Fable II is an Xbox 360 exclusive and it has it's own arcade game, The Fable II Pub Games, original hey. There are three games in Pub Games, these are all real life gambling games that have been morphed and twisted so they fit in the world of Fable. Fortune's Tower which is a mix of a few card games blended into one, Key Stone which is a twisted version of craps and Roulette and finally Spinnerbox which is a funny looking slot machine. The games are designed for Fable II fans or just general people who want to earn a bit a Fable gold before they have the game.


The gameplay in this game is poor, Spinnerbox has no skill at all and all you do is press the A button, the icons in the box spin and if you are lucky then you will get some money back. This is similar to modern day slot machines.


Keystone has a little more skill, it plays a lot like Roulette but instead of a ball landing on a number dice are thrown and you have to place your chips on your estimated landing zone. As the dice keep landing on different numbers the Arch (which the game is built around) will be plucked out and if two of the four Keystones are removed from the Arch then its game over and onto the next round (hence the name Keystone)


Fortune's Tower is still all about luck but is also about risk. There is a deck of card 1 through to 7 also Hero cards. The top card is your Gate Card and it will save you if you 'Burn out'. The aim of the game is to get as much money from the card on the table so if a 2, 4 and 5 get laid out you could cash out and get 11 gold (which is times by how much you bet) However you get two cards vertical and the cards burn and you could either be lucky and be saved by a Hero card on the same round or your Gate Card which switches the burnt card for hopefully a different one. The fun about this one is that do you really want to risk the next row of cards or should you get out while you can.


One aspect of the game I do like is the rating system this makes the game last a little longer. The rating system consists of five stars, you start off with one and work your way up. To get to the next star you need to get points, to get points you need to bet gold, for example bet 100 gold you get 100 points. Getting points isn't just to earn star rating, you also unlock concept art for Fable II and new variations of the pub game you are playing.


Tournaments in this game are by far the best bit, in these tournaments you compete against A.I to win prizes of money and presents. The prizes are items that you unlock in Fable II, one of the prizes is a cool looking gun (I really want to get!), and the money depends on the star rating of the tournament. The higher star rating you have, the more tournaments are available to you and the more money and better prizes you can get. They aren't by far perfect, the Spinnerbox tournaments are still complete luck and when you are playing A.I it makes it much worse due to the fact they seem to always win. To get into the higher tournaments you have to pay an entry fee, this can range from free entry to paying 750 gold.


The sound of the game makes you feel like your in medieval times, which fits in nicely into the Fable world. However after a few hours of playing them (if you can last) the music just start to keep looping the same tunes over and over again which can make anyone go mad. The graphics are nice for what the game is so nothing really to complain about there.


I would not recommend this game to any one, unless you are planning on pre-ordering Fable II where you would get the games free, because they defiantly are not worth the 800 MS price tag, so don't buy them and save up for Castle Crashers, then pre-order Fable 2 and get your Pub games, its a win win.



Reviewed By Nick