somewhat of an inspiration here as they handled death, at least of the story, uniquely as well. By not being in a specific place at a set time, they killed the main story line. At this point, the game gives the player a choice: continue in a bit of a free for all story or start over from the beginning, although you did get to keep your experience. The stress created by this predicament was intense, and made for some compelling game play.

To take it to the next step and eliminate the experience would be very hard core. It would probably lose a few people along the way, but those who make it to a natural death, would most definitely have created a fable for the ages.