Fable II is approaching…

… And I am mightily excited. I am looking forward to this game perhaps even more than I was looking forward to Grand Theft Auto IV.

The original Fable held my attention for a long, long time. While it was a slight disappointment in some areas, the game itself was still a masterpiece, giving a level of freedom and character customisation never before seen in an RPG.

The second instalment in the Fable series seems set, once again, to push the boundaries of what RPGs can do – that is if Peter Molyneux hasn’t just been blowing smoke up our arses.

I am very interested in the three Xbox Live Arcade games, which are going to be released in the weeks running up to the launch of Fable II. Entitled Keystone, Mage Dice and Wizard’s Tower these games will allow you to earn gold before the game is even out, allowing you to potentially becoming rich without even playing the game; an innovative feature if ever I saw one.

The Developer Diaries offer a tantalising glimpse into the offices of Lionhead Studios, covering such aspects of the development such as love and emotions, combat, graphics and magic. There are even more to come and I’m looking forward to getting a more in-depth view into Albion.

The one aspect of the game that I feel a little dubious about, however, is the inclusion of guns, but I hope they’ve introduced them in a tasteful manner, rather than making characters with guns ridiculously overpowered.

Either way, this is the main game that I have been looking forward to this year, and with only a few months left until release (sometime in the ‘Fall’), the excitement is growing.