hile the public seems to be eyeing Gears of War 2 as their next huge title, Fable 2 is looking more and more like it could steal the show. During out time with Microsoft here at E3, we were treated to an open demo of the game with famed designer Peter Molyneux. He took us around town a bit and fielded some lingering questions about the game.

First off, we got a few notes about the game itself. It’s done at this point and took three years to make with a staff of 150 people. There is a huge focus on story but it’s your story to create. Do you want to have a family or just roam the lands with your trusty dog? Its up to you and from what we’ve seen, no two experiences will be the same. There’s a ridiculous amount of content in Fable 2 and we can only imagine play times will easily rival Oblivion.

You can do almost anything you can think of in Fable 2. You can buy every building, flirt with every person, and of course, piss nearly every one off. Molyneux showed us what happens when you commit a crime in town. First off, there’s a safety feature built in to prevent you from hurting innocent people but it can easily be disabled. Heading down to a lower area of town, we lured an annoying fellow that had been following us around the whole time and we had enough. So off came the safety and in went our sword to in spleen. But now that we had committed a crime, the guards were all over us. We had a few options like paying a fine but a cool new idea that was there was a community service option which gives us a quest to clear our name.

We also got a chance to see a bit of the side jobs you can do. Our character quickly got a job as a blacksmith. Players work by playing small minis games and after they finish, they get paid and even earn money towards a promotion. Along with that, Peter also dove into the character customization. Tattoos, clothes tint and color, hair styles and color, makeup, jewelry, weapons and pretty much everything about your hero. Players can even rename all of the people in a town if they like.

We’re really excited about Fable 2 and cannot wait to spend some quality time for full impressions soon.