Prerelease:Fable II
This page details pre-release information and/or media for Fable II.
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Contents
Cut Combat Mechanics
Combat was originally going to be a lot deeper and more stratified than what ended up being in the final game, and a pretty big feature that was cut was having direct interactions with the environment, as seen in the footage shown in the Fable II dev diaries.
More cinematic animations were also planned for the game, but never made it in.
During development the programmers tried experimenting with hand-to-hand combat, going far enough as to have a prototype for it shown to the public. Hand-to-hand never made it into the final game in any capacity.
Cut Enemies
In the game's official strategy guide there exists a number of concept art pieces related to games and areas that relate to aspects of the game tha never made it into the retail version. All of these concept art pieces have been made available online by Skyrionn, who also details stuff in the book not strictly related to cut content.
Sirens
An ethereal mix between mermaids and the female vampires from Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula, with a bit of Gustav Klimt sprinkled in, according to Senior Concept Artist Mike McCarthy. They never were implemented in the game, but they may have been the same Sirens mentioned by Hammer in the song "Down by the Reeds" and in the first game's book adaptation Fable: Edge of the World.
Nightmare Creatures
Originally conceived as a piece of machinery worshipped by the hobbes and rallied around to cause destruction, the Nightmare Creatures went through a series of design changes, from totem, to large hobbe, eventually becoming a bizarre abstract entity, but ultimately it got scrapped.
Balverines
Although the Balverines do appear in Fable II, looking and behaving just as they did in the prequel, some concept art of them in a more humanized form exists in the guide, with one of them even being laballed as a sorcerer. Since there are no captions, it's hard to tell if plans of this new iteration of the creature ever went past the concept art stage.
Banshees
It is not specified in the guide whether these versions of the Banshee were supposed to exist alongside the one that made into the final game, or if they were supposed to be an earlier iteration.
Cut Areas
Deepwood
Cut because of the lack of art support required to finished it and left at the concept stage, Deepwood was supposed to be an abandoned region containing ruins from the Old Kingdom.
Bowerstone Cemetery
There was supposed to be an Autumn layout for the Bowerstone Cemetery, but it couldn't be properly implemented due to time constraints.
Pub Games Scenery
Unlockable through Fable 2 Pug Games, a game for the Live Arcade marketplace, there exists this concept art that doesn't fully match with any of the areas present in the games.
Changed Character Designs
Reaver
Reaver was originally going to look similar to a more stereotypical version of the rogue archetype, before settling into the design that we all know and love to hate.
Garth
According to character artist Rob Corcoran, Garth was always intended to stray from she stereotype of the game with large robes and pointy hats, and was meant to look like someone who could defend himself even without using Will, this can be seen even in his concept art, where his apparance more closely resembles that of a gunslinger.
Lucien
In one of his earlier iterations, Lucien's obsession with the Spire didn't just age him faster, but it also seemingly caused him physical deformities.
Cut Weapons
Bows
A number of bows was drawn in the concept stage of the game. Judging by the different color schemes, there's a chance that would have changed their appearance according to the Hero's morality, like it would later become the case with Fable 3. Likely cut due to not fitting with the time period Fable II takes place in.
Rapiers
Rapiers were going to be one of the weapons available in the game, but got cut for unknown reasons.
Early UI
The UI of the game used to be a lot more elaborate than what we got in the final product, as seen in the footage shown in the Fable II dev diaries.
Cut Art
As seen (once again) in the footage shown in the Fable II dev diaries, hanging in the walls of the Lionhead Studios offices there is a poster that never made it into the final game.
